{"id":192211,"date":"2026-05-14T12:28:06","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T12:28:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/192211\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T12:28:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T12:28:06","slug":"chop-planned-parenthood-named-in-report-on-questionable-gender-care-billing-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/192211\/","title":{"rendered":"CHOP, Planned Parenthood named in report on questionable gender care billing practices"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Beth Ann Rosica\u2019s writings are a blend of news, opinion, and analysis. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A new report details how local healthcare providers may exploit insurance rules to secure payment for child sex-change procedures.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/donoharmmedicine.org\/about\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Do No Harm<\/a>, a national organization of healthcare professionals established in 2022, seeks to \u201chighlight and counteract divisive trends in medicine, such as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and youth-focused gender ideology.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Founder and chairman Dr. Stanley Goldfarb previously served as the Associate Dean for Curriculum at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and \u201csaw with his own eyes how identity politics was invading medical education.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Its latest <a href=\"https:\/\/donoharmmedicine.org\/2026\/04\/30\/watchdog-report-exposes-healthcare-providers-gender-coding\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">report<\/a>, published last month, explains the potential for insurance fraud by intentionally using incorrect or inaccurate diagnosis codes. The watchdog group identifies two local institutions \u2014 Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania and Children\u2019s Hospital of Philadelphia \u2014 that may be guilty of such practices. According to the report, these treatments are expensive and financially profitable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe rise of the child transgender industry over the past decade has relied, in no small part, on the financial incentives for physicians and hospitals to perform sex-denying medical\u00a0 interventions. These procedures offer a potentially lucrative revenue source.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The group illustrates how healthcare providers are able to disguise \u201cgender affirming care\u201d as other legitimate medical services.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy misrepresenting the medical procedures they are performing, providers can pass off transgender medicalization as, for example, routine endocrine care unrelated to pediatric medical transition.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The report identifies that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.plannedparenthood.org\/planned-parenthood-southeastern-pennsylvania\/patients\/transgender-health-care\/gender-affirming-care-faq\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania<\/a> (PPSP) explicitly states this practice on its website.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn order to meet the needs of most insurance companies and patients, we typically use the code E34.9 (endocrine disorder, unspecified) and occasionally will use F64.9 (gender identity disorder, unspecified) if necessary,\u201d states an answer to frequently asked questions on PPSP\u2019s website. \u201cWe recognize that much of the language around billing for gender affirming care is troublesome; we recognize this is medically necessary care and will work to decrease barriers to getting folks the care they need.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"607\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-7-607x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15778\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Do No Harm alleges utilization of these inaccurate diagnoses violates insurance coding policies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese examples raise legitimate concern that endocrine-related ICD-10 [International Classification of Diseases] codes are possibly being used on their own to obtain reimbursement for so-called \u2018gender-affirming care.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The report further explains the only way to validate fraudulent practices is through reviewing actual patient records.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe medical record remains the definitive source for verification and thus to differentiate appropriate use from potential misuse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In June 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a subpoena to Children\u2019s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) requesting medical records of its gender affirming care patients in order to determine whether the institution was using inaccurate insurance codes, in addition to violating federal orders.<\/p>\n<p>CHOP immediately filed a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/28104623-govuscourtspaed64015010-2\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">motion<\/a> to limit the subpoena in federal court as it objected to producing the documents based on alleged privacy violations. CHOP specifically opposed the release of documents related to patient names, dates of birth, clinical diagnoses, and informed consent for children who were prescribed puberty blockers or hormone therapy.<\/p>\n<p>In October 2025, Governor Josh Shapiro, joined by fourteen blue states, filed an amicus <a href=\"https:\/\/embed.documentcloud.org\/documents\/28104697-govuscourtspaed640150360-1\/?embed=1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">brief<\/a> with the court, supporting CHOP\u2019s position.<\/p>\n<p>Based on Do No Harm\u2019s report, the only true way to determine if CHOP committed insurance fraud is through the acquisition and subsequent review of those medical records.<\/p>\n<p>Neither Planned Planned of Southeastern Pennsylvania nor CHOP returned a request for comment regarding the report.<\/p>\n<p>Do No Harm Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kurt Miceli emphasized that local Pennsylvania institutions are high on their watch list.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome of the most prominent organizations we suspect are skirting coding rules to obtain reimbursement for transgender treatments for minors are in Pennsylvania,\u201d said Miceli in response to a Broad + Liberty request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Department of Justice has alleged that the Children\u2019s Hospital of Philadelphia coded minors aged 14 to 18 with precocious puberty \u2014 effectively an implausible diagnosis for teenagers. On its website, Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania has likewise acknowledged using endocrine\u2011related diagnosis codes when billing for so-called \u2018gender-affirming hormone care.\u2019 Our report is an important piece in exposing how bad actors, including those in Pennsylvania, could use alternative diagnosis codes to get paid for these harmful interventions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some Pennsylvania legislators are concerned about the use of taxpayer dollars for gender transition procedures and medications. Republican Senator Chris Gebhard, representing parts of Berks, Lancaster, and Lebanon Counties, introduced <a href=\"https:\/\/www.palegis.us\/legislation\/bills\/2025\/sb1321\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Senate Bill 1321<\/a>, Ending State Funding for Gender Transition of Minors. On May 6, 2026, the bill passed the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee with bipartisan support and a 10 to 4 vote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is NOT lifesaving care, but child abuse in every sense of the word to attempt to physically mutilate and irreversibly change a child\u2019s gender,\u201d said Dush in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pasenategop.com\/news\/measure-to-end-state-funding-for-gender-transition-of-minors-passes-committee\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">press release<\/a>. \u201cBacked by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/pittsburgh\/2025\/08\/05\/shapiro-sues-trump-over-trans-care-policy\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">full blessing of Gov. Josh Shapiro through yet another federal lawsuit<\/a>, commonwealth taxpayers are reprehensively being forced to spend millions on sex-rejecting puberty blockers and sex-reassignment procedures for minors that have lifelong physical and psychological impacts. By enacting Senate Bill 1321, Pennsylvania can join the <a href=\"https:\/\/pafamily.org\/2025\/12\/11\/31-million-in-taxpayer-funding-to-fund-sex-rejecting-drugs\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">no less than 25 states<\/a> that have already passed laws protecting minors by eliminating funding for these harmful and unconscionable experimental procedures.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As investigations continue, the debate over pediatric gender medicine in Pennsylvania is increasingly shifting from ideology to accountability.The central question remains: were insurance systems used as intended or manipulated to fund controversial treatments for minors?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Beth Ann Rosica resides in West Chester, has a Ph.D. in Education, and has dedicated her career to advocating on behalf of at-risk children and families. She covers education issues for Broad + Liberty. Contact her at barosica@broadandliberty.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Beth Ann Rosica\u2019s writings are a blend of news, opinion, and analysis. \u00a0 A new report details how&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":192212,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[36313,3831,47,2311,69,71,70,14289,85567,53993],"class_list":["post-192211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-chop","tag-health-care","tag-mental-health","tag-must-read","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-planned-parenthood","tag-transgender-surgery","tag-transgenderism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/192212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}