The Biden administration announced on Monday that it will reverse Trump-era limits on health care protections against discrimination for gay and transgender people.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said that its Office for Civil Rights will enforce bans on sex discrimination applying to sexual orientation and gender identity in a shift from the former administration’s policies.
The move comes after former President TrumpDonald TrumpSanders: Reinstating SALT deduction ‘sends a terrible, terrible message’ GOP braces for wild week with momentous vote One quick asylum fix: How Garland can help domestic violence survivors MORE’s administration ruled to remove ObamaCare’s nondiscrimination protections that prevented health care workers from denying care to patients based on their gender identity or sexual orientation.
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“Fear of discrimination can lead individuals to forgo care, which can have serious negative health consequences,” HHS Secretary Xavier BecerraXavier BecerraNearly 940,000 sign up for ObamaCare coverage in special enrollment HHS, HUD team up to extend COVID-19 vaccine access in vulnerable communities We urgently need a COVID-level response to the US drug crisis MORE said in a statement. “Everyone — including LGBTQ people — should be able to access health care, free from discrimination or interference, period.”
The previous administration’s HHS policy kept protections against discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability. But the then-update narrowed the definition of sex to only mean “biological sex,” cutting out transgender people from the protections.
The decision to reinstate the previous protections followed a Supreme Court decision last year that concluded federal laws against sex discrimination in the workplace also safeguarded gay and transgender people.
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Becerra said in an HHS notice that the change, effective on Monday, intends to reflect the Supreme Court’s ruling in the health care sphere.
The department also cited research in its release that one-quarter of LGBTQ who said they have endured discrimination delayed or avoided health care.
Under the new policy, the OCR will use the adjusted definition of sex discrimination when processing complaints and completing investigations.
Updated at 9:36 a.m.
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