Biden to protect LGBT people against health care bias

Gay and transgender people will be protected against sex discrimination in healthcare, 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 healthcare.

“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 healthcare – we want to make sure that’s the case.”

Xavier Becerra, nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services, answers questions during his Senate Finance Committee nomination hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, U.S., February 24, 2021. Greg Nash/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

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

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

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

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Susan Heavey and Will Dunham)