HHS Must Protect Health Care Access for All

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Shin Inouye, [email protected], 202.869.0398

WASHINGTON – Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement after the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a proposed rule to weaken the non-discrimination protections (Section 1557) of the Affordable Care Act:

“Today’s announcement is a cruel move against already vulnerable communities that heightens the atmosphere of fear that this administration has perpetuated. If implemented, the rollback would harm millions of people in America by allowing health care providers to deny care to marginalized communities and worsen already existing health disparities in our country. This proposed rule could also restrict people with limited English proficiency from accessing health care.

“This proposal to weaken the non-discrimination protections of the Affordable Care Act is part of a broader Trump administration effort to sabotage the dramatic expansion of health care coverage that the law achieved. It is evidence of the administration’s broader mission to take away our right to health care. These efforts to weaken these protections are meanspirited and must not be implemented.”

The Leadership Conference previously wrote to then-Secretary of Health and Human Services Thomas E. Price and Director of the Office for Civil Rights Roger Severino, urging robust enforcement of Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is 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 member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.