Member - Civil Rights


Civil Rights Non-Discrimination Notice

Pursuant to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, the Nevada Division of Health Care Financing and Policy does not discriminate in admissions, provision of services, hiring and employment on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age or disability (including AIDS and AIDS-related conditions).  For further information or to file a complaint please contact either the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) or the DHCFP Recipient Civil Rights Officer using the contact information provided to the right. 

If you wish to submit a complaint in writing, use Civil Rights and Privacy Incident Reporting Form below.

The DHCFP assists the federal Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights with oversight of several civil rights regulations. These regulations prohibit discrimination, including health care provider conscience rights, on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age and, in certain circumstances, sex and religion, in programs and activities that receive financial assistance from HHS.  The Office for Civil Rights also enforces a Federal law and regulation that prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in health care and social service programs of state and local governments.

Title VI provides:   

No person in the United States shall, on the grounds of race, color, national origin, sex or religion, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to, discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.

Section 504 provides:
No otherwise qualified disabled individual in the United States shall, solely by reason of his disability (including AIDS and related conditions) be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to, discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. 

The Age Discrimination Act provides:
No person in the United States shall, on the basis of age, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to, discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.

The ADA provides:
Title II, State and local government services, prohibits discrimination against qualified disabled individuals in all programs, activities and services of public entities; and Title III, Public Accommodations, prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities in all programs, activities and services of private entities.

Patient Self-Determination Act

Most hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies, and HMO's routinely provide information on advance directives at the time of admission. They are required to do so under a federal law called the Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA)

The PSDA simply requires that most health care institutions (but not individual doctors) do the following: 

1. Give you at the time of admission a written summary of:  

  • your health care decision-making rights (Each state has developed such a summary for hospitals, nursing homes, and home health agencies to use).
  • the facility's policies with respect to recognizing advance directives. 

2. Ask you if you have an advance directive, and document that fact in your medical record if you do. (It is up to you to make sure they get a copy of it.) 

3. Educate their staff and community about advance directives. 

4. Never discriminate against patients based on whether or not they have an advance directive. Thus, it is against the law for them to require either that you have or not have an advance directive. 

    Contact OCR

    Department of Health and Human Services
    90 7th Street, Suite - 400
    San Francisco, CA. 94102

    Phone (415) 437-8310
    Fax (415) 437-8329
    TDD (415) 437-8311

    Contact DHCFP Recipient Civil Rights Officer

    Nevada Division of Health Care Financing and Policy
    1100 E. William St., Suite 101
    Carson City, NV 89701

    Phone (775) 684-3157
    Fax (775) 687-3893

    Civil Rights Regulations