U.S. restores health-care protection for LGBT people

WASHINGTON — Gay and transgender people will be protected against sex discrimination in health care, the U.S. health secretary said on Monday, as President Joe Biden’s administration reversed a policy put in place under his predecessor Donald Trump.

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said the action restores protections under a provision of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, against sexual discrimination in health care. It was the latest in a series of steps the Democratic president has taken to bolster LGBT rights.

“It simply says what everyone already should know: You should not discriminate against people,” Becerra told CNN. “That includes those based on sexual orientation or gender identity and when it comes to health care — we want to make sure that’s the case.”

The new policy represents a reversal of a reversal. HHS under Trump in June 2020 issued a rule that lifted some anti-discrimination protections under the Affordable Care Act, a law signed by former President Barack Obama in 2010.

In 2016, Obama’s administration introduced rules that made clear that LGBT people would be protected under the federal health-care discrimination provision.

The Trump-era rule reversed those provisions of the law that extended civil rights protections in health care to cover areas including gender identity and abortion.

“So now it’s clear, there’s no ambiguity: You cannot discriminate against people based on sexual orientation or gender identity,” Becerra added.