LGBT Healthcare Bill of Rights
RIGHT TO BE TREATED WITH EQUALITY AND RESPECT
You deserve to be treated with respect and made to feel welcome no matter who you are.
You have a right to not be denied service or given inferior service.
RIGHT TO AFFIRMATION OF YOUR TRUE GENDER IDENTITY
You deserve to be called by your chosen name and gender pronoun and to include these preferences in your advance directive (see below).
You deserve to be able to use the gender-based facilities of your choice.
RIGHT TO HELP DESIGNATING WHO WILL MAKE DECISIONS FOR YOU
As soon as you are admitted, you have a right to be told how to create an advanced directive – and you have the right to pick whoever you want to be your decision-maker.
An “advance directive” says who gets to make medical decisions for you if you can no longer make them yourself (AKA a “healthcare power of attorney”) and what kind of care you would want to receive (AKA a “living will”).
RIGHT TO VISITATION BY ANYONE YOU CHOOSE
You have the right to be visited by anyone you choose (regardless of your legal or biological relationship) at any reasonable time.
If denied a visitor, you can ask the facility to show you the rule that prohibits that visitor.
RIGHT TO YOUR PRIVACY
You have a right to the privacy of your medical records and care under a law known as HIPAA – the Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
Your doctors and nurses can only share your medical information if it is necessary to
provide you with care, or if you give them permission to share it with others.
RIGHT TO PROTECTIONS IF YOU ARE DISCHARGED DUE TO DISCRIMINATION
You have a right to protest being discharged or transferred from a hospital, rehabilitation facility, assisted living acility, or nursing home.
You have the right to get information on how you can appeal the decision, and to have time to figure out where you will go when you are discharged.
See http://healthcarebillofrights.org
GLMA has a list of LGBT aware providers