UPDATE: A spokesperson for the Department of Veterans Affairs told Raw Story that they categorically deny any of the repealed guidelines will allow the VA to discriminate against patients or employees based on political affiliation, reason for seeking care, or any of the other categories stated below, saying, "Federal law prohibits that, and VA will always follow federal law. All eligible Veterans will always be welcome at VA and will always receive the benefits and services they’ve earned under the law."
A rule change at the Department of Veterans Affairs spurred by President Donald Trump's executive order could lead to doctors at public veterans' hospitals denying care to people based on a variety of previously protected categories, reported The Guardian on Monday — including affiliation to a political party, national origin, or marital status.
It's yet another potential threat to care in the VA hospital system, the United States' largest integrated hospital network, which includes 170 hospitals, more than 1,000 clinics, and treats around 9 million veterans every year — as Republicans have also toyed with the idea of cuts to the program.
VA officials made the rule change, according to the report, based on "the president’s 30 January executive order titled 'Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government'. The primary purpose of the executive order was to strip most government protections from transgender people. The VA has since ceased providing most gender-affirming care and forbidden a long list of words, including 'gender affirming' and 'transgender,' from clinical settings."
However, per the report, another effect of the order was to remove every anti-discrimination protection that isn't strictly named in federal statute. Federal law explicitly prohibits discrimination based on race, color, sex, or religion — but the VA had many other rules in place that went beyond federal law.
What this means, according to experts, is that physicians, as well as other covered providers like psychologists, dentists, optometrists, and nurse practitioners, could turn away patients for voting for the Democratic Party, being unmarried or divorced, being an immigrant, being a member of a labor union, the "reason for seeking care" including alleged rape or sexual assault, or being a user of alcohol or cannabis.
The elimination of these rules applies not only to patients but also to doctors and other employees, who could be terminated or denied promotions for some of these reasons — potentially eliminating another barrier to Trump's months-long quest for mass layoffs in the civil service.
Experts are alarmed, with NYU medical ethics professor Dr. Arthur Caplan calling the changes "extremely disturbing and unethical," and adding, “It seems on its face an effort to exert political control over the VA medical staff.”
Meanwhile, Tia Christopher, a Navy veteran and survivor of military sexual assault, warned that while being turned away for these reasons wouldn't eliminate a veterans' benefits, it could force them to travel hundreds of miles to register at another hospital, causing a "huge ripple effect."
"In an emailed response to questions, the VA press secretary, Peter Kasperowicz, did not dispute that the new rules allowed doctors to refuse to treat veteran patients based on their beliefs or that physicians could be dismissed based on their marital status or political affiliation, but said 'all eligible veterans will always be welcome at VA and will always receive the benefits and services they’ve earned under the law,'" the report noted.
The changes, Kasperowicz insisted, were merely a "formality" to “ensure VA policy comports with federal law,” but did not elaborate on what law required this.
