Lambda Legal Commends Administration for Healthcare Nondiscrimination Rule Restoring Critical Protections for LGBTQ+ People

"The rule released today restores regulatory nondiscrimination protections for those who need them most and ensures a legally proper reading of the Affordable Care Act's health care nondiscrimination law,"

(New York, April 26, 2024) - Lambda Legal today commended the Biden administration for issuing new regulations under Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) that will protect access to nondiscriminatory healthcare for LGBTQ+ people and other vulnerable populations. The new rule, released by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), restores and clarifies important regulatory protections for LGBTQ+ people and other vulnerable populations under Section 1557, also known as the health care nondiscrimination law, that were previously rescinded by the Trump administration.

"Healthcare is a fundamental human right. The rule released today restores critical regulatory nondiscrimination protections for those who need them most and ensures a legally proper reading of the Affordable Care Act's healthcare nondiscrimination law," said Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, Counsel and Health Care Strategist for Lambda Legal.

"The Biden administration today reversed the harmful, discriminatory, and unlawful effort by the previous administration to eliminate critical regulatory protections for LGBTQ+ people and other vulnerable populations, such as people with limited English proficiency, by carving them out from the rule and limiting the scope of entities to which the rule applied," Gonzalez-Pagan added. "The rule released today has reinstated many of these important protections, as well as clarifying the broad, intended scope of the rule to cover all health programs and activities and health insurers receiving federal funds. While we evaluate the new rule in detail, it is important to highlight that this rule will help members of the LGBTQ+ community - especially transgender people, non-English speakers, immigrants, people of color, and people living with disabilities - to access the care they need and deserve, saving lives and making sure healthcare professionals serve patients with essential care no matter who they are."

In addition to rescinding critical regulatory protections for LGBTQ+ people, the Trump administration's rule also limited the remedies available to people who face health disparities, limited access to health care for people with Limited English Proficiency (LEP), and dramatically reduced the number of healthcare entities and health plans subject to the rule. Lambda Legal, along with a broad coalition of LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration rule, Whitman-Walker Clinic v. HHS, and secured a preliminary injunction preventing key aspects of the Trump rule from taking effect. These included the elimination of regulatory protections for LGBTQ+ people and the unlawful expansion of religious exemptions, which the new rule corrects. The preliminary injunction in Whitman-Walker Clinic v. HHS remains in place. Any next steps in the case will be determined at a later time, after a fulsome review of the new rule.

Read the new Section 1557 rule here: HHS.gov/1557

Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people, and everyone living with HIV through impact litigation, education, and public policy work.