(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont is urging the Trump administration to reverse its plans to further undermine the Affordable Care Act by eliminating important protections instituted by the Obama administration for women, LGBTQ+ persons, and English-language learners.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Health and Human Services Department announced that it is planning to enact a new regulation that will allow hospitals, physicians, and insurers to deny care and insurance coverage to patients based on their gender identity and choices regarding pregnancies. The regulation would also reverse requirements that information be made available to patients with limited English proficiency in their native languages.
“We cannot allow health care providers in Connecticut to object to treating a patient based on immutable characteristics such as sexual orientation or gender identity,” Governor Lamont wrote in public comments submitted to HHS Secretary Alex Azar on the proposed regulation. “We also reject the right of insurers to limit or exclude people from coverage on that basis. We oppose provision that will limit women in making choices about their health care and in exercising their constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy. And not least important, Connecticut objects to weakening language supports that enable people to engage with and use their health care. While we will continue to protect our residents under state law, there are important reasons for these protections to be extended to all, nationally.”
The Trump administration’s revision to the nondiscrimination rules was filed on June 16 with a 60-day public comment period, which ends on August 13.