The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) have jointly published guidance on how “long COVID” can be a disability under the ADA, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. The guidance is on the HHS website at https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-providers/civil-rights-covid19/index.html and on the DOJ website at https://www.ada.gov/long_covid_joint_guidance.pdf – PDF. Some people continue to experience symptoms that can last weeks or months after first developing COVID-19. This can happen to anyone who has had COVID-19, even if the initial illness was mild. People with this condition are sometimes called “long-haulers”— and the condition they have is known as “long COVID.” With the rise of long COVID as a persistent and significant health issue, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the DOJ Civil Rights Division have joined together to provide this new guidance. This guidance explains that long COVID can be a disability under the ADA, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, and explains how these laws may apply. Each of these federal laws protects people with disabilities from discrimination. This guidance also provides resources for additional information and best practices.
This guidance, along with a directory of resources available through programs funded by the Administration for Community Living (ACL), was shared by the White House as part of a comprehensive package of resources for people with long COVID, which you can find here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/07/26/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-marks-anniversary-of-americans-with-disabilities-act-and-announces-resources-to-support-individuals-with-long-covid/.
The ACL directory of resources for those with long COVID may be found at: https://acl.gov/sites/default/files/COVID19/ACL_LongCOVID.pdf – PDF.
