Trump order lets VA doctors deny care based on politics, marital status

An executive order from President Donald Trump allows doctors at Veterans Affairs facilities to deny care based on a patient’s marital status or political beliefs.

The Jan. 30 order was intended to limit the amount of gender-affirming care available to trans veterans. But, as The Guardian reported on Monday, its vague language has led some hospitals to issue guidance saying care can be denied to any group not explicitly protected by federal law.

Federal protections under civil rights law explicitly cover only race, color, religion, and sex.

“Trump’s VA just allowed doctors to deny care to Democrats, unmarried veterans, among other groups,” said a spokesperson for the advocacy group VoteVets. “It’s unethical, authoritarian, and every one of us should be outraged.”

In addition to doctors, care can also be denied by chiropractors, nurse practitioners, and social workers.

The changes come as Trump and Republicans are negotiating a tax and budget  bill that aims to cut at least $625 billion from Medicaid, which nearly 2 million veterans rely on for health insurance.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that at least 7.6 million Americans would lose health coverage under the bill’s cuts to Medicaid. Hundreds of rural hospitals, which receive the bulk of their funding through Medicaid, would also be put at risk of closure.

Roughly one-quarter of all veterans live in rural areas.

VA press secretary Peter Kasperowicz did not dispute The Guardian’s reporting. A social media account associated with the White House, however, claimed the report was a “vicious lie.” They did not explain what was incorrect about the report.

Washington Sen. Patty Murray, who sits on the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, said the policy was “disgusting.”

“President Trump is going out of his way to discriminate against veterans and ripping up the sacred contract we make with our veterans that we will take care of them when they come home, and that they are entitled to the best health care our nation has to offer,” Murray said in a statement. “This is bigotry, plain and simple, and it cannot be allowed to stand—and I sincerely hope my Republican colleagues would agree.”

A White House spokesperson did not respond to questions for this story.