Special Edition: Section 1557 ACA Non-Discrimination Rule Finalized: What the Rule Means for Health Care Access – Health Care in Motion

At long last, the Biden Administration has finalized its rule clarifying the protections laid out in Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the part of the law that forbids federally funded health care activities and programs from discriminating on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, age, or disability. The scope of Section 1557 protections has expanded and retracted over three Presidential Administrations. 

In this new final rule, the Biden Administration restores – and builds on – many of the original protections of the 2016 rule that were eliminated in 2020.  At the same time, there are several discrete topics in which the new rule falls short of the expectations of advocates for health care access, and in other areas it refuses to offer any position at all. For a deeper dive into how we got here, see our previous Health Care in Motion summarizing the twists and turns of Section 1557 rulemaking over the last eight years. Read on for an overview of what’s new in the Biden Administration’s final rule and how it will impact access to health care.

Read the latest Health Care in Motion.