Apr 08, 2020

Advocates call on Gov. Ricketts to protect at-risk Nebraskans during COVID-19 outbreak

Posted Apr 08, 2020 9:27 PM

News Release-Nebraska Press Association

Lincoln, NE -- Disability Rights Nebraska and 15 stakeholder organizations issued a call today for Governor Pete Ricketts to protect the rights of Nebraskans with disabilities during the COVID-19 emergency and forbid discriminatory medical rationing.

Some states (https://www.centerforpublicrep.org/news/cpr-and-partners-file-second-complaint-regarding-illegal-disability-discrimination-in-treatment-rationing-during-covid-19-pandemic/) have recently proposed crisis health standards to ration medical care that are overtly discriminatory to people living with developmental, intellectual, psychiatric, and physical disabilities. “People with disabilities being placed at the back of the line—or being forbidden from even getting in the line for care—is not a phantom specter. We’re seeing written protocols for care that would simply discard people living with an intellectual disability, people who regularly use a ventilator, people with neuromuscular disease, people with immunocompromised systems, and people with some forms of cancer. This isn’t just inhumane—it’s illegal,” said Eric Evans, CEO of Disability Rights Nebraska.

While many states have written crisis standards of care that instruct medical providers how to address an emergency where there are inadequate resources, Nebraska currently has no such plan. “In the absence of leadership from Governor Ricketts, each individual hospital and doctor will be making a judgment call that might result in a patchwork quilt of rights statewide. We need clear guidance from the state now,” Evans added. “We provided legal authority to Governor Ricketts over a week ago, but disappointingly have heard no response. With this statewide coalition of advocates, we hope to have movement as soon as possible ahead of the COVID-19 peak.”

Nationwide, disability rights advocates have filed complaints with the federal Office of Civil Rights to prevent implementation of discriminatory rationing policies. “If any Nebraskan has confronted medical rationing, we urge you to contact Disability Rights Nebraska (https://www.disabilityrightsnebraska.org/need_our_assistance/request_for_assistance.html) so we can investigate,” Evans said.

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Disability Rights Nebraska is a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) that has been designated to provide protection and advocacy services in Nebraska. Disability Rights Nebraska is the only organization mandated to pursue legal and/or other remedies to defend the rights of Nebraskans with disabilities. Learn more at disabilityrightsnebraska.org.

Individuals from the following organizations also signed on to our follow-up letter:

The Arc of Nebraska ACLU Nebraska Nebraska Appleseed

Nebraska Developmental Disabilities Council University Center of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, MMI, UNMC Down Syndrome Alliance of the Midlands

Nebraska Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired Nebraska Statewide Independent Living Council

Sheltering Tree Legal Aid of Nebraska Ollie Webb Center, Inc.

Brain Injury Alliance of Nebraska Paralyzed Veterans of America, Great Plains Chapter People First of Nebraska, Inc.

ACCOMPANYING LETTER:

April 8, 2020 – By Electronic Mail

Re: Follow-up to letter of March 27, 2019

Dear Governor Ricketts:

We the undersigned write with great concern about the need for clear guidelines to protect people with disabilities during the current COVID-19 crisis.

On March 27, 2020, Disability Rights Nebraska wrote to you with a request for binding statewide guidance to ensure that all Nebraskans, including those with psychiatric, developmental, intellectual and physical conditions, are treated fairly without inappropriate rationing of medical care if they contract COVID-19.[1] <#_ftn1>

All across the country, we are seeing discriminatory proposals to deny ventilator access or other needed medical care for people with a variety of health conditions that deliberately or inadvertently leave out people with disabilities. Nebraska has never created crisis standards of care, which means in this emergency, each hospital or facility can set their own standards. This is not tenable.

We urgently request you to protect all Nebraskans’ right to access medically necessary services by issuing nondiscriminatory statewide guidance to educate all public and private entities. Further, we ask you to affirm the same principles announced by the Office of Civil Rights in their recent guidance to educate all involved that even in this emergency, the delivery of life-saving medical interventions must make treatment decisions consistent with the non-discrimination requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act.[2] <#_ftn2>

Nebraskans with disabilities and their families and friends are all too familiar with discrimination and wrongful assumptions about their quality of life. The hospitals and medical providers on the front lines of thousands of individual treatment decisions need clear and binding guidance from the state. The guiding principles outlined by national experts can be adopted in Nebraska.[3] <#_ftn3>

We urge you to bring together a virtual listening session to benefit from the expertise of the undersigned. We await information how the state intends to address the disability community’s concerns regarding discriminatory rationing of care. Thank you in advance for your consideration of this most important issue, and for your long–standing commitment to Nebraska’s citizens with disabilities.

Sincerely,

Eric Evans, Ph.D.

CEO, Disability Rights Nebraska

Edison McDonald

Executive Director, The Arc of Nebraska

Kristen Larsen

Executive Director, Nebraska Developmental Disabilities Council

Wayne Stuberg, Ph.D.

Director, University Center of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, MMI, UNMC

Danielle Conrad, J.D.

Executive Director, ACLU Nebraska

Leah Janke

Executive Director, Down Syndrome Alliance of the Midlands

John C. Wyvill, J.D.

Executive Director, Nebraska Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Laurie Ackermann

Executive Director, Ollie Webb Center, Inc.

Carlos R. Servan, J.D.

Executive Director, Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired

Kathy Hoell, MPA

Executive Director, Nebraska Statewide Independent Living Council

Denise Gehringer

Executive Director, Sheltering Tree

Milo Mumgaard, J.D.

Executive Director, Legal Aid of Nebraska

Amanda Vazquez

Government Relations Director, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Great Plains Chapter

Peggy Reisher, MSW

Executive Director, Brain Injury Alliance of Nebraska

Rebecca L. Gould

Executive Director, Nebraska Appleseed

Travis Schaffer

President, People First of Nebraska, Inc.