Oregon's Medicaid program now covers puberty-suppression drugs

A handful of states cover medical costs for transgender Medicaid recipients, but Oregon is the only one that uses Medicaid funds to help pre-transgender kids delay puberty. Temporarily suppressing puberty requires a shot of a drug called Lupron every three months, at a cost of about $7,500 per injection, but "people with gender dysphoria that did not receive treatment had a much higher rate of hospitalizations or ER visits or doctors visits for depression and anxiety, and they had a pretty significantly high suicide rate," Dr. Ariel Smits tells NPR.

Lupron is also used to treat prostate cancer and help children who start puberty too early, and there are side effects. But for tweens who decide to transition from male to female or vice versa, it's much easier if they never develop the characteristics of their birth sex. You can learn more in the radio story below, from Oregon Public Broadcasting's Kristian Foden-Vencil. —Peter Weber

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