 
November 11, 2009
LGBT Provisions in House Health Care Bill Include Early HIV Treatment
Advocates are pushing to ensure that LGBT-focused provisions in the House of Representatives’ health care reform bill will remain in the final bill that moves to President Obama’s desk, The Advocate reports. Among those provisions is language calling for early HIV treatment under Medicaid so that people living with the virus won’t have to progress to an AIDS diagnosis before receiving coverage.
According to the article, LGBT provisions of the House bill are unlikely to be in the Senate version of health care reform—but advocates hope they’ll be incorporated in the final bill.
Other LGBT-focused provisions in the House bill include equal tax treatment for domestic partner benefits, inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity in federal data collection and health disparity programs and protection for LGBT people from discrimination by health care providers or insurance companies based on personal information unrelated to health care.
The House’s version of the health care reform bill passed 220 to 215 on November 7. The Senate might not vote on the legislation until next year.
Search: LGBT, health care reform, Congress, House of Representatives, Senate, domestic partnership, discrimination, Medicaid, AIDS diagnosis
Scroll down to comment on this story.
Previous Comments:
[Go to top]
|
