A Proposed Rule by the Health and Human Services Department
Comments are due 11/13/2023 at 11:59 pm EST.
I find the lack of masking at healthcare settings is creating a barrier for me to get safe healthcare as someone who is disabled and high risk in multiple ways according to the CDC information on People With Certain Medical Conditions. I already have disabling post-infection conditions and would like to maintain the ability to function that I have for as long as possible and not be forced into getting more and entirely preventable diseases while getting healthcare. Healthcare is all about stopping disease and caring for people who have medical needs. Why else even have healthcare services except to treat and prevent damage to patient’s health? I’m confused about why healthcare provider corporations seem to be arranged around assuming patient safety is irrelevant, and that healthy people need no protection from covid or other respiratory diseases when even healthy people are at risk of becoming disabled by covid, including long-term or permanently. Just the fact that someone is seeking healthcare means that they’re more likely to be People With Certain Medical Conditions (people with disabilities) after all. Considering that a significant portion of people seeking healthcare are high risk, even perhaps temporarily high risk, says to me that to make healthcare accessible we need to have a default of universal masking in healthcare. We had this in healthcare for a couple of years at my healthcare providers so we know that it is reasonable accommodation. Requiring patients to have to request this puts an undue burden on the disabled patient in a power imbalanced situation that sometimes becomes hostile when the healthcare provider is uneducated, propagandized, or politicized about infectious disease respiratory protection. Nobody should be forced to beg for safety from people often primed for hostility toward patients over being asked to cover their mouth and nose. If it’s standard, there’s no problem created for the patient. Everyone masks, and it’s equal access for everyone. There is no excuse not to protect us from preventable disease, if you believe disabled people have lives of value.