Yesterday, the Biden administration issued protections for LGBTQ and particularly transgender people against discrimination in health care.
Reversing a Trump administration rule that was blocked by a federal court last August, the Department of Health and Human Services now prohibits health care providers and insurance companies from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
The announcement effectively reinstates an Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) provision extending antidiscrimination protections in health care.
It follows a historic Supreme Court decision last June, which ruled that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act—prohibiting employment discrimination based on “race, color, religion, sex, or national origin”—extends to sexual orientation, identity, and expression.
It was on the basis of this decision that a New York federal judge later blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to roll back health care protections for transgender people—the day before they were set to take effect.
(A review of the Supreme Court decision can be found here and a history of the legislative and judicial matters that led to it here.)
Administration officials announced that they are seeking to pass more comprehensive regulations in the matter.
