President Obama mandated that nearly all hospitals extend visitation rights to the partners of gay men and lesbians and respect patients' choices about who may make critical healthcare decisions for them. Administration officials and gay activists said the new rule will affect any hospital that receives Medicare or Medicaid funding, a move that covers the vast majority of the nation's healthcare institutions. Obama's order will start a rule-making process at HHS that could take several months, officials said, the Washington Post reports.
