The Department of Veterans Affairs changed the bylaws on discrimination for its doctors and other health care staff but has denied a report that it could allow providers to deny care to some patients.
An internal VA email sent to medical staff April 30 said the guidelines prohibiting discrimination against patients and staff would be changed. The Guardian newspaper reported the change in the bylaws could allow individual health care providers to deny care to Democrats and unmarried veterans, sparking a public denial and drawing criticism from VA Secretary Doug Collins.
According to the department email, which was viewed by Military.com, the original language prohibited "discriminating on the basis of race, age, color, sex, religion, national origin, politics, marital status or disability in any employment matter or in providing benefits under any law administered by the VA."
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The portion was changed to "not discriminating on the basis of any legally protected status, including legally protected status such as race, color, religion, sex, or prior protected activity in any employment matter or in providing benefits under any law administered by the VA."
The parts that were removed included specific references to age, national origin, politics, marital status and disability, replacing them with a prohibition on discrimination against any legally protected class.
A VA spokeswoman said the alteration was made to comply with White House executive orders, including one signed Jan. 20 by President Donald Trump that said the federal government would only recognize two sexes -- male and female. It effectively ordered the federal government to stop recognizing the status of transgender people.
"These updates will have no impact whatsoever on who VA treats or who works at VA," Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Macaulay Porter told Military.com in an email Monday.
In at least one instance, the VA has stopped providing care to veterans to comply with White House orders. It announced in March it would no longer provide hormone therapy and other gender-related care to new transgender patients but would continue to treat veterans who were receiving such care when the new policy was issued.
The Guardian newspaper first reported the change, citing named sources saying the alteration could provide opportunity for doctors to refuse to treat veterans based on their reasons for care, political affiliation or personal behavior. The newspaper reported that individuals at the VA could refuse care based on patient characteristics "not explicitly prohibited by federal law."
The individuals also said that the changes could affect hiring and promotions at the VA.
They "seem to open the door to discrimination on the basis of anything that is not legally protected," Dr. Kenneth Kizer, the VA's top health care official during the Clinton administration, told the publication.
Porter called the allegations false and said the VA must follow federal law when it comes to hiring employees and treating patients, citing the relevant laws and directives.
"All eligible veterans will always be welcome at VA and will always receive the benefits and services they've earned under the law," Porter said.
Under federal law, applicants and employees are protected from discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability and genetic information, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Patients are protected on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
The Guardian article and bylaws change drew widespread response from congressional Democrats, veterans advocates and former service members nearly as soon as it was published.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, called the change "appalling and un-American."
"Service members defend our country in uniform whether they're Democrat or Republican, married or unmarried; they have already proven they are worthy of VA care. They shouldn't have to fight again when they're home to get benefits they have earned," Murray said in a news release Monday.
Marine Corps veteran Kyleanne Hunter, CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, told The Hill newspaper that her organization was studying the change because the VA historically has been "very expansive" in its antidiscrimination policies, beyond the federally protected classes.
"We're trying right now to really gather the information we can, to see how widespread the changes of bylaws might actually be, as well as to engage and understand how it is actually impacting our veterans," Hunter told The Hill.
The American Medical Association's Code of Medical Ethics states that physicians have an ethical obligation "not to discriminate against a prospective patient on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation or gender identity, or other personal or social characteristics that are not clinically relevant to the individual's care."
The group recently raised concerns, however, about the bylaws change because it did not receive a vote from VA providers – a fiat that raises questions over the autonomy of a self-governing staff.
"Our American Medical Association reaffirms its commitment to medical staff self-governance ... and urges all health care institutions, including the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, to ensure that any amendments to medical staff bylaws are subject to approval by the medical staff in accordance with Joint Commission standards," the AMA's House of Delegates wrote last month.
"Our AMA opposes any administrative action that bypass [sic] the organized medical staff's voting authority in revising medical staff bylaws," the members added.
Porter said VA clinical leaders worked with the Joint Commission -- a nonprofit organization that accredits and certifies hospitals and health care programs -- to craft the changes.
Collins said on the social media platform X Monday that the Guardian story was not only "false, it was ridiculous."
A day later, he added that the Guardian was conducting an "internal investigation into its fabricated VA story -- a piece so recklessly false and unbelievable that even the reporter who wrote it can't defend it."
Matt Mittenthal, head of communications for the Guardian, said the publication did not plan a retraction but added that the story may be updated.
"While we have no plans to retract the story – which highlights the VA's removal of 'politics' and 'marital status' from a list of protections against discrimination within its bylaws – we are considering additional context provided by the VA after publication," Mittenthal said.
The reporter, Aaron Glantz, is a past recipient of two Peabody Awards for excellence in journalism and a Pulitzer finalist.
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