NCTE Executive Director Mara Keisling issued the following statement following the resignation of Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price:
“Secretary Price didn’t just fail to use public funds responsibly, he failed in his duty to protect the health and dignity of all people. Notably, Price has led an effort to actively promote discrimination in health care and encourage providers and insurers to turn transgender people away. That violates the responsibilities of the office of Secretary and the requirements of the Affordable Care Act, which remains the law of the land.
“We strongly urge President Trump to nominate someone who will keep faith with the American people—all of the American people—and with the law of the land, and not single anyone out.”
Among many efforts to undermine the Affordable Care Act—and with it, Americans’ access to health care—Price has presided over a months-long and continuing effort to subvert the law’s nondiscrimination protections. Despite years of case law holding that law’s like the ACA protect transgender people from discrimination, Price and Office for Civil Rights Director Roger Severino have stated they intend to roll back rules that recognize these protections and have quietly deleted Frequently Asked Questions from the Department’s website, sowing confusion among consumers, providers and insurers and promoting discrimination.
