Overview
(September 8, 2020, Washington, DC) — Steptoe and Lambda Legal convinced a federal court to halt parts of a Trump administration rule that invited anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination in health care and allowed providers to elevate their own religious beliefs above the needs of patients.
On September 2, US District Judge James E. Boasberg of the District of Columbia granted Steptoe and Lambda Legal's request for a preliminary injunction, putting an immediate stop to key aspects of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) health care discrimination rule that seeks to carve out LGBTQ people and other vulnerable populations from Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. Section 1557 prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, among other bases.
The court enjoined the rule's elimination of protections on the basis of sex stereotyping, which protect LGBTQ people from discrimination, finding that the Supreme Court's recent Bostock decision called into question HHS's action. The court also enjoined the rule's incorporation of a new blanket religious exemption that allowed health providers to prioritize their own religious beliefs over the needs of patients. The court held HHS failed to consider the consequences of such an exemption on access to care. The court's order immediately blocks HHS from implementing these provisions. The court also held the broad coalition of LGBTQ health care and service providers that brought the suit have standing to challenge most aspects of the rule.
In granting the injunction, the court recognized that "denying an injunction would impede the public interest by threatening the health of LGBTQ individuals at large, some of whom will likely develop increasingly acute conditions on account of their delaying necessary care or refraining from transparent communication with providers out of fear of discrimination. There is clearly a robust public interest in safeguarding prompt access to health care." The court further determined that the "COVID-19 pandemic only reinforces the importance of that public interest and the concomitant need to ensure the availability and provision of care on a nondiscriminatory basis."
Steptoe and Lambda Legal filed the lawsuit challenging HHS's health care discrimination rule on June 22. On July 9, Steptoe and Lambda Legal filed the motion for preliminary injunction asking the court to block implementation of the rule.
Steptoe partner Laurie Edelstein leads the firm's representation along with partner Michael Vatis, and associates Johanna Dennehy, Khristoph Becker, and Laura Lane-Steele.
A number of media outlets covered the win, including Advocate, Law360, The Hill, and Courthouse News. The full articles can be read at Advocate, Law360, The Hill, and Courthouse News.
About Steptoe
In more than 100 years of practice, Steptoe has earned an international reputation for vigorous representation of clients before governmental agencies, successful advocacy in litigation and arbitration, and creative and practical advice in structuring business transactions. Steptoe has more than 500 lawyers and other professional staff across offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington. For more information, visit www.steptoe.com.
