Notice of Vacatur Regarding Certain Provisions of the 2024 Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities Final Rule
Key claim: A federal district court vacated the gender-identity discrimination provisions of HHS’s 2024 Section 1557 nondiscrimination rule, rendering those provisions legally void while leaving the remainder of the rule in force.
Abstract
(Rule · Health and Human Services Department, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) This is to inform the public that, on October 22, 2025, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi issued an order in Tennessee v. Kennedy, No. 1:24-cv-161-LG-BWR (S.D. Miss. Oct. 22, 2025), vacating portions of the final rule titled “Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities,” published May 6, 2024 (89 FR 37522). Specifically, the court vacated certain provisions of the regulation to the extent they expand Title IX’s definition of sex discrimination to include gender-identity discrimination. Pursuant to the court’s order, the vacated provisions are legally void. The other provisions of the Section 1557 Rule remain in force.
Why this matters
Section 1557 is the principal federal civil rights statute governing discrimination in health programs receiving federal funds, and the 2024 rule was the Biden administration’s most explicit application of it to gender-identity discrimination. The district court vacatur removes a key enforcement tool for transgender patients seeking access to gender-affirming and routine care through covered providers and insurers, and leaves the statutory question — whether ‘sex’ under Section 1557 encompasses gender identity — to be resolved through further litigation and future rulemaking.