The US government is pressuring states to halt funding for puberty blockers for children and follow the UK’s Cass Review.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which provides health coverage to more than 160 million Americans, urged directors to adopt the findings of the report, which concluded children who think they are transgender should not be rushed into treatment they may regret.

In a letter sent to medical directors, seen by The Telegraph, the agency said that Britain has “diverged” from the United States and that the National Health Service’s new approach is more effective.

Under Donald Trump, the US has quickly moved to ban all “destructive and life-altering procedures” associated with transitioning children.

Some 27 states have enacted laws that ban or restrict gender‑affirming care for minors. But puberty blockers are still available in many others.

“Several developed countries have recently diverged from the US in the way they treat gender dysphoria in children,” the letter reads. “The United Kingdom, Sweden, and Finland have recently issued restrictions on medical interventions for children, including the use of puberty blockers and hormone treatments.

“In particular, the Cass Review, an independent review of the evidence in the United Kingdom, noted that despite the considerable research in the field of gender dysphoria in children, ‘systematic evidence reviews demonstrated the poor quality of the published studies, meaning there is not a reliable evidence base upon which to make clinical decisions, or for children and their families to make informed choices.’”

Led by Dr Hilary Cass, the review was prompted by concerns about the high rate of young people being referred to the Tavistock gender clinic in London, which referred children as young as 10 for treatment with puberty blockers.