The Center for Public Representation supported partners in Pennsylvania and Utah in complaints filed with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights (HHS OCR) regarding illegal disability discrimination in treatment rationing protocols being developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Utah complaint, filed today, and the Pennslyvania complaint, filed on April 3, both focus the states’ crisis standard of care guidelines, with the complaints saying Utah’s “explicitly and implicitly deprioritize people with disabilities for care” and Pennsylvania’s “discriminates against and jeopardizes the lives of people with disabilities.” These discriminatory guidelines violate federal disability rights laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 504) and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
You can read the press release on the Utah complaint here and on the Pennsylvania complaint here.
For more on medical rationing during the COVID-19 pandemic, visit our webpage.