House Republicans criticize military health agency for blocking parents’ access to their children’s medical records

EXCLUSIVE – Ten House Republicans sent a letter to the Defense Health Agency late last week criticizing its policy of blocking parents’ access to their children’s medical information, which they said was “obviously enacted to prevent parents from finding out whether their child is ‘identifying’ as another gender.”

“Once again, progressive political appointees are pushing a radical policy that strips military parents of their rights,” said Rep. Mark Alford (R-Mo.), who led the letter. Washington Examiner“It is shameful that parents do not have the opportunity to talk to their children about a life-changing decision until it is too late. We call on the DHA to reconsider this reprehensible policy and put the rights of parents of service members ahead of politics.”

Under DHA policy, families who use Tricare and have children between the ages of 13 and 17 cannot access their children’s medical records unless the minor gives them permission to do so. The policy blocks parents from accessing their children’s complete medical records on Tricare’s digital platform, Genesis. According to the letter, parents can still submit a request for paper copies of their children’s medical records, but they are not readily available.

Military personnel serving overseas are further limited, according to the letter to Undersecretary of Defense for Health Affairs Lester Martinez-Lopez, because policies related to “reproductive health care” state that a doctor can determine whether children can keep their medical decisions secret from their parents and consent to interventions on their own.

“When a minor seeks reproductive health services and the health care provider is satisfied that the minor meets the definition of a ‘mature minor,’ the minor’s consent is sufficient to provide the treatment,” according to the DHA policy. The military defines a “mature minor” as a child 15 years or older.

“Some complicated circumstances may require notification to the minor’s parents, legal guardians, surrogate decision-makers, or sponsors,” the policy continues. “These include life-threatening conditions, conditions that may require removal of reproductive organs, and a change in behavior that calls into question the maturity with which the minor approaches his or her medical care and may result in potential harm to self or others.”

If a doctor deems a child mature enough, he or she may receive a diagnosis that “may require removal of reproductive organs.” A diagnosis could include gender dysphoria.

“This scenario can lead to a situation where parents of military personnel stationed overseas do not have the opportunity to discuss a life-changing decision with their child until a provider deems it necessary to have the child’s reproductive organs removed,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter. “Even then, the provider may not decide that notification to the child’s parents is necessary. This policy is reprehensible.”

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As the Washington Examiner Base doctors are also reported to request or even demand “alone time” with minor patients, with parents being banned from the room.

A DHA spokesman declined to comment on the letter but said the agency would respond directly to members of Congress.