Now more than ever, we need to listen to and respect one another’s views and values, whether on the floor of Congress or in individual health care decisions. 

As former members of Congress on different sides of the aisle, we found common ground. We fiercely believe older adults and people with disabilities should not be devalued, especially in our nation’s health care system. The United States should not embrace health care rationing that de-prioritizes the health and wellness of people living with disabilities, or older adults or even infants. Yet that’s where the current political debate takes us.

Therefore, we have a shared interest in barring measures that devalue the lives of older adults and people with disabilities, particularly the quality-adjusted life year, known as the QALY. This is a cost-effectiveness measure invented by other countries to ration health care. It is used to justify declining coverage of treatment that doesn’t meet a threshold for cost effectiveness based on years that person may live, or whether society deems their quality of life worth living. 

As the parent of a child with Down syndrome and a person with epilepsy, preventing discrimination against people with disabilities and chronic illnesses and affirming that every person’s life has value is something we can — indeed must — agree on. The nonpartisan National Council on Disabilities report in 2019 titled “Quality-Adjusted Life Years and the Devaluation of Life........

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