Equality California Issues Statement on Affordable Care Act

WASHINGTON, May 24 -- Equality California issued the following statement by Executive Director Rick Zbur on the Affordable Care Act:

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services proposed a new rule on Friday that would roll back a critical regulation related to Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which protects transgender people from discrimination in healthcare and insurance coverage.

"President Trump has cruelly dismissed the service of transgender Americans in our military and told transgender children across the country that his administration won't protect them from being bullied or harassed in our schools.

"His announcement today tells millions of transgender people that they should be denied healthcare simply because of who they are -- and that their president values the support of his political base more than he values American lives."

Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act prohibits discrimination in healthcare and health insurance coverage on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age and disability. The section applies to all health programs and activities that receive federal funding -- which includes most hospitals, doctors' offices and health insurance companies in the nation. In 2016, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services adopted a regulation, which President Trump announced his intention to roll back this morning, explaining that Section 1557's prohibition of discrimination on the basis of sex includes anti-transgender discrimination.

Earlier this month, President Trump announced a final rule empowering healthcare workers to refuse care to patients based on the workers' own personal religious beliefs. On Tuesday, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed suit against the Administration, seeking to block that rule.Equality California has repeatedly opposed the Trump-Pence Administration's attacks on the transgender community and all LGBTQ people. In September 2017, Equality California and seven transgender servicemembers and individuals seeking to enlist in the military filed Stockman v. Trump challenging the president's unconstitutional ban on transgender military service.