Author Archives: DREDF

DREDF Applauds President Biden’s Plan To Increase Essential Support for Disabled Americans

October 29, 2021
DREDF applauds President Biden for delivering on his campaign pledge to make government work better for disabled people in yesterday's announcement of the Build Back Better Framework which would go a long way to improve the lives of disability communities, and the individuals who live in them, across our entire nation. Systemic change doesn't happen by accident. It requires the allocation of deliberate, strategic resources as President Biden's plan does. [...]

DREDF Comments on Medicare Reviews of Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Admission

October 8, 2021
California will be among 17 states in which the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) plans to initiate a 5 year project to review all claims submitted for inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) services. IRFs provide intensive rehabilitation and care coordination that people may need to recover after a medical event such as a heart attack, a stroke, or a traumatic brain or spinal cord injury. Just as importantly, people with chronic conditions and disabilities may need IRF services to maintain their functional capacity and prevent or slow down functional deterioration experienced over time. A temporary IRF stay can mean a faster and more efficient return to the community. CMS has provided little evidence of the fraud that is cited as justification for the demonstration, and we already know that IRF services can be denied to people with disabilities even when they are of medical benefit, especially people with chronic progressive conditions who are already too often "written off" because they cannot be cured or "fixed." In our comment letter, DREDF opposed gatekeeping measures that stop people with disabilities from getting the care they need to live fully and independently in their communities. [...]

Kaiser and DMHC Face Lawsuit for Discriminatory Failure to Cover Wheelchairs

October 7, 2021
The Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund ("DREDF") and Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP ("RBGG") filed a class action lawsuit in federal court against Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and the California Department of Managed Health Care ("DMHC") challenging disability discrimination in insurance coverage of wheelchairs. Health plans administered by Kaiser and endorsed by DMHC do not provide effective coverage of wheelchairs needed by people with disabilities. [...]

Smith, et al. v. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, et al.

October 7, 2021
Health insurance plans administered by Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, and endorsed by the California Department of Managed Health Care ("DMHC"), do not provide effective coverage of wheelchairs needed by people with disabilities. Kaiser plans either completely exclude coverage of, or impose a $2,000 cap on coverage of, wheelchairs (which can cost up to $50,000 out-of-pocket). This class action lawsuit, which represents the interests of disabled people who need wheelchairs to remain mobile, stay healthy, commute to work, and participate fully in community life, challenges these exclusions and limitations as discriminatory and a violation of the Affordable Care Act's "essential health benefit" guarantees. [...]

DREDF Opposes Fast Tracking Assisted Suicide

October 7, 2021
On Tuesday, October 5, Governor Newsom signed SB-380 – which shortens the wait time for receiving lethal assisted suicide medication to 48 hours – into law without comment. Previously the period between making two separate requests to take the deadly drugs had been 15 days. The law, which was originally set to expire in 2026, was also extended for five additional years. [...]

DREDF Urges CA Governor to Veto Bill Eliminating Safeguards on Physician Assisted Suicide SB 380

September 22, 2021
Senate Bill 380, which would roll back important protections for individuals with disabilities who are considering using an aid-in-dying drug for the purpose of ending their life. Assisted suicide is not about choice when people with disabilities lack access to appropriate medical care. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed long standing disparities in our health care delivery system as we witnessed disproportionate rates of infection and mortality among Black and Latine Californians, and throughout our senior and disability communities. DREDF supports making available to all Californians ready access to timely rehabilitative, therapeutic, urgent, palliative (pain management), hospice and related health care options other than physician-assisted suicide. [...]

Pharmaceutical Analyses Based on the QALY Violate Disability Nondiscrimination Law

September 21, 2021
Over the past several decades, the debate over the cost of pharmaceuticals and the perceived “value” of certain drug treatments has amplified. In pursuit of cost containment, policymakers have wrestled with the concept of cost-effectiveness and sought measures by which to guide health care payers in their decisionmaking regarding formularies and utilization management. One measure in use by many payers is the Quality-Adjusted Life Year (“QALY”). The QALY is a metric that, in theory, measures the degree to which a drug or therapy extends life and improves quality of life. The QALY is used to develop guidelines on the economic “value” of a given pharmaceutical, which then informs a payer’s decision of whether to cover such drug and, if so, under what terms. Unfortunately, the QALY relies on a set of discriminatory assumptions that devalue life with a disability, disadvantaging people with disabilities seeking to access care based on subjective assessments of quality of life. This paper details how the use of the QALY violates disability nondiscrimination law. [...]