New Proposed Rule Bars Health Care Providers, Insurers From Discriminating Based on Gender Identity

The Obama administration on Thursday released a proposed rule that would bar providers and insurers from discriminating against patients based on gender identity. The proposal, which is open for public comment through Nov. 6, would apply to providers and insurers that  receive funding from HHS, including those that participate in Medicare or Medicaid. According to Jocelyn Samuels, head of HHS' Office for Civil Rights, the proposed rule would not explicitly mandate that insurers cover any specific treatments but would "require that insurers apply non-discriminatory criteria to assessing the services that they will cover."

• "U.S. Government To Extend Health Care Nondiscrimination Law to Transgender People" (Humer, Reuters, 9/3).