Civil and Human Rights Coalition Applauds Proposed Health Care Non-Discrimination Rules
WASHINGTON—Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement in support of the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS’) announcement that it was issuing a proposed rule to implement Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act:
“Today, the Obama administration took an important step forward in eliminating health disparities and ensuring that all people in the United States can access quality, affordable health care, without discrimination.We applaud the work of our coalition, including the National Women’s Law Center, and the leadership of Judith Lichtman of the National Partnership for Women and Families and the chair of The Leadership Conference Board of Directors toward making this proposed rule a reality.
Discrimination takes many forms and can occur at any step in the health care system—from obtaining insurance coverage to receiving proper diagnosis and treatment. This discrimination has serious adverse impacts on the lives of underserved populations, causing them to pay more for health care and to risk receiving improper diagnoses and less effective treatments.
The proposed rule is a critical component to preventing and addressing discrimination in health care based on race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex, including gender identity and sex stereotyping. We commend HHS for taking the important step of issuing a proposed rule and urge the administration to move promptly after the end of the comment period to finalize the regulations so as to ensure effective implementation of this crucial new civil rights protection.”
Wade Henderson is the president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its 200-plus member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.