In a move announced Monday, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reinstated anti-bias protections in health care based on sexual orientation and gender bias — reversing a Trump-era policy that sought to limit the protections’ scope by focusing them on sex assigned at birth.
According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (42 USC 18116) and its implementing regulation provide that an individual shall not be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination on the grounds prohibited under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq. (race, color, national origin).
The shift pertains to health-care providers and other organizations that receive funding from the Department of Health and Human Services. Civil rights groups had said the Trump policy would allow health-care workers and institutions, as well as insurers, to deny services to transgender individuals.
