So many health care protections are at risk in the months ahead, including Section 1557, the provision in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that specifically applies civil rights protections to health care settings.

This ACA provision has already been targeted, as a nationwide preliminary injunction issued on December 31 by a Federal District Court in Texas prohibits the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from enforcing the provisions in the implementing regulations that pertain to transgender discrimination and discrimination based on termination of pregnancy. The temporary order leaves the rest of Section 1557 intact, although some in the new administration and the new Congress would like to go further, seeking to repeal Section 1557 as part of a broader ACA repeal effort.

Justice in Aging has prepared a brief summary of the extent to which the injunction is likely to impact programs that affect older adults.

Justice in Aging also created an issue brief that discusses how Section 1557 and the HHS implementing regulations affect programs that serve older adults. The brief looks at discrimination protections around language access for beneficiaries with limited English proficiency, sex and gender discrimination, disability discrimination and discrimination based on age and race, with examples of how those provisions could play out for older adults using the Medicare or Medicaid benefit.