New York Times: Should Youth Come First in Coronavirus Care? (July 31, 2020)

This piece about the ethics of care rationing guidelines, should hospitals become overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients, featured our work opposing care standards that discriminate against older adults and people with disabilities illegally. We have filed a number of complaints, in coalition with others, in the Office of Civil Rights of the federal Department of Health and Human Services. In March, the Office of Civil Rights reaffirmed that the Affordable Care Act and other federal statutes prohibit discrimination, in health facilities receiving federal funds, on the basis of age, disability and other characteristics. But many guidelines persist in using “life years” as a criterion, or use age as a tiebreaker. “That would be bias, in our view,” said Regan Bailey, the director of litigation for Justice in Aging.