GLAAD RESPONDS TO BIDEN ADMINISTRATION RELEASE OF UPDATED RULES TO SECTION 1557 OF ACA

(New York, NY – April 26, 2024) – Today GLAAD, the world’s leading LGBTQ media advocacy organization, responded to the release by the Department of Health and Human Services of updated regulations to Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which will reverse Trump-era rules and ensure nondiscrimination provisions in health care for marginalized communities including LGBTQ people, intersex people, and those who are pregnant. The final rule prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, age, and disability; and restores clear nondiscrimination standards for healthcare providers and health insurance companies.

Sarah Kate Ellis (she/her), CEO and President of GLAAD, released the following statement in response to the news:

“The Biden administration’s updates to rules regarding Section 1557 of the ACA will ensure that no one who is LGBTQI or pregnant can face discrimination in accessing essential health care. This reversal of Trump-era discriminatory rules that sought to single out Americans based on who they are and make it difficult or impossible for them to access necessary medical care will have a direct, positive impact on the day to day lives of millions of people. Today’s move marks the 334th action from the Biden-Harris White House in support of LGBTQ people. Health care is a human right that should be accessible to all Americans equally without unfair and discriminatory restrictions. LGBTQ Americans are grateful for this step forward to combat discrimination in health care so no one is barred from lifesaving treatment.”

For more information on the rates of discrimination and disparities among LGBTQ people in health care, visit: https://www.americanprogress.org/article/discrimination-and-barriers-to-well-being-the-state-of-the-lgbtqi-community-in-2022/.

Notes for press:

• The updated rule does not force medical professionals to provide certain types of health care, but rather ensures nondiscrimination protections so that providers cannot turn away patients based on individual characteristics such as being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, or pregnant.
• Best practice, evidence-based, and lifesaving essential health care for transgender people and youth is supported by virtually every major medical association and leading world health authority. Statements from 30+ organizations here.
• As of early 2024, federal judges in Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee all ruled against these states’ respective health care bans or blocked proposed bans from being enacted, including rulings by three Trump-nominated justices.
• In addition, governors in Kentucky, Utah, Wisconsin, and Arizona have all vetoed bans on health care for transgender people.
• Judges have reviewed expert evidence and lived experience of plaintiffs to rule that the care is necessary, safe, and essential. They have also tossed testimony from state witnesses for lack of credibility and qualifications. Rulings here. Excerpts from judges’ rulings note the bans as unconstitutional and a violation of due process.
• The effort to pass anti-transgender bans at the state level has a significant economic cost on taxpayers: In 2023, Governor Ron DeSantis’ administration authorized more than $1.3 million for legal and expert-witness fees in the effort to ban Medicaid coverage of health care for potentially thousands of transgender residents. (The rule was struck down by a federal district judge in June 2023 but is being appealed by the state.)
• State-level health care bans resemble extreme legislation that passed in Russia last year under President Vladimir Putin that bans all forms of transition-related health care, including medications like hormone therapy and puberty blockers that have been safely used for decades. Russia’s legislation also bans people from being able to change their gender markers on official documents, bans transgender people from being able to adopt a child, and annuls any marriages in which one of the spouses is transgender.
• Refer to the anti-LGBTQ records of committee leaders and potential witnesses, as documented by the GLAAD Accountability Project, noting a history of spreading false information about LGBTQ people and transgender health care, including witnesses whose testimony has been rejected in district courts such as Mark Regnerus, Patrick Lappert and Paul Hruz.
• Public support for nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ Americans continues at high levels among the American public, with polls last year showing 8 in 10 favoring laws that would protect gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people against discrimination in jobs, public accommodations, and housing.

GLAAD’s 2023 Accelerating Acceptance survey shows 84% of non-LGBTQ Americans support equal rights for LGBTQ people; 91% say LGBTQ people should be able to live their lives free from discrimination.