HHS

We, the undersigned 71 organizations, on behalf of millions of patients and American consumers who live with complex conditions such as HIV, autoimmune diseases, cancer, diabetes, lupus, hemophilia, mental illness, hepatitis, and neurological conditions write to comment on the Proposed Rulemaking for ACA Section 1557 Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities. As detailed below, we are extremely pleased that you have taken meaningful steps to improve upon current regulations to ensure that people are not discriminated against in healthcare. In several instances, you have proposed to restore protections that had been included in the past but later withdrawn.  In other instances, you have provided further clarity on what constitutes discrimination.  In any instance, we emphasize that the law and whatever is finalized in regulation must be strictly enforced.