WASHINGTON — On Thursday, the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S Department of Health and Human Services announced it has resolved a complaint filed against the Pennsylvania Department of Health (PDH) after PDH revised its Interim Pennsylvania Crisis Standards of Care for Pandemic Guidelines (CSC Guidelines) to ensure that persons will not be discriminated against based on disability if providers in the state were to begin triaging life-saving health care services.

This is the second enforcement action OCR has taken since OCR issued a bulletin reminding covered entities of the continued applicability of civil rights laws during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

On April 3, the office received a complaint from a number of disability rights advocates, including Disability Rights Pennsylvania, alleging that Pennsylvania’s pandemic guidelines were not in compliance. The complaint alleged that the guidelines unlawfully singled out and authorized the denial of treatment to individuals with disabilities when prioritizing access to critical care and ventilators.

The guidelines listed specific impairments or disabilities that would lead to greater deprioritization. The complaint also alleged that the guidelines did not require an individualized assessment, but instead used “preexisting conditions that are disabilities” to determine a priority score.

The office has reviewed the complaint and determined that, as a recipient of HHS funds, Pennsylvania is required to comply with the civil rights statutes. Pennsylvania has agreed to comply and has revised its guidelines.

Based on Pennsylvania’s responsive actions and the revisions it has made to its guidelines, OCR is closing its complaint investigation as satisfactorily resolved without a finding of liability.