In an assurance of voluntary compliance with the state attorney general’s office, Butler County-based Concordia Lutheran Ministries agreed not to refuse to admit patients taking medication to treat opioid use disorder at several facilities.

The compliance assurance filed June 3 in Butler County Common Pleas Court says the state investigated the referral and admission practices of five Concordia facilities, none of which are in the county, and determined that it refused to admit a patient because they take methadone to treat a disability.

Each of the facilities denies it discriminated in their referral and admission practices, and the state and facilities entered into the assurance of voluntary compliance to avoid continued investigation and potential contested litigation, according to the assurance. The assurance is not an admission of a violation of law.

The facilities named in the assurance are Concordia at Bethlen in Ligonier, Concordia Harmony Physical Rehabilitation in Monroeville, Concordia of Monroeville, Concordia of the South Hills in Pittsburgh and Concordia at Rebecca Residence in Allison Park.

Representatives from Concordia at Bethlen, Concordia Harmony Physical Rehabilitation, Concordia of Monroeville and Concordia of the South Hills signed the assurance in May.

The assurance says the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability at places of public accommodation, which include skilled nursing facilities, and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act makes it unlawful for public accommodations to refuse a person because of handicap or disability, according to the assurance.

Both laws prohibit public accommodations from discriminating by using eligibility criteria that screen out people with disabilities unless the criteria can be shown to be necessary, and require public accommodations to modify their policies for people with disabilities unless the modifications would fundamentally alter the public accommodation’s services, according to the assurance.

Opioid use disorder is a disability under both laws, and skilled nursing facilities that refuse to admit patients because they take medication for treatment approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration violate both laws, according to the assurance.

Medication to treat opioid use disorder include FDA approved controlled substances including methadone, buprenorphine (Subutex) and buprenorphine-naloxone (Suboxone) or naltrexone.

Terms of the settlement apply to the five facilities and officers, agents and employees of all current and any future Concordia medical facilities.

The terms prohibit using referral or admission practices that constitute disability discrimination, and require the five facilities to update their written policies to say they will not deny referrals or deny admission because a prospective patient takes legally prescribed medication, including an opioid, to treat their disability.

“The AVC was prompted by concerns over the local facilities’ referral and admission practices. Due to the ongoing investigation, we cannot comment further,” the attorney general’s press office said in an email.

A message seeking comment left at Concordia’s office was not returned.