ICYMI: Murray led comment by Senate Democrats in calling for strongest possible rule to ensure nondiscrimination protections in health care – More HERE
Murray fought back against the Trump administration’s Section 1557 rule that weakened critical protections against discrimination under the ACA
New Biden administration rule advances civil rights in health care, explicitly protects LGBTQ+ patients from discrimination
Murray: “Donald Trump was working to make it harder for people to get the health care they need—including by opening the floodgates for discrimination—President Biden and Congressional Democrats continue to focus on making sure everyone can get quality, affordable health care.”
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), issued the following statement applauding the new final rule from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) strengthening protections against discrimination in health care on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, and disability under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The final rule will restore protections gutted by the Trump administration and help increase meaningful access to health care for communities across the country.
“Everyone should be able to get the health care they need without facing unfair discrimination for who they are—it’s a simple idea that Donald Trump fought against every way he could,” said Senator Murray. “Americans should know that President Biden has taken strong steps to put back in place necessary protections Congress intended to bring us closer to the goal that everyone can get the health care they need without facing discrimination. For so many patients—but especially the millions of patients with disabilities and LGBTQ+ patients—this rule restores and expands critical protections. Donald Trump was working to make it harder for people to get the health care they need—including by opening the floodgates for discrimination—President Biden and Congressional Democrats continue to focus on making sure everyone can get quality, affordable health care.”
As the top Democrat on the Senate HELP Committee and a longtime health care champion, Senator Murray led the fight against the Trump administration’s cruel and misguided efforts to weaken critical protections against discrimination in health care. In 2019, Murray led a letter to then Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar criticizing the Trump administration’s proposed Section 1557 rule, outlining how the proposed rule could harm patients who already face barriers when seeking care by emboldening insurers and health care providers to discriminate against them. In 2020, Murray slammed the Trump administration’s final Section 1557 rule—which undermined health care protections for LGBTQ people, women, people with disabilities, and people whose primary language is not English—as “presidential malpractice.” In 2022, Murray led Senate Democrats in commenting on the proposed Section 1557 rule, weighing in heavily that HHS must further strengthen protections for people with disabilities and trans people.
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