In
October the Center for Medicare reported about Utah’s inclusion of an
age-based “tie-breaker” in its “Crisis Standards of Care.” These standards
guide medical providers when they are forced to ration life-saving treatment,
such as the use of ICU care or ventilators. At the time, Utah hospitals were
becoming overwhelmed by a surge of COVID-19 patients. Now, they have been
stretched even thinner, with “informal rationing” of care already starting.
The
Center for Medicare Advocacy joined Justice in Aging’s efforts to oppose the inclusion of an
unlawfully discriminatory “tie-breaker,” based solely on the patient’s age, in
Utah’s Crisis Standards of Care. We are pleased that the state has now removed
that arbitrary provision and revised its “tie-breaker” guidelines.
Resources
are now to be triaged based on clinical factors that emphasize prospects for
short-term survival, followed by random allocation if necessary. The revised standards also expressly prohibit
discrimination based on age and other factors such as race, disability, or sex.
While it is tragic that these crisis standards may have to be used, Utah’s
revisions help ensure the equitable treatment of COVID-19 patients. This is
particularly important for older adults, who have borne the worst effects of
the pandemic and should not be devalued based solely on their age.
Other
resources on COVID-19 care rationing and opposition to age- or disability-based
discrimination:
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