HHS Office for Civil Rights Director Melanie Fontes Rainer on Progress and News at OCR
Updates to Statute 1557 that Healthcare Providers Need to Know
On May 6, 2024, OCR published the final rule interpreting and implementing Section 1557 at 45 C.F.R. § 92 (the Final Rule). The Final Rule regulates the use of patient care decision support tools, including AI algorithms for...more
In April 2024, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a final rule reinterpreting Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex,...more
On December 5, 2024, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a “Dear Colleague” letter reiterating obligations that covered entities have under the May 2024 final rule related...more
On June 28, 2024, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce and Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce (Loper Bright), overturning Chevron U.S.A. Inc v. Natural...more
Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability, or any combination thereof, in a health program or activity, any part of which is...more
In a recent On the Subject (available here), we reported on the impact of the final rule (final rule) interpreting Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on self-funded group health plans that contract with licensed...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Following years of back and forth, new final rules were published by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on May 6, 2024 reinstituting the Department’s interpretation that the prohibition on...more
In a Final Rule issued on May 6, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“DHHS”) finalized regulations implementing Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (“Section 1557”). The Final Rule updates and...more
On Monday, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) announced that the prohibition against discrimination “on the basis of sex” under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (“Section 1557”) once again includes...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: A Federal Court has temporarily enjoined the Trump administration from putting into effect its recent rule that strips the Affordable Care Act of its gender identity protections....more
On Saturday, December 31, 2016, a federal judge in Texas entered a nationwide preliminary injunction barring the enforcement of antidiscrimination protections pertaining to transgender and abortion health services and...more
In May 2016, the Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“DHHS”) issued a Final Rule implementing Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). Section 1557 prohibits “covered...more
As our colleagues reported earlier this month, on May 18, 2016, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) issued a final rule titled “Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities” (“Final Rule”)...more
As the current presidential administration winds up its time in office, the administrative branch is hard at work completing its regulatory agenda. Part of this effort is implementing Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act...more
Healthcare providers and others who receive federal financial assistance are now subject to new non-discrimination rules and notice requirements under the Affordable Care Act. The new regulation prohibits discrimination in...more
This past May, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a final rule implementing Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin,...more