AHA STATEMENT ON HHS PROHIBITION OF DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND GENDER IDENTITY

Rick Pollack, President and CEO, American Hospital Association

May 10, 2021

The AHA strongly supports the administration's ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. All patients deserve access to care and to be treated with dignity and respect throughout the health delivery system. Patients should also never feel discouraged from seeking medical treatment due to fear of discrimination. We are pleased to see these important protections restored.

AMA Statement on Biden Administration Decision To Restore Anti-Bias ProtectionsThe following statement is attributable to:

Susan R. Bailey, M.D. President, American Medical Association

"The Biden administration did the right thing by terminating a short-lived effort to allow discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation when seeking health care. As we said in our letter to the previous administration, the interpretation was contrary to the intent and the plain language of the law. It's unfortunate that such an obvious step had to be taken; the AMA welcomes this common-sense understanding of the law.

"This move is a victory for health equity and ends a dismal chapter in which a federal agency sought to remove civil rights protections."