More health equity is what's on tap for the Department of Health and Human Services, should Joe Biden retain the White House and serve a second term. Speaking to the LGTBQIA Washington Blade, Xavier Becerra and trans diversity hire and pediatrician Dr. Rachel Levine said their mission, if Biden wins reelection, will be to secure even more "equity" for LGBTQ persons and services. That includes forcing hospitals to risk their federal funding if they refuse to perform sex changes for minors.
Or at least, that's the implication. The duo said, per the Blade, that they'll be looking to build on their recent successes. These include "The issuance in April of a final rule clarifying that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is prohibited under the Affordable Care Act," which applies the Supreme Court's 2020 Bostock ruling to health care, despite the court's insistence at the time that it was specific to circumstances of employment alone.
The provision further guides insurance companies that they are not permitted to block coverage for procedures and drugs that are specifically to be used for the furtherance of trans identity. In other words, insurance companies must pay for men to get breast enlargements when that is part of their gender identity transformation. Notably, women who seek breast augmentation in order to give themselves a more feminine look are not permitted insurance coverage for that surgery. Biden has backed the plan.
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