The Trump administration is doing away with a Biden-era rule that created incentives for doctors to develop “anti-racism” plans and use race as a primary factor in medical treatment.
The Department of Health and Human Services reversed the rule last week, consistent with the administration’s broader opposition to left-wing racial ideologies.
“Do No Harm applauds HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy and CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz for undoing the unscientific and discriminatory Biden-era rule,” said Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, chairman of Do No Harm, a medical watchdog opposed to identity politics.
“While masquerading under the misleading ‘anti-racist’ moniker, in practice, these policies injected race-based decision making into the doctor-patient relationship. Such racial discrimination has no place in healthcare,” he added.
“By prioritizing evidence-based policies, HHS is working to rebuild public trust in our medical system.”
The Biden administration’s rule allowed physicians to receive more federal payments if they implemented an “anti-racism” plan. The purpose was to incentivize doctors to use race as a factor in medical care instead of making individualized decisions.
Do No Harm visiting fellow Amber Colville challenged the Biden administration’s rule with a lawsuit in 2022 soon after the group was founded. Several Republican states joined the lawsuit against the Biden HHS and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The legal challenge is expected to end now that the Trump administration has ended the rule. Do No Harm’s lawsuit argued the Biden administration violated its authority under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015.
It is one of numerous legal challenges Do No Harm has waged against progressive medical programs in government and educational institutions that have incorporated race into decision-making.
“Anti-racism” is a left-wing ideology pioneered by historian Ibram X. Kendi that argues for reversing past racial discrimination against certain minority groups by explicitly favoring them in the present day. Kendi’s flavor of reverse-discrimination became popular during the 2020 racial reckoning but has suffered repeated political and legal blows in subsequent years.
The Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling prohibiting race-based college admissions criteria has been the most consequential blow to “anti-racist” programs to date.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion, a left-wing ideology that incorporates “anti-racist” ideas, remains prominent in medical education. But medical school accreditors have begun scaling back DEI requirements largely because of pressure from the Trump administration.