
Mehmet Oz, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, announced yesterday proposed rules that could end gender-affirming care for trans youth across the country if they go into effect.
And one part of his announcement is getting attention online for its bizarreness: his angry claim that penises cost too much nowadays.
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“A vaginoplasty – a procedure a child does not need – costs $60,000,” he said. It’s true – gender-affirming genital surgery is not performed on children, so it’s not clear what the connection is to the proposed rules. “Shockingly, a phalloplasty, the creation of a penis, costs, on average, in America, according to this data, high-quality, $150,000 per child.”
“A scrotalplasty, where you add testicles? That’s extra.”
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Oz was perpetuating rightwing misinformation. All major medical organizations in the U.S. support gender-affirming care for trans youth. This is inconvenient for conservatives since they oppose such care because they don’t like trans people and believe that if they can limit gender-affirming care, then fewer people will be transgender.
So, in order to discredit the doctors and medical researchers who have devoted their lives to studying health care for trans youth, they claim that those medical professionals are in it for the money, which is ironic since Oz himself spent years spreading medical misinformation in order to earn more money on his television show.
PinkNews notes that the prices Oz cites are much higher than the general price range of those procedures. Many transgender people don’t get genital surgery for a variety of reasons.
And on social media, people mocked Oz’s statement.
Go for the testicles folks… you’ll thank me https://t.co/xk1UyxUskc
— Philly Puppy (@liberalpuppy) December 18, 2025
Well sure, but penis manufacture is bespoke right now. Once the economy of scale kicks in and the fabrication process is streamlined, we'll be drowning in dicks. Wangs in cracker jack boxes, errant members in Happy Meals. https://t.co/V7JoKF8yeL
— Definitely Danny (@SemperWry) December 18, 2025
Trump Promised to Lower the Cost of a Penis on Day 1 of His Administration.
— will davis (@wdavisx3) December 18, 2025
Has He?
It’s Complicated. https://t.co/F92wYl94lh
Is that in network or out of network https://t.co/mZYQ2KCVN9
— Tim Miller (@Timodc) December 18, 2025
I know someone who can get you a penis by 3 p.m. for cheaper https://t.co/4ILZ8EV1Xq pic.twitter.com/9I85ByewWo
— Sean Olsen (@Sean_Olsen) December 18, 2025
In my entire lifetime, I have never seen a political party so obsessed with other people’s genitalia.
— Marlene Robertson
I can’t wait for Nancy Mace to chime in.
Source: LGBTQ Nation