A new rule from the HHS’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) requires covered health programs and activities to treat individuals consistent with their gender identity, according to an article on the AISHealth website.
Healthcare providers will need to ensure, and revise as necessary, their admitting and rooming policies to comply with the regulation.
HHS also issued a set of FAQs, which noted that the final rule “applies to every health program or activity that receives HHS funding, every health program or activity administered by HHS, such as the Medicare Part D program, and the Health Insurance Marketplaces and all plans offered by issuers that participate in those Marketplaces. Covered entities may include hospitals, health clinics, health insurance issuers, state Medicaid agencies, community health centers, physician’s practices and home health care agencies.”
In July 2015, OCR announced a settlement with The Brooklyn Hospital Center to resolve allegations that the facility had violated Section 1557 “when it assigned a transgender female who presented as a female at the hospital…to a double occupancy patient room with a male occupant.”
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