Health Facilities Nationwide Poised to Add LGBT-Inclusive Non-Discrimination Policies

By DMITRY RASHNITSOV

A new analysis of healthcare equality by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation found that the vast majority of U.S. healthcare facilities don’t have fully inclusive policies toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, according to the 2010 Healthcare Equality Index (HEI).  In a bit of good news for the LGBT community, sweeping new changes will soon dramatically alter how LGBT people interact with the healthcare system.

The results in South Florida are mixed but more encouraging, especially after the fiasco that occurred at Jackson Memorial hospital nearly three years ago where a lesbian and her children were denied the chance to see her partner on her death bed.

In Fort Lauderdale at Broward General, the hospital does have written sexual Orientation protections in their Patients’ Bill of Rights but nothing about gender identity. They also do not have written policies pertaining to equal visitation rights for same-sex patients or equal visitation rights for same-sex parents. The same exact criteria applies to Joe DiMaggio Children’s hospital in Hollywood and the five Memorial Hospital System hospitals in Broward County.

In Miami, a different story is seen. At the three Jackson Health System hospital throughout Dade County, patients bills of rights include protections for sexual orientation and gender identity. Also, same-sex partners have equal visitation rights and same-sex parents can freely go see their kids. At Jackson, these policies were recently changed because of the bad publicity the hospital received when Janice Langbehn was denied the chance to say goodbye to Lisa Pond as she lay dying at the hospital in 2007.

The HEI 2010 comes following President Obama’s memorandum in April directing Health and Human Services (HHS) to make rules that require all hospitals that receive federal Medicare and Medicaid funding – nearly every hospital in America – to protect the visitation and healthcare decision-making rights of LGBT people. It also comes as the Joint Commission, which accredits and certifies healthcare facilities, has announced new, fully inclusive patient non-discrimination standards as part of their accreditation process. Together, these developments mean that LGBT healthcare equality is going to improve nationwide.

“The healthcare landscape for LGBT patients and their families is about to change dramatically,” said Joe Solmonese, president of the HRC Foundation. “We all know horror stories of loved ones torn apart, already heart-wrenching decisions made even harder, and basic human rights denied.  Bold action by the President and the Joint Commission mean many of those stories will be a thing of the past – and not a moment too soon, because as of right now huge challenges remain on the books.”

The HEI 2010 independently reviewed a representative sample of 200 of the largest healthcare facilities nationwide. The report found that in all 50 states – and even in historically LGBT-friendly cities like San Francisco and New York – there are facilities that do not fully protect LGBT people from healthcare discrimination.  Ninety-three percent of healthcare facilities included in the study do not have fully inclusive policies toward LGBT people, and 42 percent don’t include “sexual orientation” in their Patients’ Bill of Rights/non-discrimination policy.

In addition, the healthcare reform bill passed by Congress and signed by the President, while a step forward for all Americans, failed to address important issues facing LGBT people.  It did not end the unfair taxation of employer-provided domestic partner health benefits, it did not permit states to offer early HIV treatment under Medicaid and it did not mandate collection of critical health data on LGBT people.

For more information on the report, visit: www.hrc.org/hei2010.