Affordable Care Act

8th Circuit Greenlights Anti-Trans Discrimination by Catholic Health Care Providers and Employers

A three-judge panel of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision on December 9 upholding an injunction barring the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) from enforcing against Catholic institutions a rule that forbids health care providers from denying gender-affirming care to transgender individuals and that requires employers to cover gender-affirming care in their employee benefit plans.

 

The ruling upheld an injunction … <Read More>

Biden Administration Proposes New Anti-Discrimination Regulations Restoring Protection for LGBTQ Individuals Under the Affordable Care Act

The Biden Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed new regulations on July 25 to replace the Trump Administration’s regulations issued in 2020 under the anti-discrimination provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Section 1557.  The proposed regulations will not become effective until after a public comment period and subsequent possible revisions in light of the comments received, as required under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).  The proposed regulations build upon regulations adopted … <Read More>

Trump Alumni Group Engineers Challenge to Bostock Application Outside of Title VII

Shortly after the end of Donald Trump’s Administration, a group of his top officials formed a new organization intended to challenge attempts by the Biden Administration to change Trump’s policies.  With Stephen Miller, White House counselor and the evil genius behind many of Trump’s policies, as its president and board chair, America First Legal Foundation boasts as board members former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, former Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, and former Director of … <Read More>

Federal Court Enjoins HHS & EEOC From Requiring Catholic Plaintiffs to Perform or Provide Gender Transition Services

Ruling on the last full day of the Trump Administration, one of the federal trial judges appointed by the outgoing president ruled that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) bars the federal government from enforcing the non-discrimination requirement of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Section 1557 or Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 against Catholic plaintiffs to require them either to fund or perform gender transition procedures.  Religious Sisters of Mercy v. … <Read More>

Federal Court Blocks Trump Regulation Revoking Health Care Protections for Transgender People

U.S. District Judge Frederic Block ruled on August 17 that a new Trump Administration Rule that rescinded the Obama Administration’s Rule prohibiting gender identity discrimination in health care will not go into effect on August 18, its scheduled date, and he granted a preliminary injunction against the new Rule’s enforcement.  Judge Block sits in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, in Brooklyn. Walker v. Azar, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 148141.… <Read More>

Federal Judge Issues National Preliminary Injunction against ACA Regulation Banning Gender Identity Discrimination

In an eleventh-hour action, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor (N.D. Texas, Wichita Div.) issued a nationwide preliminary injunction on December 31, barring the federal government from enforcing part of a new regulation that was scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2017, which interpreted the prohibition on discrimination because of sex under the Affordable Care Act to extend to discrimination because of “gender identity” and “termination of pregnancy.” Franciscan Alliance v. Burwell, Civ. … <Read More>

Federal Court Allows Transgender Challenge to NY Medicaid Regulations to Continue

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan  denied most of New York State’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging various limitations in the state’s Medicaid program relating to treatment for gender dysphoria.   Judge Rakoff did not immediately issue a written opinion supporting his June 26 ruling, indicating that one would be issued later.  The case is Cruz v. Zucker, No. 14-CV-4456 (JSR)(GWG) (S.D.N.Y., June 26, 2015).

Medicaid is a joint federal-state program to provide health … <Read More>

Another Circuit Court Rules against Free Exercise of Religion Claim by a Business Corporation

A third federal circuit court of appeals has weighed in on the question whether for-profit business corporations have a right under the 1st Amendment to free exercise of religion, and thus to claim a religious exemption from compliance with a valid general law.  As in Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. v. Sebelius, 2013 WL 3216103 (10th Cir., June 27, 2013), and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Sec’y of U.S. Dep’t of Health & Human Servs

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Circuit Split May Take Religious Exemption Issue to Supreme Court

A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit ruled on July 26 that a for-profit business corporation has no right to free exercise of religion under the 1st Amendment, rejecting a contrary doctrine that had been adopted by the 9th and 10th Circuits and setting up the possibility that the Supreme Court may intervene on a question that has become very salient in the context of marriage equality: Can business
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