279 Groups Call for Health Care Access to Protect All

The National Center for Transgender Equality, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and 277 other organizations issued the following statement today in response to news that the Trump administration is preparing to publish a final rule that would dramatically undermine the Affordable Care Act’s nondiscrimination provisions:

“We cannot imagine a more reckless and irresponsible time for the Trump administration to push ahead with a rule that would promote discrimination in medical care. This rule could dangerously embolden health care providers, hospitals, and insurers to claim a right to refuse testing or treatment — including for COVID-19 — to many people in need, create hurdles for people with limited English proficiency, and abandon efforts to maintain functional communication technologies for people with disabilities.

“Access to health care is a human right. The coronavirus has demonstrated with devastating clarity that the health of every person in this country is impacted by the health of each and every one of us. This rule is discriminatory and wrong at any time, but especially harmful during this global pandemic. It must be scrapped.”

Additionally, the groups outlined their concerns to Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, HHS Office for Civil Rights Director Roger Severino, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma, and other leaders. That letter is available here.

The statement and letter were signed by the following groups:

• The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
• National Center for Transgender Equality
• AbsoluteCARE Medical Center and Pharmacy
• ACCESS
• ACLU of Montana
• Advocates for Youth
• AFL-CIO
• African American Ministers In Action
• AIDS Alabama
• AIDS Foundation Chicago
• Alianza Nacional de Campesinas
• American Association of People with Disabilities
• American Association of University Women (AAUW)
• American Atheists
• American Civil Liberties Union
• American Federation of Teachers
• American Humanist Association
• American Muslim Health Professionals
• American Public Health Association
• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
• Americans for Democratic Action (ADA)
• Amnesty International USA
• API Social Work Council
• API Social Work Council Northern CA
• APISWC (Asian Pacific Islander Social Work Council)
• Appalachian Indivisible
• Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum
• Asian Americans Rising
• Association for Chinese Families of the Disabled
• Association for Community Affiliated Plans
• Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO)
• Association of People Supporting Employment First (APSE)
• Athlete Ally
• Atlanta Pride Committee
• Bend the Arc: Jewish Action
• Bridgercare
• Cal Voices
• California Black Women’s Health Project
• California LGBTQ Health and Human Services Network
• California Pan-Ethnic Health Network
• Callen-Lorde Community Health Center
• Center for American Progress
• Center for Constitutional Rights
• Center for Elder Law & Justice
• Center for Health Progress
• Center for Independence of the Disabled, NY
• Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)
• Center for Medicare Advocacy
• Center for Public Policy Priorities
• Center for Public Representation
• Center for Reproductive Rights
• Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism – California State University, San Bernardino
• CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers
• Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Inc.
• Chicago House and Social Services Agency
• Children’s Aid
• Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC)
• Chronic Disease Coalition
• Church World Service
• Citizen Action of New York
• Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York
• Clearinghouse on Women’s Issues
• Coalition for Asian American Children and Families
• Coalition for Disability Health Equity
• Coalition of Labor Union Women
• Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR)
• Community Catalyst
• Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, U.S. Provinces
• Consumers for Affordable Health Care
• East Bay Asian Youth Center
• East Bay Community Law Center
• East Bay Refugee and Immigrant Forum
• Empire Justice Center
• Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta
• Equal Rights Advocates
• Equality California
• Equality Federation
• Equality Florida
• Equality Montana
• Equality New Mexico
• Equality North Carolina
• Equality Ohio
• Equality Texas
• EqualityMaine
• Equity Forward
• Families USA
• Family Equality
• Female-To-Male International, Inc.
• Feminist Majority Foundation
• Feminist Women’s Health Center
• FORGE, Inc.
• Forward Montana Foundation
• Forward Together Action
• Gay City: Seattle’s LGBTQ Center
• Gender Equality Montana
• Gender Spectrum
• Georgia Equality
• Georgians for a Healthy Future
• GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD)
• GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality
• GLSEN
• Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition
• Health Access California
• Heartland Alliance
• Heartland Resistance Coalition, an Indivisible group
• Hispanic Federation
• Hmong Cultural Center of Butte County
• Housing Choice Partners
• HPEACE
• Human Rights Campaign
• Ibis Reproductive Health
• Immigration Equality
• Impact Fund
• Indivisible Brookfield
• Indivisible CA-33
• Indivisible Georgia Coalition
• Indivisible Houston
• Indivisible Il9
• Indivisible Illinois
• Indivisible Lumpkin
• Indivisible Madison (WI)
• Indivisible Marching Buddies of Atlanta
• Indivisible Metro East
• Indivisible San Francisco
• interACT: Advocates for Intersex Youth
• Interfaith Alliance
• International Association of Providers of AIDS Care
• International Community Health Services
• Jewish Women International
• Justice in Aging
• JustUs Health
• Kentucky Equal Justice Center
• Kentucky Mental Health Coalition
• Kentucky Voices for Health
• Korean Community Center of the East Bay
• La Clinica de La Raza
• Labor Council for Latin American Advancement
• Lambda Legal
• Lavender Rights Project
• League of Women Voters of the United States
• LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York
• LGBTQ Connection
• Long Term Care Community Coalition
• Matthew Shepard Foundation
• Mazzoni Center
• Mental Health America of California
• Mental Health America of Kentucky
• Mercy Care
• Methodist Federation for Social Action
• Metro New York Health Care for All
• MomsRising
• Montana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics
• Montana Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence
• Montana Gender Alliance
• Montana Human Rights Network
• Movement Advancement Project
• NAACP
• NARAL Pro-Choice America
• NASTAD
• National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
• National Asian Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA)
• National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a)
• National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities
• National Association of Human Rights Workers
• National Association of Social Workers
• National Association of Social Workers (NASW) California Chapter
• National Black Justice Coalition
• National Center for Lesbian Rights
• National Center for Youth Law
• National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
• National Coalition for LGBT Health
• National Consumers League
• National Council of Jewish Women
• National Council on Independent Living
• National Disability Rights Network
• National Employment Law Project
• National Employment Lawyers Association
• National Equality Action Team
• National Health Care for the Homeless Council
• National Health Law Program
• National Hispanic Council on Aging
• National Human Services Assembly
• National Indian Education Association
• National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)
• National LGBT Cancer Network
• National LGBTQ Task Force
• National Partnership for Women & Families
• National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA)
• National Trans Bar Association
• National Women’s Health Network
• National Workrights Institute
• Native Directions Inc.
• Necessary Trouble Indivisible
• New York Immigration Coalition
• New York Legal Assistance Group
• NM Center on Law & Poverty
• Oasis Legal Services
• OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates
• Office of the Health Care Advocate, Vermont Legal Aid
• One Colorado
• Openhouse, San Francisco
• Orange County United Way
• Out2Enroll
• OutFront Minnesota
• OutNebraska
• Papa Ola Lokahi
• People For the American Way
• People’s Action
• PFLAG National
• Planned Parenthood Federation of America
• Positive Transformations Psychotherapy
• Positive Women’s Network-USA
• Power to Decide
• PowerOn, a program of LGBT Technology Institute
• Prepare To Bloom, LLC
• Pride at Work
• Pride Center of Vermont
• Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada
• Public Advocacy for Kids (PAK)
• Public Citizen
• Quest Family Therapy / Gender Health Training Institute
• Rabbinical Assembly
• Racial & Ethnic Mental Health Disparities Coalition (REMHDCO)
• Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
• RESULTS
• Rural Coalition
• SAGE: Advocacy and Services for LGBT Elders
• Santa Cruz Dyke Trans March
• SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center
• Shriver Center on Poverty Law
• Silver State Equality-Nevada
• SisterSong: National Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective
• Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine
• South Asian Network
• Southern Black Policy and Advocacy Network
• Southern Legal Counsel, Inc.
• Southern Poverty Law Center
• St. Louis STI Regional Response Coalition
• TASH
• Tennessee Justice Center
• The AIDS Institute
• The American Liver Foundation
• The California Youth Empowerment Network
• The Center for Sexuality & Gender Diversity
• The Gerontological Society of America
• The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center
• The Progressive Vietnamese American Organization
• The Trans 100
• The Trevor Project
• The United Methodist Church – General Board of Church and Society
• The Volunteer Lawyers Project of Onondaga County, Inc.
• The Womxn Project (TWP)
• Trans Pride Initiative
• Transgender Law Center
• Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund
• Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico
• TransVisible Montana
• True Colors United
• UHCAN Ohio
• UnidosUS
• Union for Reform Judaism
• UNITED SIKHS
• United Way Worldwide
• United We Dream
• Urban Strategies, Public Policy and Immigrant Affairs, Oakland, California
• URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity
• VIETNAMESE AMERICAN COMMUNITY CENTER OF THE EAST BAY
• Vietnamese American Community Center of the East Bay
• Voices for Progress
• Volunteer Lawyers Project of Onondaga County, Inc.
• WAMM Phytotherapies
• We All Rise
• We’ve Been Too Patient
• West Indivisible Suburban Engagement
• West Virginians for Affordable Health Care
• Western Front Indivisible
• Whitman-Walker Health and Whitman-Walker Institute
• WHOLE SYSTEMS LEARNING
• Young Invincibles