House Passes Health Care Reform, Addresses Some Needs of LGBT Community

Many in the nation celebrated yesterday as news broke of the U.S. House of Representatives’ close vote to pass a historic health care reform bill. The months leading up to the vote have been tense and packed with emotion, as stories of verbally and sometimes physically violent town hall meetings were reported in several national news outlets. However, what many Americans may not be aware of are the particular provisions of this bill that help lay the groundwork for a revolutionary health care plan that targets the particular needs of the LGBT community.

The Human Rights Campaign Backstory Blog broke down several key points of the recently-passed Health Care Reform Bill.

• Health Disparities – the bill specifically designates LGBT people as a health disparities population, opening up health data collection and grant programs focused on health disparities related to sexual orientation and gender identity. With collection of data and funding of research, we can better address the specific health issues facing LGBT people.
• Unequal Taxation of Domestic Partner Benefits – the bill ends the unfair taxation of employer-provided domestic partner health benefits, incorporating the language of the Tax Equity for Health Plan Beneficiaries Act. Without this tax penalty, more people will be able to afford employer-provided coverage for their families, and more companies will be able to offer these important benefits.
• Early Treatment for HIV under Medicaid – the bill also incorporates the Early Treatment for HIV Act, which allows states to cover early HIV treatment under their Medicaid programs, instead of withholding treatment for Medicaid recipients until they develop full-blown AIDS, This will dramatically improve the quality of life for low-income people with HIV, as well as saving taxpayers money and reducing the transmission of the virus.
• Comprehensive Sex Education – the bill provides funding for comprehensive sex education programs that focus not only on abstinence, but also reducing teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. After more than $1 billion wasted on failed and discriminatory abstinence-only programs, this funding will provide youth, including LGBT students, with the tools they need to live healthy lives.
• Non-discrimination – the bill prohibits consideration of personal characteristics unrelated to the provision of health care. HRC worked with a coalition of civil rights groups to develop and lobby for this language and we believe it will help protect LGBT people from discrimination.

The House of Representatives passed a sweeping health care bill Saturday night with a tight vote of 220-215, making it the biggest expansion of health care coverage since Medicare was created more than 40 years ago.

The Affordable Health Care for America Act, or H.R. 3962, restricts insurance companies from denying coverage to anyone with a pre-existing condition or charging higher premiums based on gender or medical history. It also provides federal subsidies to those who cannot afford it and guarantees coverage for 96 percent of Americans, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

However, turning the bill into law remains uncertain.

The bill barely squeaked by in the Democrat-controlled House, with 176 Republicans opposing it, in addition to 39 Democrats.

The Senate must now pass its own version of the health care legislation.

Despite difficulties rallying Conservative Democrats and extremely partisan Republicans, President Obama says, “I look forward to signing comprehensive health insurance reform into law by the end of the year.”