adminDisability Discrimination Affect Access to Healthcare Resources
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other disability discrimination laws prohibit exclusion, segregation, unequal treatment, and the failure to make reasonable modifications and accommodations to ensure equal access to services and facilities. Discrimination can occur in many forms, including excluding people with disabilities from social activities, requiring medical exams before hiring employees, applying eligibility criteria that tend to screen out persons with disabilities, and failing to provide auxiliary aids and services.
The ADA defines disability as an impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, and it applies to people who are disabled or have a record of such an impairment. These impairments can include physical and mental conditions such as blindness, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism, muscular dystrophy, and cancer. They can also include learning and behavioral disorders such as depression, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and bipolar disorder. The ADA protects those with these conditions from discrimination in employment, the provision of public services, and the operation of private entities that receive federal financial assistance.
For employment, the ADA prevents disability discrimination in all aspects of hiring, promotion, and firing, and it requires employers to make reasonable accommodations to enable people with disabilities to perform their jobs. These accommodations might include modifying equipment, providing auxiliary aids and services, or retraining employees. However, an employer is not required to make changes that would fundamentally alter the nature of a business’s goods or services, or impose undue financial or administrative burden.
How Does Disability Discrimination Affect Access to Healthcare Resources?
A person with a disability can file a complaint with the EEOC if they experience discrimination in the workplace. They can also file a lawsuit in court after receiving a letter from the EEOC stating they have a right to sue. However, many people in New York and other cities choose to file their claims under local human rights laws like the NYSHRL or NYCHRL instead of the EEOC because those laws have more relaxed standards for what constitutes a “reasonable accommodation.”
Health care discrimination may be more difficult to prove than employment or housing discrimination. However, it can still be very detrimental to a person with a disability law. For example, if an insurance company decides not to pay for a treatment that is deemed medically necessary by a doctor, the plaintiff might file a lawsuit against the insurer under state disability discrimination law.
Health care providers have a duty to make reasonable adjustments to allow people with disabilities to access jobs, education, and services just as easily as non-disabled people. However, not all health care providers understand this legal obligation or know how to implement reasonable adjustments in practice. For example, Mae has a disability that causes her to need to take time off work for treatment and hospital visits. Her manager follows the company’s policies and gives Mae a warning for excessive absences, which could be discrimination arising from Mae’s disability. This is also known as indirect discrimination. Fortunately, a qualified attorney can help with these cases.
