Conn. A.G. Tong Joins Lawsuit Against Trump Administration for Allowing Health Care Discrimination

HARTFORD, Connecticut, July 22 -- Connecticut Attorney General William Tong issued the following news release:

Attorney General William Tong joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to stop a new Trump Administration rule that makes it easier for health care providers and insurance companies to discriminate against certain vulnerable and protected classes of Americans. In a lawsuit filed against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), HHS Secretary Alex Azar, and the head of HHS's Office of Civil Rights, Roger Severino, the coalition of attorneys general argues that the new rule emboldens providers and insurers to discriminate against LGBTQ+ individuals, those with limited English proficiency, and women, among others, by stripping express protections for these groups in HHS regulations that implement the nondiscrimination provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). This provision of the ACA prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age by health programs or facilities that receive federal funds, but the Trump Administration is seeking to undermine many of those protections.

"Every person deserves access to health care free from discrimination--regardless of how you identify, the language you speak, or the person you love. It is unconscionable that we are having this debate in the midst of a pandemic, and after the U.S. Supreme Court just affirmed in Bostock that federal civil rights laws prohibit this very type of cruel and needless discrimination," said Attorney General Tong. "We are fortunate in Connecticut that our state laws explicitly bar health care discrimination on the basis of sex and national origin. Our lawsuit seeks to ensure these fundamental protections do not end at our borders."

"Connecticut can be rightly proud of our laws protecting the healthcare rights of our LGBTQ community. But local state protections aren't nearly enough. Many Connecticut residents get their insurance through an out-of-state employer or parent, or seek healthcare in other states that under this cruel and needless rule, could resume discriminating against Connecticut people. We should all thank Attorney General Tong and his team for taking on this battle on our behalf," said Connecticut Healthcare Advocate Ted Doolittle.

The Obama Administration's HHS issued regulations implementing Section 1557 of the ACA in 2016 -- making clear that discrimination on the basis of gender identity, nonconformity to sex stereotypes, and pregnancy status are forms of sex discrimination prohibited by the statute. Specifically, Section 1557 prohibits discrimination by any health care program -- including providers and insurers -- against individuals on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age. Federal courts have also held that the statute's prohibitions on sex discrimination protect transgender and other LGBTQ+ individuals from discrimination, which was confirmed in last month's Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, which held that discrimination based on sexual orientation and transgender status are forms of sex discrimination prohibited by federal civil rights law.

But, despite numerous failed legislative and legal battles to repeal and dismantle the ACA, the Trump Administration's new rule would now eliminate many of the express protections contained in the Section 1557 regulations, unlawfully exclude many health insurers from Section 1557's scope, and would embolden health care providers and health insurers to deny care and insurance coverage. The new rule would also impose unreasonable barriers and impede timely access to health care for Americans, in violation of Section 1554 of the ACA.

Before the rule was finalized, the coalition previously called on the Trump Administration to withdraw the rule by submitting a comment letter to HHS last August, as well as by sending a letter to HHS this past April, at the start of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis, in an effort to stop the further exacerbation of the nation's health care system.

In the lawsuit filed yesterday -- in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York -- the coalition, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, argue that HHS has unlawfully ignored the harms that the new rule will impose on vulnerable populations, including LGBTQ+ individuals, individuals with limited English proficiency, and women, as well as other protected classes. The coalition additionally contends that HHS has failed to justify why it abandoned its prior policy, which, among other things, explicitly prohibited discrimination in health care and required health entities to provide meaningful language assistance services to individuals with limited English proficiency, including notifying them of their rights to translation and interpretation services. The lawsuit finally alleges that the Trump Administration was motivated by animus toward the transgender community in issuing this rule.

The coalition specifically argues that the new rule is arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), and that it violates the equal protection guarantee of the Fifth Amendment.

Attorney General Tong joins Attorneys General James, Becerra, and Healey, as well as the attorneys general of Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia in filing this lawsuit.