Groups plan lawsuit after Trump administration reverses transgender health care protections
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Three groups say they have planned lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s reversal of protections for transgender patients in regulations interpreting the Affordable Care Act.
The Human Rights Campaign, the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal’s Transgender Rights Project are all planning lawsuits, the New York Times reports. Most medical groups, including the American Medical Association and the American Hospital Association, also objected to the rollback.
The ACA bars discrimination on the basis of sex at health facilities that receive federal assistance. The Obama administration interpreted the provision to bar health care discrimination on the basis of gender identity and abortion history. Litigation prevented much of the prior interpretation from taking effect, report the New York Times and the Hill. CNN also has coverage.
A summary of the final rule announced Friday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says the prior interpretations were “essentially legislative changes that the department lacked the authority to make.”
The department says its interpretation of sex discrimination will be based on “the plain meaning of the word ‘sex’ as male or female and as determined by biology.”
