We can help you submit a public comment on the Health Care Rights Law
The Trump administration has proposed a rollback of the Health Care Rights Law of the Affordable Care Act. The Health Care Rights Law protects patients from discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, age, and disability in health care, and is the first broad prohibition of sex discrimination in health care federal law.
The proposed rule erodes civil rights protections and, as a result, opens the door to discrimination while dramatically increasing barriers and cost to accessing care for people needing reproductive health care, LGBTQ people, people with limited English proficiency, and people with disabilities and/or chronic conditions—especially those who hold multiple of these identities. This proposal is an attack on all of us and our rights.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is asking the public to weigh in on this harmful erosion of the Law. We need you to submit a public comment to protect the Health Care Rights Law by 11:59 PM ET on August 13.
Click “Read more” below for suggested text for your public comment, which you can copy and paste into the comment box. Making your message personal, by adding your own thoughts or a story, will have the most impact. If you are a health care provider, please mention your role and concern for your patients in your comments.
Dear Secretary Azar,
The proposed rollback of the Health Care Rights Law weakens protections created in the Affordable Care Act, particularly for those who live at the intersection of multiple identities and who face great barriers to accessing health care. For this reason, I firmly oppose the proposed rule and the barriers, disparities, and discrimination as disparate impacts of this proposal in practice.
The Health Care Rights Law currently protects patients from discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, age, and disability in health care, and is the first broad prohibition of sex discrimination in health care federal law.
In practice, the proposed rule would have devastating effects on communities such as LGBTQIA people, those with limited English proficiency, people with disabilities and/or chronic conditions all of whom also need access to reproductive health care. We all deserve compassionate and comprehensive health care. The increased discrimination that will result from these new rules will hurt the health and well-being of our communities. The Department of Health and Human Services needs promote the health of all—including the needs of the above-mentioned communities and individuals affected by the proposed rule—by building structures in which stigma, fear, and long-standing power dynamics have no place.
No person should face discrimination because of their gender identity, gender presentation, pregnancy status, sexual orientation, English proficiency, disability and/or chronic illness. As someone who is deeply concerned for people at the intersection of these identities, I stand against this proposed rule and that will weaken access to high quality health care. I oppose this rule and urge you to protect, not hurt, access to health care.
Sincerely,
[Your information here]
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