Pennsylvania’s response to the coronavirus pandemic will now comply with federal civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination based on disability, resolving a complaint filed against the state’s Department of Health, reports Bloomberglaw.
The changes ensure providers in the state can’t make decisions based on disability as they determine who will receive life-saving treatment and access to things like ventilators.
The Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday that state officials had revised the Interim Pennsylvania Crisis Standards of Care for Pandemic Guidelines, which previously listed specific impairments or disabilities that would put those people lower on the priority list for care.
“Triage decisions must be based on objective and individualized evidence, not discriminatory assumptions about the prognoses of persons with disabilities,” said Roger Severino, director of the OCR. “We must ensure that triage policies are free from discrimination both in their creation and their application, and we will remain vigilant in achieving that goal.”
Disability rights advocates, including Disability Rights Pennsylvania, filed a complaint April 3 alleging the state’s guidelines weren’t in compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act.
