Medicare and Medicaid participating hospitals will be required to expand their visitation policies to include visitors such as same-sex domestic partners, according to finalized rules released Wednesday.

The final rules by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are a result of April's presidential memorandum, in which President Barack Obama directed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to develop standards for CMS-participating hospitals that require facilities to respect the rights of all patients to choose their visitors.

Obama directed HHS to develop rules that would forbid hospitals from turning away visitors "on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability," according to a CMS release.
"Basic human rights -- such as your ability to choose your own support system in a time of need -- must not be checked at the door of America's hospitals," Kathleen Sebelius, HHS secretary, said in prepared remarks. "Today's rules help give 'full and equal' rights to all of us to choose whom we want by our bedside when we are sick, and override any objection by a hospital or staffer who may disagree with us for any non-clinical reason."

Hospitals will now be required to have written policies and procedures that explain patients' visitation rights, as well as any circumstances under which a facility can deny a visitor based on clinical implications.

"These rules put non-clinical decisions about who can visit a patient out of the hands of those who deliver care and into the hands of those who receive it," said Dr. Donald Berwick, CMS administrator, in prepared remarks.

The rules, which were finalized based on thousands of comments from patient advocates, hospitals and other stakeholders, will be effective 60 days after publication.

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