Children’s Hospital Colorado reveals it has been targeted by a second federal investigation over trans care

Attorneys for Children’s Hospital Colorado revealed in court on Thursday that the Trump administration has launched a new federal investigation into its gender-affirming care services.

Elliot Peters, an attorney for the Colorado hospital characterized the investigation in court as part of “a reign of terror by the federal government against transgender care providers,” according to The Colorado Sun.

“We think it’s horrible,” Peters said.

Related: Judge blocks Trump DOJ’s latest effort to obtain medical records of transgender minors

This investigation appears to be part of a new initiative, previously reported by The Advocate, to investigate providers of trans care using billing and diagnostic codes. A letter pertaining to the investigation obtained by the Sun shows Robert F. Kennedy Jr. alleging that there are “potentially anomalous billing patterns” at Children’s Hospital Colorado.

“We take our obligations related to billing, coding and regulatory compliance seriously, and we have no evidence of any billing improprieties,” the hospital told the Sun in a statement.

This new wave of federal scrutiny comes despite the fact that the hospital paused all gender-affirming care for minors last December after the Trump administration threatened federal funding cuts for any institutions providing such treatment

Families sued over the decision, and the Colorado Supreme Court in May said the hospital must provide patients with the care despite threats from the administration. The hospital now says it is willing to offer the care, but no doctor will provide it.

Related: Colorado Supreme Court says Children’s Hospital must resume gender-affirming care for minors

Several doctors testified to that fact, but did so in closed court proceedings this week to ensure their anonymity, the Sun reported. The testimony came as part of a trial in which attorneys for trans patients want the hospital to be held in contempt for still failing to provide care despite the May Colorado Supreme Court decision. The institution faces potential $50,000-per-day fines if the court finds the institution has intentionally violated court orders.

Attorney John McHugh, who is representing families in the case, said the hospital’s failure to deliver care has put the health of young patients at risk. The families first sued seven months ago and still cannot access care three months after the state Supreme Court ordered the hospital to provide it.

Related: Children's Hospital Colorado resumes trans care — but says no doctors will provide it

“The only people bearing the harm of this are children belonging to a minority group facing threats all across the country,” McHugh said during an opening statement in court.

Families testified they cannot get prescriptions for puberty blockers and other medication, with one mother saying her daughter no longer saw her doctor at the hospital even though the child had not yet started hormones or puberty blockers. Testifying under a pseudonym, she said that this denial of care means her daughter is running out of time to secure a provider before puberty begins.

“It’s a concern about the care we need now so that when it happens we are ready to go,” she said.

The contempt trial will continue into next week, the Sun noted.