Biden Rule Would Strengthen Health Protections for Gay and Transgender People
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration said Monday that it intends to enshrine anti-discrimination protections for gay and transgender people in the Affordable Care Act — a proposal that would officially reverse a policy adopted by the Department of Health and Human Services under former President Donald J.
Trump. The Trump rule, finalized in 2020, erased Obama-era protections for transgender patients. Last year, the Biden administration took a preliminary step toward restoring them, by announcing that H.H.S.
would draft a rule prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity by hospitals and other health care providers that receive federal funding.
That proposed rule was released Monday, and is far more expansive than the Obama-era policy. It would, for the first time, enforce anti-discrimination protections for patients with Medicare Part B, which covers outpatient physician care.
