Posted on May 10, 2021
U.S. Will Protect Gay And Transgender People Against Discrimination In Health Care
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Gay and transgender people will be protected from discrimination in health care, the Biden administration announced Monday, effectively reversing a Trump-era rule that went into effect last year.
The announcement from the Department of Health and Human Services concerns one of the most notable parts of the Affordable Care Act — the provision in Section 1557 that prevents health care providers and insurance companies from discriminating on the basis "race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability in certain health programs and activities."
Effective immediately, the agency says it will interpret that provision to encompass discrimination against someone on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity in health care.
"Fear of discrimination can lead individuals to forgo care, which can have serious negative health consequences," HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. "It is the position of the Department of Health and Human Services that everyone — including LGBTQ people — should be able to access health care, free from discrimination or interference, period."
The announcement from the Department of Health and Human Services concerns one of the most notable parts of the Affordable Care Act — the provision in Section 1557 that prevents health care providers and insurance companies from discriminating on the basis "race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability in certain health programs and activities."
Effective immediately, the agency says it will interpret that provision to encompass discrimination against someone on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity in health care.
"Fear of discrimination can lead individuals to forgo care, which can have serious negative health consequences," HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. "It is the position of the Department of Health and Human Services that everyone — including LGBTQ people — should be able to access health care, free from discrimination or interference, period."
U.S. Will Protect Gay And Transgender People Against Discrimination In Health Care
Posted from npr.org
Health
Medical
LGBTQ+
Transgender
Posted 3 y ago
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In all my years working in Healthcare, I have never seen discrimination of gay or transgender individuals. We operated/anesthetized any and all Comer, unless there was a medical reason not to anesthetize. In my last full time position we even dealt with the prison populations from 7 nearby counties.
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
"The significant step taken today is just one step in what is a long road to undo the undermining of health care protections for all people under the Trump administration," Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, an attorney with Lambda Legal, said in a statement.
The announcement from HHS comes as conservative state legislatures are working to enact a variety of bills targeting transgender people. Last month in Arkansas, legislators overrode Gov. Asa Hutchinson's veto to enact a new law banning doctors from providing gender-affirming medical care to transgender youth.
It was not immediately clear what legal effect the HHS announcement would have on the Arkansas legislation and other similar laws in the works across the country.
"I think that there'll need to be a significant legal analysis about how this guidance and this change in rules interacts with those laws," Levine told NPR.
In the meantime, hospitals and other health care providers in places such as Arkansas that rely heavily on federal funds may feel they are in a bind with competing legal directives about providing care to transgender youth, according to Blake.
"They have state law — with whatever penalty that might be — but breathing down their necks, they have federal regulators that can pull away their Medicare and Medicaid money," she said."
"The significant step taken today is just one step in what is a long road to undo the undermining of health care protections for all people under the Trump administration," Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, an attorney with Lambda Legal, said in a statement.
The announcement from HHS comes as conservative state legislatures are working to enact a variety of bills targeting transgender people. Last month in Arkansas, legislators overrode Gov. Asa Hutchinson's veto to enact a new law banning doctors from providing gender-affirming medical care to transgender youth.
It was not immediately clear what legal effect the HHS announcement would have on the Arkansas legislation and other similar laws in the works across the country.
"I think that there'll need to be a significant legal analysis about how this guidance and this change in rules interacts with those laws," Levine told NPR.
In the meantime, hospitals and other health care providers in places such as Arkansas that rely heavily on federal funds may feel they are in a bind with competing legal directives about providing care to transgender youth, according to Blake.
"They have state law — with whatever penalty that might be — but breathing down their necks, they have federal regulators that can pull away their Medicare and Medicaid money," she said."
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