Two skilled nursing facilities in North Carolina reached a settlement this month that bars them from discriminating against people with a history of substance use — potentially setting a precedent for how long-term care facilities nationwide treat people with addiction.

Under the settlement , the facilities are to adopt new antidiscrimination admission policies and apply reasonable judgment to individual applicants, instead of automatically denying them based on past substance use.

The policies apply to people taking addiction medications like methadone and buprenorphine, as well as those who currently use illegal drugs; facilities are not required to bend their own rules regarding admitted patients’ substance use. It is believed to be the first case in the U.S. to successfully challen

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