HRC Releases The 2010 Healthcare Equality Index

Human Rights Campaign gets a lot of criticism for everything from catering to rich gays to not having a more visible impact on national politics, but I think HRC does some good work.

For example, they recently issued this year’s Health Equality Index, a report on the LGBT policies of nearly 200 health care providers.

This can be very useful information, as many hospitals do not recognize the rights and wishes of LGBT patients. Being denied visitation with their partners or having decisions overruled by biological family members is not uncommon for LGBTs, even if they have documents like medical advance directives.

President Obama signed a bill that requires facilities to grant visitation rights to same-sex partners, but until that goes into effect, people should know which providers respect LGBTs.

You can view the report here. How does your hospital rate?

Information on advance directives, including printable directives for each state, is here.