Proposed federal regulatory changes to the Affordable Care Act will mean political correctness will trump medical and ethical considerations, likely exacerbating a nursing and physician shortage in the United States.
That’s one assessment on the proposed revisions released over the summer by the civil rights office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that could force health care workers to perform gender transition procedures; require health insurance plans to cover those costs; and likely remove federal conscience protection for those in health care who object to performing abortions.
“If this rule is final and enforced, it really is changing the standards of care in medicine and an ideology is trumping science – this even shuts down the conversation about conscience rights,” said Dr. Tim Millea, an Iowa-based orthopedic surgeon and chair of the Health Care Policy Committee for the Pennsylvania-based Catholic Medical Association.
“This requires a debate; a debate is healthy and may be uncomfortable, but is better than a mandate,” he said. “To treat a patient who comes in and says, ‘I want my child on puberty blockers,’ you are not able to refuse; you are forced to refer them to someone who will.”
The CMA is a national, physician-led community of 2,400 health care professionals consisting of 115 local guilds. The association has been expecting the HHS rule changes since last April, following discovery of a 74-page legal memorandum attached to a court filing from a consortium of 30 sexual rights groups.
The proposal was published in August by the Federal Register, opening a 60-day period for public comment that can be submitted at usccb.org/do-no-harm. The last day for submissions is Oct. 3. The full HHS proposal can be found at bit.ly/3d0wwkJ.
The document revealed that HHS wants to revise its mandates on health plan coverage and performance to include surgical abortion, cross-sex hormones, gender-transition surgeries, gender-affirming cosmetic surgeries and voice modification – along with a host of expanded services dealing with fertility treatments, contraception, abortifacients and sterilizations.
The proposed HHS regulations would apply to implementation of an ACA provision, Section 1557, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability or sex – including pregnancy, sexual orientation and gender identity – in covered health programs or activities.
The HHS proposal will likely apply to all health care providers, clinics, nursing homes, hospitals, group health insurers and third-party administrators of self-funded plans.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has been monitoring the status of Section 1557, issuing a statement Sept. 20 that called the proposed regulation a threat to religious freedom.
“The clearest and most direct consequence of HHS’ proposed Section 1557 rule is that it would be considered discrimination for a health care worker to categorically object to performing gender transition procedures, regardless of whether that objection is a matter of religious belief or clinical judgment,” said Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee for Religious Liberty. “The proposed regulation also appears to suggest that HHS may ultimately determine that Section 1557 imposes similar requirements with regard to abortion.”
He continued, “Although the proposed regulation would invite health care workers or organizations to notify HHS of their view that existing legal protections for conscience and religious freedom exempt them from particular requirements, the regulations offer no guarantee that HHS would ever agree that anyone has the right to follow their beliefs or convictions.”
What You Can Do
Health and Human Services’ proposed Section 1557 could force health care workers to perform gender transition procedures; require health insurance plans to cover those costs; and likely remove federal conscience protection for those in health care who object to performing abortions. Public comment can be submitted until Oct. 3 at usccb.org/do-no-harm.
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