HHS includes trans people in health care rule that bans sex discrimination
By Kay Steiger
Monday, August 6, 2012 15:22 EDT
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/08/06/hhs-includes-trans-people-in-health-care-rule-that-bans-sex-discrimination/ The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) clarified recently that the much-touted rule that says health insurance companies can not discriminate based on sex also extends to trans people.
"This anti-discrimination law, enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act, creates an important new tool to combat anti-LGBT and especially anti-transgender discrimination in health care," said National Center for Transgender Equality (CTE) Executive Director Mara Keisling in a press release.
This clarification determines that section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which "extends federal nondiscrimination protections to the health care system for the first time," according to an analysis by left-of-center policy and advocacy organization the
Center for American Progress.
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Obamacare Protects Transgender People from Discrimination Posted by
Justin Snow |
August 6, 2012 4:28 PM |
Permalink http://www.metroweekly.com/poliglot/2012/08/obamacare-protects-transgender-people-from-discrim.htmlA section of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that protects against sexual discrimination will also apply to transgender people, according to a letter from the Department of Health and Human Services.
In response to a request from a dozen LGBT organizations sent to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in June, the department clarified an antidiscrimination provision of "Obamacare," stating flatly that it also applies to gender identity.
Leon Rodriguez, director of the Office for Civil Rights of HSS, wrote in his response, first obtained by BuzzFeed, that HHS agrees that under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, "sex discrimination prohibition extends to claims of discrimination based on gender identity or failure to conform to stereotypical notions of masculinity or femininity."
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HHS: Health Reform Law Prohibits Antitransgender Bias in Care Responding to an inquiry from LGBT groups, the Department of Health and Human Services says a provision against sex discrimination covers gender identity and expression. BY Trudy Ring August 06 2012 5:45 PM ET
http://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2012/08/06/hhs-says-antitransgender-discrimination-illegal-under-health-reform Transgender people, who often face barriers to obtaining health care, now clearly have the federal government on their side in the fight against discrimination.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, responding to an inquiry from several LGBT groups, has clarified that the health care reform law's provision banning sex discrimination covers discrimination against transgender and gender-nonconforming people. In his response, issued in July, HHS civil rights director Leon Rodriquez states, "We agree that [the health care law's] sex discrimination prohibition extends to claims of discrimination based on gender identity or failure to conform to stereotypical notions of masculinity or femininity and will accept such complaints for investigation."
