A bill to protect those with disabilities—and others who are vulnerable—from being deprived of certain medical treatments under federal health care programs was heard by a House subcommittee on Feb. 1.
Presently, federal health care programs use a quality adjusted-life-years calculation, or QALYS, when determining what procedures it will cover and levels of reimbursement.
People who the government determines to be healthy receive a higher score for an additional year of life than do those with a disability.
The bill, “Protecting Health Care for All Patients Act of 2023, H.R. 485, was discussed in a House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Health hearing, called Lives Worth Living: Addressing the Fentanyl Crisis, Protecting Critical Lifelines, and Combatting Discrimination Against Those with Disabilities.
Members of the subcommittee continue to receive comments on the legislation.
H.R. 485 was introduced to the previous Congress in April 2022, by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), and Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio)—who is also a physician.
On Jan. 31, with Republicans in control of the lower chamber of Congress, McMorris Rodgers—chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee—joined House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.), Wenstrup, and fellow physician Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) to reintroduce the bill.
McMorris Rodgers, 53, has made advocacy and fighting for the rights of people with disabilities central to her legislative work.
She has been married since 2006, to retired U.S. Navy Commander Brian Rodgers, with whom she has three children.
Their son, Cole, was born with Down syndrome, which “inspired Cathy to become a leader in the disabilities community.”
“When the government uses QALYs it means a health care bureaucracy can coldly and mercilessly determine someone’s life is worth less,” said McMorris Rodgers when the bill was first introduced.
“Countries that use them to discriminate against people with chronic illnesses and disabilities, including people with cystic fibrosis, ALS, and people like my son Cole who has Down syndrome.
“The most vulnerable are sent to the back of the line for treatment because the government says their lives aren’t valuable enough for care.
“Today, we’re introducing this legislation as warriors for human dignity to stop the use of QALYs and affirm that every person’s life has value.
“This builds on our work on the Energy and Commerce Committee to stop Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi’s socialist price controls and the dangerous consequences of the Left’s agenda for government-run health care.”
Down Syndrome Society Backs Cause
Among those testifying at the hearing was Kandi Pickard, president and CEO of the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS). Pickard has four children; her 10-year-old son Mason has Down syndrome.“As the leading human rights organization for all individuals with Down syndrome, DSS stands in strong support of a nationwide ban on the use of QALYS and similar measures,” said Pickard in her opening statement.
“As you know, QALYS places a numerical value on the quality of one’s life before and after health care treatments and interventions. And these calculations are then used by federal health programs to determine the cost-effectiveness of treatments and services, and thus coverage for patients.
“Since a substantial number of individuals with disabilities receive their health care through Medicaid, this flawed and discriminatory metric directly impacts access to necessary health care treatments when they are not deemed cost-effective enough to administer to individuals with disabilities.”
