Stop Trump Admin from Legitimizing Healthcare Discrimination -- Deadline August 13th
Submit a comment to the Department of Health and Human Services opposing the rule change to weaken legal protections against discrimination in healthcare.
You can also mail your comment to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, Attention: Section 1557 NPRM, RIN 0945-AA11, Hubert H. Humphrey Building, Room 509F, 200 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20201.
We know from multiple wins this year that well-informed, personal public comment can be sand in the gears or an outright obstacle to unjust rulemaking. Your comment matters!
Comments are due August 13th, 2019.
Background:
Back in May, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that—pursuant to Trump’s Executive Order 13765 back in 2017—HHS would propose a rule that would effectively repeal Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which is known as the Health Care Rights Law.
Here’s what the Administration is trying to undo, according to the National Women’s Law Center:
Under the Health Care Rights Law, health insurers, hospitals, clinics, and any other covered entities cannot deny patients care because of their race, because they speak another language, because they are pregnant, have had an abortion, are unmarried, are transgender, are gay or lesbian, because they have a disability, or because they don’t meet traditional sex stereotypes.
The proposed rule is now open for public comment. You can submit your comment on Regulations.gov telling HHS why they should leave these protections in place and stop trying to legitimize discrimination and prevent people from accessing healthcare.
We’ve seen several times just this year that well-informed, personal comments can slow or stop injustices. Large quantities of personal comments are sand in the gears, and every personal story or data point or argument is something that the Administration must address in its response and can be taken to court over. Please submit a comment before the comment period ends on August 13!
More information is here:
National Center for Transgender Equality: FAQ about the Administration’s effort to harm trans people
National Women’s Law Center fact sheet on Section 1557, the Health Care Rights Law
National Women’s Law Center: A Prescription for Discrimination
Trans Broken Arm Syndrome (trans people getting blown off by healthcare providers on the grounds that whatever symptoms they’ve presented with must be symptoms of them being trans)
Your own personal story, if you have one you’re willing to share