Obama Plan Targets Health Care Bias Against Transgender People

[eridani]

http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/32190-plan-targets-health-care-bias-against-transgender-people

Mirroring a shift in society, the Obama administration proposed Thursday to ban discrimination against transgender people throughout the health care system.

The new protections are part of a much broader proposed regulation by the Department of Health and Human Services. In a first, the Affordable Care Act specified that sex discrimination is prohibited in health care, and the regulation carries that a step further, clarifying that "gender identity" is included within that protective umbrella.

"This is a huge step," said Michael Silverman, director of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund in New York. "It covers a lot of ground."

The new transgender policy comes at a time when social attitudes about sexuality and gender are undergoing a major shift. The Supreme Court recognized a constitutional right for same-sex couples to marry, and the gender transition of Olympian Bruce Jenner from male to female — Caitlyn — has brought new awareness about a group of people often ostracized by society.

The long-delayed rule amounts to a manual for carrying out the nondiscrimination section of President Barack Obama's health law, which prohibits bias in medical care on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. Those underlying provisions already are in effect.

"Sadly, we have ample evidence that there continues to be a persistent problem with discrimination in the health care industry," said Jocelyn Samuels, head of the HHS office of civil rights, which would enforce the proposed rule.

Samuels said the rule does not explicitly require insurers to cover gender transition treatment, including surgery. But insurers could face questions if they deny medically necessary services related to gender transition by man who identifies as a woman, or a woman who identifies as a man.