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H.R. 5635: Veterans Healthcare Equality Act of 2025

This bill, known as the Veterans Healthcare Equality Act of 2025, seeks to enhance protections against discrimination in healthcare for transgender veterans. Specifically, it prohibits the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from discriminating against veterans based on their gender identity when providing medical care.

Key Provisions

Non-Discrimination Policy: The bill mandates that the VA cannot discriminate against any person based on their gender identity or deny medically necessary treatments for gender dysphoria as prescribed by healthcare providers.
Healthcare Services Covered: This non-discrimination policy applies to all hospital care, medical services, and extended care services provided under the relevant laws.
Quarterly Reporting: The Secretary of Veterans Affairs is required to brief the Congressional Committees on Veterans' Affairs every three months about the provision of healthcare services to transgender veterans, ensuring oversight and accountability in how healthcare is administered.

Background Findings

The bill outlines several findings justifying its introduction:

Transgender veterans have served honorably and deserve equitable healthcare benefits, free from discrimination or misgendering.
Treatments for gender dysphoria are recognized as medically necessary by major medical organizations in the U.S.
Current regulations, like those in the Affordable Care Act, already prohibit discrimination based on gender identity, yet evidence suggests that some discriminatory practices have occurred within the VA.
By establishing explicit protections, the bill aims to ensure that transgender veterans receive the healthcare services they are legally entitled to without facing discrimination.

Implementation Requirements

The Secretary of Veterans Affairs must provide a briefing to Congress within 90 days of the bill's enactment to outline how the non-discrimination policy will be implemented and report on its effectiveness in ongoing briefings thereafter.

Relevant Companies

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Actions

3 actions

Date	Action
Oct. 15, 2025	Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Sep. 30, 2025	Introduced in House
Sep. 30, 2025	Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Corporate Lobbying

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