ADA National Network Learning Session: Healthcare and Civil Rights During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Updates from the HHS Office for Civil Rights and the Department of Justice

People with disabilities have faced a heavy toll in the COVID-19 pandemic, compounded by discrimination in the healthcare system. This webinar will discuss recent guidance and enforcement actions from HHS and DOJ including FAQs for Healthcare Providers during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency; Guidance on "Long COVID" as a Disability Under the ADA, Section 504, and Section 1557; Disability Access in Vaccine Distribution; and other critical issues. Join us to learn more about the application of civil rights laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability during the COVID-19 public health emergency, and other key health policy issues that impact people with disabilities.

Learning objectives:

• Learn about recent guidance and other developments in healthcare and civil rights from federal enforcement partners at the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights.
• Discuss some of the key laws that protect against discrimination on the basis of disability and how they apply during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
• Learn how to submit a complaint to HHS or DOJ if you think your rights have been violated.

Presenters:

Molly Burgdorf is currently Section Chief in the Civil Rights Division of the Office for Civil Rights at HHS. She is an advocate, an attorney, and a woman with a disability. Molly has also served as the Senior Director of Rights Policy with The Arc of the United States, the Senior Policy Attorney at the Center for Public Representation, Senior Advisor with the Administration for Community Living and the Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities at HHS, among other roles.

John Wodatch is a disability rights attorney, with over 50 years specializing in the Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. He served for 42 years in the Federal government, where he authored the government's comprehensive disability rights regulations and created and led the Department of Justice's office in charge of enforcing the ADA. He is now serving as a Senior Disability Policy Advisor at the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services.

Kathleen Wolfe is a Special Litigation Counsel in the Disability Rights Section of the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice. A member of the Disability Rights Section's senior management team, Kathleen works with the Division's rulemaking/guidance team as well as its enforcement teams litigating under the ADA and Section 504.

Registration for this session will open Friday, April 15.