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51
1 covered by this Act shall be provided without regard to
2 personal characteristics extraneous to the provision of
3 high quality health care or related services.
4 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—To implement the require-
5 ment set forth in subsection (a), the Secretary of Health
6 and Human Services shall, not later than 18 months after
7 the date of the enactment of this Act, promulgate such
8 regulations as are necessary or appropriate to insure that
9 all health care and related services (including insurance
10 coverage and public health activities) covered by this Act
11 are provided (whether directly or through contractual, li-
12 censing, or other arrangements) without regard to per-
13 sonal characteristics extraneous to the provision of high
14 quality health care or related services.
15 SEC. 153. WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION.

16 (a) RETALIATION PROHIBITED.—No employer may

17 discharge any employee or otherwise discriminate against
18 any employee with respect to his compensation, terms,
19 conditions, or other privileges of employment because the
20 employee (or any person acting pursuant to a request of
21 the employee)—
22 (1) provided, caused to be provided, or is about
23 to provide or cause to be provided to the employer,
24 the Federal Government, or the attorney general of
25 a State information relating to any violation of, or

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