The Justice Department announced today that it filed a complaint and proposed consent decree to resolve allegations that MedStar Health Inc., a leading healthcare provider in Maryland and the Washington, DC, region, violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by denying people with disabilities equal access to medical care by excluding their necessary support persons. Some individuals with dementia, intellectual disabilities, autism spectrum disorder, and other disabilities may require the assistance of a support person (such as a family member, companion, or aide) to provide their medical history or understand medical directions when accessing medical care.
The complaint alleges that MedStar Health failed on numerous occasions to modify its visitor restrictions so that people with certain disabilities which affected their ability to independently access medical care could be accompanied by their support persons. As a result, they were unable to receive equal care without the assistance of their support person. Under the proposed consent decree, which the court must approve, MedStar Health has agreed to pay a total of $440,000 to compensate multiple eligible affected individuals. MedStar Health will also revise its policies to ensure ADA compliance, train its workforce on the new policies and report to the department on any future exclusion of support persons, as defined in the decree.
