Leaked draft of Trump executive order expanding religious protections could affect LGBTQ community, women

Modern Healthcare

  • A leaked draft of a Trump administration executive order expanding religious protections could make it easier for employers to deny contraception coverage and roll back anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ individuals seeking healthcare services. A copy of the draft order was posted late last week by the Investigative Fund. The order has not been signed, and a White House spokeswoman was quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saying the administration has no plans to act on it “at this time.” The order would exempt “all individuals and religious organizations” from covering preventive care services as mandated by the Affordable Care Act if they have objections based on “religious or moral reasons."

  • Dr. David Shulkin is headed toward likely confirmation as President Donald Trump's Veterans Affairs secretary after assuring skeptical senators that he will work quickly to meet the medical care needs of millions of veterans without dismantling the beleaguered system. One day before at his confirmation hearing, Shulkin, the top health official at the Veterans Affairs Department since 2015, cited efforts during his tenure to improve wait times for veterans needing urgent care, such as same-day services in primary care and mental health at VA medical centers. He urged a more integrated VA network in which veterans could seek outside care, but only in close coordination with the VA. A Senate panel set an initial vote for this week. A final vote would come sometime after that in the full Senate, where he is expected to be easily confirmed.

  • Children's Medical Center of Dallas will pay a $3.2 million settlement for alleged HIPAA violations involving two incidents. In 2009 a BlackBerry with about 3,800 patients' records was lost at Dallas-Fort Worth airport. In 2013 an unencrypted laptop computer with 2,462 patients' records was stolen from the hospital. HHS said its investigations revealed “a failure to implement risk-management plans, contrary to prior external recommendations to do so, and a failure to deploy encryption or an equivalent alternative measure.”
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