HHS To Insurers: Don’t Discriminate Against LGBT; Doctor Lowers Administrative Overhead With Technology
The Department of Health and Human Services says health plans can't discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. Meanwhile, one doctor uses Internet technology to cut down on overhead costs associated with his practice.
Kaiser Health News: Insuring Your Health: HHS Says Health Plans Cannot Discriminate Against Transgender People
The HHS letter, issued by the department's Office of Civil Rights, adds to recent court decisions and a ruling by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in April that the Civil Rights Act's prohibition against sex discrimination applies to transgender people. The letter says the office of civil rights is now accepting and investigating complaints of sex discrimination under the health care law (Andrews, 9/4).
Kaiser Health News: Capsules: Sherpaa Could Guide The Way To New Company Health Care
In 2007, pediatrician Jay Parkinson, fresh from a Johns Hopkins residency program, rejected a traditional private practice model in developing his own approach to providing health care. ... Now, five years later, he and his business partner, Cheryl Swirnow, have built a Web-based service for New Yorkers called Sherpaa that attempts to streamline the diagnosis process for patients and to provide businesses additional health care benefits for their employees. Sherpaa operates mostly through e-mail and the phone (Rao, 9/4).