Tag: Health and Human Services

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Rachel Levine Could Be 1st Senate-Confirmed Transgender Federal Official

Dr. Rachel Levine could become the first transgender federal official confirmed by the Senate.

Dr. Rachel Levine could become the first transgender federal official confirmed by the Senate.
Dr. Rachel Levine (image via Twitter)
CNN reports President-elect Joe Biden has tapped Dr. Rachel Levine to serve as assistant health secretary. Levine would make history as the first transgender federal official to be confirmed by the United States Senate.

Levine is currently the Pennsylvania health secretary and a pediatrics and psychiatry professor at Penn State College of Medicine. She served as the state’s physician general in 2015 and assistant health secretary in 2017. Levine was confirmed as the state’s health secretary in 2018 under Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration.

Throughout her career, Levine has written about the opioid crisis, LGBTQ medicine, medicinal marijuana, eating disorders and adolescent medicine.

She graduated from Harvard College and the Tulane University School of Medicine and completed her training in Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at the Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York City.

Biden previously announced California attorney general , Xavier Becerra, as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Becerra, like Levine, would make history as the first Latino in the role. Mayor Annise Parker, President & CEO of LGBTQ Victory Institute, released the following statement about the nomination of Dr. Levine:

“Our nation is fortunate to have Dr. Rachel Levine nominated for a position so important to ending this pandemic and her experience on the frontlines in Pennsylvania will prove invaluable as Assistant Secretary. Her nomination is groundbreaking and shows the Biden administration will choose the most qualified individuals to lead our nation regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Dr. Levine is making history and will transform Americans’ perceptions of trans people when she takes office and begins to work on their behalf.”

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California AG Xavier Becerra To Be Tapped For Health & Human Services Secretary

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra (image via Twitter)

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (image via Twitter)
President-elect Joe Biden has named California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to be Secretary of Health and Human Services for the incoming administration. The inclusion of Becerra, a former congressman, to such a high-level post will likely help to quell some concerns that Biden hadn’t named more Latinos to the Biden cabinet. From the New York Times:

Mr. Becerra became Mr. Biden’s clear choice only over the last few days, according to people familiar with the transition’s deliberations, and was a surprise. He has carved out a profile more on the issues of criminal justice, immigration and tax policy, and he was long thought to be a candidate for attorney general.

But as attorney general in California, he led legal efforts on health care, including seeking to protect the Affordable Care Act from being dismantled by Republican attorneys general. He has also been a leading voice in the Democratic Party for women’s health.

If confirmed, he will immediately face a daunting task in leading the department at a critical moment during a pandemic that has killed more than 281,000 people in the United States — and one that has taken a particularly devastating toll on people of color.

If confirmed, Becerra would be the first Latino to lead the department. He’ll also be the first person ever with a name beginning with the letter X to hold a cabinet position. I like Becerra. I’ve watched him for many years – from his time in Congress to becoming Attorney General of the Golden State. Some reports suggested Becerra might have been in the running to take Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’s U.S. Senate seat.

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Trump Admin: Hospitals To Bypass CDC, Send Coronavirus Data To HHS

Donald Trump
In a move that surprised many health officials, the Trump administration has ordered all data regarding the treatment of coronavirus patients to be sent directly to the Department of Health and Human Services instead of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In light of Donald Trump’s claims the virus death count figures have been ‘inflated,‘ health experts worry the data could be distorted for political gain. From the New York Times:

The new instructions are contained in a little-noticed document posted this week on the Department of Health and Human Services’ website, Sheryl Gay Stolberg reports. From now on, H.H.S., and not the C.D.C., will collect daily reports about the patients that each hospital is treating, how many beds and ventilators are available, and other information vital to tracking the pandemic.

Officials say the change will streamline data gathering and assist the White House coronavirus task force in allocating scarce supplies like personal protective gear and the drug remdesivir. Some hospital officials welcome the move, saying it will relieve them of responding to requests from multiple federal agencies, though others said the C.D.C. should be collecting the data.

“The C.D.C. is the right agency to be at the forefront of collecting the data,” said Dr. Bala Hota, the chief analytics officer at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

Public health experts have long expressed concerns that the administration is politicizing science and undermining the disease control centers; four former C.D.C. directors, spanning both Republican and Democratic administrations, said as much in an opinion piece published Tuesday in The Washington Post. The data collection shift reinforced those fears.

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Trump Reverses LGBTQ Health Care Protections On Pulse Shooting Anniversary

The Trump administration has finalized a rule allowing health care providers to refuse care to transgender people, including gender reassignment surgery. Reversing an Obama-era regulation, the change in rules at the Health & Human Services Department rolls back an interpretation of prohibiting sex discrimination under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act that included protections for trans people. Under the Obama administration, discriminating against trans people basically boiled down to animus based on the ‘sex’ of a trans person. In the Trump administration, discriminating against trans people is fine. The announcement on the HHS website adds the new rule will “relieve the American people of approximately $2.9 billion in undue and ineffective regulatory burdens over five years.” Mary Beth Waddell, a senior legislative assistant for the virulently anti-LGBTQ Family Research Council, celebrated the finalized rule in a statement which read in part, “Under the old Obama rule, medical professionals could have been forced to facilitate gender reassignment surgeries and abortions — even if they believed this was a violation of their conscience or believed it harmful to the patient.” Dr. Susan R. Bailey, president of the American Medical Association, issued her opposition in a statement: “Respect for the diversity of patients is a fundamental value of the medical profession and is reflected in long-standing AMA policy opposing discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or a woman’s decisions about pregnancy, including termination. “The federal government should never make it more difficult for individuals to access health care — during a pandemic or any other time.” Sam Brinton, Vice President of Advocacy and Government Affairs for The Trevor Project issued this statement: “Access to quality health care without discrimination is critical right now, and thankfully, whatever this new rule may say, LGBTQ people are still protected under the law. This rule sends a dangerous and confusing message to health care providers at the worst possible time. In the midst of a global pandemic with serious implications for the LGBTQ youth The Trevor Project serves, the last thing our nation needs is for the Administration to suggest, contrary to the plain language of the Affordable Care Act, that medical care providers don’t have to treat transgender and nonbinary people with the same care and respect as everybody else.” The Human Rights Campaign’s Alphonso David denounced the news saying LGBTQ people “should not live in fear that they cannot get the care they need simply because of who they are.” “It is clear that this administration does not believe that LGBTQ people, or other marginalized communities, deserve equality under the law,” said the HRC president. “But we have a reality check for them: We will not let this attack on our basic right to be free from discrimination in health care go unchallenged. We will see them in court, and continue to challenge all of our elected officials to rise up against this blatant attempt to erode critical protections people need and sanction discrimination.” And Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, of the pro-LGBTQ law organization Lambda Legal, announced his group is planning a lawsuit against the Trump administration. “We will be challenging the rule because at a time when the entire world is battling a dangerous pandemic, which in the United States has infected more than 2,000,000 people and killed more than 116,000, it is critical for everyone to have ready access to the potentially life-saving health care they need,” Gonzalez-Pagan said. While the reversal of the former regulations had been in discussion for some time, Health & Human Services decided to release the announcement on 4 pm just before the weekend in the middle of Pride Month. And the Trump administration’s assault on LGBTQ protections continues…

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Podcast: Pete Buttigieg, RuPaul, Tom Goss & The Epic Fail Of ‘Straight Pride’

The Randy Report podcast

The Randy Report podcast delivers the week's top stories in a quick, convenient podcast - 'the 60 Minutes of gay news - only shorter' In this week’s podcast: • Sen. Kamala Harris calls Mayor Pete Buttigieg “naive” for relating his experience as a gay man to other marginalized communities. • A homophobic photographer in Kentucky has filed a lawsuit to block Louisville’s Fairness Ordinance just in case a gay couple were to ask her to shoot their wedding. • Three federal judges have blocked a new rule announced by the Health and Human Services Department that would allow healthcare professionals to deny service to LGBTQs. • The Straight Pride event in Dallas was the biggest fail yet. • Netflix releases teaser video for RuPaul’s upcoming scripted comedy series AJ and The Queen. • Out singer/songwriter Tom Goss’s new album explores new emotional Territories. All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report.

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Third Federal Judge Blocks Trump’s Anti-LGBTQ ‘Conscience Protection’ Rule

Trump walks past reporters with no comment

  A third federal judge has ruled against the Trump administration’s proposed change in regulations which would allow health care providers to deny care that offends ‘deeply held religious beliefs. Read that as legalizing discrimination against LGBTQ people. U.S. District Judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California ruled on Tuesday that the new Denial of Care rule is “not in accordance with law” by reason of conflict with underlying statutes. “When a rule is so saturated with error, as here, there is no point in trying to sever the problematic provisions,” wrote Alsup in his decision. “The whole rule must go.” Previously, Judge Paul Engelmayer of New York, and Judge Stanley Bastian of Spokane, Washington, also found the religious exemption rule announced by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would violate several federal laws. Alsup wrote in his ruling, “Under the new rule, to preview just one example, an ambulance driver would be free, on religious or moral grounds, to eject a patient en route to a hospital upon learning the patient needed an emergency abortion. Such harsh treatment would be blessed by the new rule.” The so-called ‘conscience protection’ rule would also expand the categories of workers who could choose to refuse to serve the public to include receptionists, accounting staff and emergency responders. Plus, the federal government would be allowed to cut funding to states and/or employers who might not respect the religious exemption to the degree sought by the Trump administration. Judge Alsup made note that there are already federal laws in place to provide for accommodating a health care provider’s religious or conscientious objections to some procedures like abortion. HHS announced the proposed rule change in May and was set to take effect this Friday. But Judge Engelmayer’s ruling in New York two weeks ago blocked the regulation. Jamie Gliksberg of Lambda Legal, which was one of the legal teams representing the plaintiffs, celebrated in a statement regarding the ruling: “That is now three judges in two weeks who have recognized the Denial of Care Rule for what it is, an egregious and unconstitutional attack on women, LGBT people and other vulnerable populations.” This doesn’t end the assault on LGBTQ people’s rights by the Trump administration, though. Earlier in November, HHS shared plans to allow faith-based adoption or foster care organizations who receive federal funds to decline to place children with LGBTQ families. Plus, the Trump administration is still working to remove parts of the Affordable Care Act that prohibits discrimination against transgender people. (source)

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News Round-Up: November 8, 2019

Steve_in_LA via Instagram

Steve_in_LA via Instagram Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Woofy Steve_in_LA and company (above) look totes relaxed for the holiday weekend. • Deadline: The fourth and final season of Kit Williamson’s Emmy-nominated LGBTQ series Eastsiders will be available on Netflix on December 1. • CBS News: House Republicans plan to announce Congressman Jim Jordan will move to the House Intelligence Committee, replacing Congressman Rick Crawford. The intent is to have Jordan, a staunch defender of Donald Trump, present during hearings to disrupt the ongoing impeachment inquiry. • World Rugby: If you’ve ever followed rugby, you may have noticed that occasionally a ‘wardrobe malfunction’ can occur on the field. Via Instagram with the caption, “Cheeky offload…” LOL

 

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……Cheeky offload…..🙈 #RWC2019

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• Politico: In order for Democratic presidential candidates to make the upcoming December 19 debate, they must garner 4% support in at least four DNC-approved polls of primary voters nationally or in early voting states (Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada or South Carolina) — or, instead, they can qualify by hitting 6% in two approved early state polls. They must also show donations from 200,000 unique donors, with a minimum of 800 donors in 20 states, territories or Washington, D.C. • Advocate: Two federal judges have now struck down a new rule announced by Donald Trump’s Health and Human Services Department that would allow health care professionals to deny certain medical treatments or services to patients based on the provider’s own religious or moral beliefs — regardless of whether the patient could obtain the care from another provider. • ET: Tina Turner took to the stage of the Lunt-Fontanne Theater during the opening night of Broadway’s Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, in New York on Thursday night. The NY Times review found the book of the musical rather flimsy but raved about Adrienne Warren’s star-making performance as the legendary rocker.

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Trump’s HHS Department To Allow LGBTQ Discrimination Due To ‘Religious Beliefs’

President Trump and Vice President Pence (image via Flickr/White House – public domain)
As we begin National Adoption Month, the Trump administration has proposed a change in regulations aimed at allowing tax-payer funded adoption agencies to refuse to place children with LGBTQ families due to religious objections. The new policy, proposed by the Department of Health and Human Services, would reverse an Obama-era rule that prohibited organizations with contracts with the federal government, including adoption agencies, from discriminating based on sexual orientation. By removing sexual orientation and gender identity from the current list of factors that violate the HHS rules, religious-based adoption, and foster care agencies would be able to accept federal taxpayer money while treating same-sex marriages differently from opposite-sex marriages. Earlier this year, the Trump administration issued a waiver that permits adoption agencies in South Carolina to receive tax dollars while refusing to follow the current non-discrimination policies. The proposed change would go further, however, allowing all recipients of HHS grants to turn away LGBTQ people under the guise of ‘religious freedom.’ Homeless youth shelters, HIV and STI prevention programs, opioid programs, substance-use recovery programs and more would all be allowed to discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity. LGBTQ advocacy groups were outraged at the news. Julie Kruse of Family Equality issued a statement that read, in part, “The American public overwhelmingly opposes allowing taxpayer-funded adoption and foster care agencies to turn away qualified parents simply because they are in a same-sex relationship.” “Children should never be denied the opportunity to join a stable, loving family – even if that means the family is LGBTQ,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD. “Research has shown LGBTQ families provide the same kind of love, protection, and support as other families and no child should be denied that kind of environment.” “The Trump Administration has once again demonstrated how they prefer to prioritize the gross work of anti-LGBTQ activists over the safety and well-being of our children,” she added. From Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality:

“This rule is an abuse of taxpayer dollars in the name of empowering hatred and bigotry towards society’s most vulnerable members. Stigma and prejudice are fueling a public health crisis among transgender people across the country, one that manifests itself as suicide, addiction, intimate partner violence, and HIV. Enabling providers of life-saving services to worsen these crises by rejecting transgender people is a moral crime and a severe abdication of HHS’s mission to preserve public health.”

More from Lambda Legal and the Human Rights Campaign’s Charlotte Clymer:

Anti-LGBTQ Christian conservatives, however, were thrilled. Tony Perkins, of the anti-LGBTQ Family Research Council, announced, “Thanks to President Trump, charities will be free to care for needy children and operate according to their religious beliefs and the reality that children do best in a home with a married mom and dad.”

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Trump Administration Opens New Division To Promote Religious-Based LGBTQ Discrimination

The Trump administration is taking further steps to make anti-LGBT animus legal by creating a new office within the Department of Health and Human Services – The Conscience and Religious Freedom Division.

While the move is being dressed up as an attempt to shield doctors whose religious beliefs oppose performing abortions, this also opens the door for any service provider to deny LGBTs treatment.

From The New York Times:

Critics said the administration was giving health care providers a license to discriminate, and they raised the possibility that some doctors might deny fertility treatments to lesbian couples and that some pharmacists might refuse to fill prescriptions for certain types of contraceptives. In such situations, patients could suffer, and health care workers could violate professional or ethical obligations.

“Donald Trump’s administration is handing out permission slips for hospitals and providers to deny individuals, including women and LGBT patients, access to a full range of health services including life saving emergency care,” said Dawn Huckelbridge, director of the Women’s Rights Initiative at American Bridge, a Democratic advocacy group. “If there is any doubt about how morally repulsive, politically unpopular, and far-reaching the consequences of this rule will be, crafting it in secret behind closed doors and without public input says all you need to know.”

LGBT blogger/activist JoeMyGod writes, “The new HHS division provides a complaint page if healthcare providers feel they’ve been forced to betray Jesus by providing care to somebody they hate.”