2023 Montana Code Annotated › Title 49. Human Rights › Chapter 4. Rights of Persons With Disabilities › Part 6. Discrimination in Anatomical Gifts and Organ Transplants › 49-4-603. Discrimination in organ transplantation

49-4-603. Discrimination in organ transplantation.
(1) A covered entity may not, solely on the basis of a person's disability:
(a) consider the person ineligible to receive an anatomical gift or organ transplant;
(b) deny medical services or other services related to organ transplantation, including diagnostic services, evaluation, surgery, counseling, or postoperative treatment and services;
(c) refuse to refer the person to a transplant center or other related specialist for the purpose of being evaluated for or receiving an organ transplant;
(d) refuse to place a qualified recipient on an organ transplant waiting list;
(e) place a qualified recipient on an organ transplant waiting list at a lower priority position than the position at which the person would have been placed if the person did not have a disability; or
(f) refuse insurance coverage for any procedure associated with being evaluated for or receiving an anatomical gift or organ transplant, including posttransplantation and posttransfusion care.
(2) It is not a violation of subsection (1) for a covered entity to take a person's disability into account when making treatment or coverage recommendations or decisions, solely to the extent that the disability has been found by a physician or surgeon to be medically significant to the provision of the anatomical gift after completing an individualized evaluation of the person.
(3) If a person has the necessary support system to assist the person in complying with posttransplant medical requirements, a covered entity may not consider the person's inability to independently comply with posttransplant medical requirements to be medically significant for the purposes of subsection (2).
(4) A covered entity must make reasonable modifications to its policies, practices, or procedures to allow people with disabilities access to transplantation-related services, including diagnostic services, surgery, postoperative treatment, and counseling, unless the covered entity can demonstrate that making the modifications would fundamentally alter the nature of such services.
(5) A covered entity must take steps necessary to ensure that a person with a disability is not denied medical services or other services related to organ transplantation, including diagnostic services, surgery, postoperative treatment, or counseling due to the absence of auxiliary aids or services, unless the covered entity can demonstrate that taking the steps would fundamentally alter the nature of the medical services or other services related to organ transplantation or would result in an undue burden for the covered entity.
(6) This section applies to all stages of the organ transplant process.
(7) Nothing in this section may be construed to:
(a) require a covered entity to make a referral or recommendation for or perform a medically inappropriate organ transplant; or
(b) affect a covered entity's obligation to comply with the requirements of Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008.
History: En. Sec. 3, Ch. 487, L. 2021.