The Administration’s new 1557 rule seeks to roll back health care nondiscrimination protections for transgender and nonbinary people under the Affordable Care Act. Despite what the new rule says, all LGBTQ people are still protected from being discriminated against under the law when it comes to health care and health insurance — and several LGBTQ legal organizations are ready to go to court to prove it. Nonetheless, this rule does send a dangerous and confusing message to health care providers, at the worst possible time.
Sam Brinton (they/them pronouns), Vice President of Advocacy and Government Affairs for The Trevor Project, says:
“Access to quality health care without discrimination is critical right now, and thankfully, whatever this new rule may say, LGBTQ people are still protected under the law. This rule sends a dangerous and confusing message to health care providers at the worst possible time. In the midst of a global pandemic with serious implications for the LGBTQ youth The Trevor Project serves, the last thing our nation needs is for the Administration to suggest, contrary to the plain language of the Affordable Care Act, that medical care providers don’t have to treat transgender and nonbinary people with the same care and respect as everybody else.”
