Joe Biden's administration announced on Monday that it wanted to strengthen protection against discrimination in access to healthcare, in particular by returning to a measure taken under Donald Trump concerning the protection of transgender people.
This announcement
“comes at an important time, particularly after the Supreme Court decision going in the wrong direction”
on abortion, said Minister of Health Xavier Becerra.
And
“we know that in a lot of states the transgender community feels left out.”
"Send a Signal"
Care, such as hormonal treatments, that can be prescribed to transgender minors, is in the sights of several conservative states in the country.
“This will, I hope, send a signal: if you ask for care, and you have the right to have access to it, we will protect this right against discrimination
,” added the minister during a press conference.
Concretely, the measure concerns a section of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) - better known as "Obamacare", Barack Obama's flagship law on health insurance.
The section in question prohibits entities receiving federal funds from discriminating, in particular,
“on the basis of sex”
.
By 2020, President Trump's administration had limited the scope of this section by making it cover fewer services, and no longer include gender identity.
The regulations proposed by the Biden administration restore its application to all health services receiving federal funds, as well as the notion of gender identity.
It
“clarifies that discrimination on the basis of sex includes discrimination based on sexual characteristics, including intersex characteristics”
, but also
“pregnancy or related states, such as the termination of pregnancy”
, declared during the meeting.
a press conference Melanie Fontes Rainer, of the Ministry of Health.
The new regulations are currently subject to a mandatory comment period.
Xavier Becerra hoped to have it in place by next year.