United States of Care Submits Comments in Response to the Release of the Proposed Rule to Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act

On October 3, 2022, the United States of Care submitted the following comments in response to the release of the proposed rule to revise the implementing regulation for Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This proposed rule — released by the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights — strengthens new and existing non-discrimination protections and expands those protections to all programs administered by HHS.

Our response follows the United Solutions for Care we released earlier this year and focuses on provisions in the proposed rule that ensure that health care is both dependable and understandable. These are important to both improving health equity and reducing disparities in health care. 

Our letter highlights the following provisions in the proposed rule:

• Broadening non-discrimination protections to align with ACA statute.
• Reinstating requirements for covered entities to provide language assistance services and auxiliary aids and services.
• Prohibiting covered entities from using technology to discriminate against people.
• Creating new training requirements for employees and providers to ensure they’re able to comply with Section 1557 procedures.
• Recognizing the sincerely held beliefs of entities within the health care system while ensuring people still have access to care.

USofCare looks forward to continuing working with HHS to further these shared goals of promoting health equity and reducing disparities in health care.