On the fourth anniversary of the Pulse massacre, where forty-nine people were murdered in a gay night club in Florida, the Trump Administration announced plans to roll back an important, Obama-era regulation about the Health Care Rights Law, removing all recognition by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that the law prohibits anti-transgender or anti-LGBTQ+ bias.⠀
The Health Care Rights Law is Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (AKA. Obamacare), and disallows discrimination in health coverage and care. In 2016, HHS adopted a rule clarifying how the HCR Law should be interpreted and how it plans to enforce it. It is these provisions which will be cut back by the Trump Administration, meaning that the HHS will not take any action to help people who have faced anti-transgender discrimination or investigate complaints.⠀
Only Congress has the power to change the law by repealing the Affordable Care Act hence the rolling back of the regulation does not legalise healthcare discrimination against transgender people, though it will be incredibly difficult in some ways to enforce rights. If you are in any way victimised by anti-LGBTQ+ bias, reach out to an LGBT-friendly legal organisation to explore your options.⠀
Written by Bella Taylor
Media by Ben Hyland
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