Health Care Providers: It’s Not Just Employee Discrimination Claims — Patients Can Have Discrimination Claims Too


Hospitals, outpatient clinics, and telehealth practices know they need policies and training on their employee equal employment and anti-harassment policies. These health care providers know that when supervisors are not properly trained, costly employment claims can arise.

Equally as important, health care providers need policies and training on their patient antidiscrimination policies. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) — the federal agency that enforces laws against discrimination by certain health care providers based on race, color, national origin, disability, age, religion, and sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity) — recently issued reminders about anti-discrimination laws in the age of COVID-19.

Specifically, HHS discussed in the FAQs that patients with disabilities are protected by several federal laws, including the anti-discrimination provision (Section 1557) of the Affordable Care Act. With respect to patients with disabilities, the FAQs instruct:

Providers should be equally mindful of patient antidiscrimination obligations as employee anti-discrimination obligations. Periodic compliance review and up-to-date trainings for relevant employees are a must in order to keep up with and comply with these laws. Doing so can help prevent and defend against patient discrimination claims.


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National Law Review, Volume XII, Number 39