Jan 15, 2021 - 03:13 PM
The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights yesterday announced collaborative efforts with the state of North Carolina, the North Texas Mass Critical Care Guidelines Task Force, the Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council, and the Indian Health Service in updating each entity’s crisis standards of care to provide equitable health care to individuals with disabilities and the elderly.
Building on its prior work to address discrimination concerns during COVID-19, OCR provided technical assistance to each entity on CSC provisions that incorporate protections, prohibitions and language updates to ensure older persons and persons with disabilities are not excluded from health care. For more details on the OCR announcement, click here.
Today, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is announcing it has worked collaboratively with the State of North Carolina, the North Texas Mass Critical Care Guidelines Task Force, the Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council, and the Indian Health Service to revise each entity’s crisis standards of care ( CSC ) guidelines to reflect best practices for serving individuals with disabilities and the elderly. This builds on OCR s prior work regarding discrimination concerns during COVID-19. OCR enforces a number of federal antidiscrimination laws, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and conscience and religious freedom laws.