In the latest setback for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the people it is intended to help, a federal judge on Tuesday overturned ACA protections for transgender patients. Under the ACA, doctors, hospitals and insurance companies are prohibited from denying treatment or coverage to transgender individuals. The regulation also mandated that health care providers perform medically necessary services for transgender patients. The late Tuesday ruling by Judge Reed O’Connor in the Northern District of Texas rescinded that regulation.
Despite an increase in the transgender community’s visibility in recent years, transgender individuals continue to suffer severe harassment and discrimination. This ruling, which takes away an important legal protection, is only going to exacerbate the abuse this vulnerable community faces.
The judge who issued this ruling is the same judge who ruled last year that the entire Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional. That ruling is currently being considered by an appeals court, and we expect this new ruling on transgender people will also be appealed.
In the meantime, L.A. Care remains committed to supporting our transgender members, and we will continue to voice our opposition to rulings that try to strip them of the protections that allow them to live in dignity.
--John Baackes, CEO of L.A. Care