HHS Finalizes Section 1557 Nondiscrimination Rule for Healthcare Industry
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) recently released a final rule regarding section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), titled Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities.
Section 1557 “prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability” in specified health programs or activities. The rule contains a broad definition for “covered entities” which includes any healthcare provider that “receives Federal financial assistance” which in this case means any provider who receives reimbursement from Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP or any Affordable Care Act Marketplace plan.
Therefore, the requirements in this rule will apply to almost all health care providers.
Regulations implementing these nondiscrimination provisions were first implemented by the Obama Administration in 2016, subsequently relaxed by the Trump Administration in 2020, and are now being ratcheted back up by the Biden Administration with the issuance of this final rule.
In particular, the Biden final rule re-introduces specific patient notification requirements, expands nondiscrimination policies into telehealth/clinical decision support tools, and requires covered entities to both develop and train staff on Section 1557 policies and procedures.
While the full rule is broadly applicable to the healthcare industry, the following sections are the most immediate and relevant sections of the rule for providers.