Comments on HHS Proposed Rule on Protecting Statutory Conscience

March 27, 2018
On March 27, 2018 DREDF submitted comments in response to regulations proposed by the Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights on "Protecting Statutory Conscience Rights in Health Care." DREDF questions the vagueness and breadth of the proposed rule which gives broad latitude to healthcare providers and entities to refuse to perform or assist in performing health care services or activities to which they object "for religious, moral, ethical, or other reasons." DREDF emphasized that the provider's right to refuse cannot simply override the right of persons with disabilities of all races, ethnicities, ages, sexual orientation and gender, to receive accessible and equally effective healthcare services, free of discrimination.

DREDF’s Comments on CMS Proposals

July 5, 2016
DREDF supports CMS proposals to include Promoting Health Equity and Continuity, and Social and Community Involvement as Clinical Practice Improvement Activity performance categories related to rewarding eligible practitioners who work to improve and maintain high quality care for people with disabilities. However, we question why the proposed rule fails to immediately adopt the subcategory of promoting health equity, which explicitly includes "maintaining adequate equipment and other accommodations."

NFB and Disability Advocates Charge Federal Health Agency With Civil Rights Violations

February 10, 2016
(Springfield, MA, February 10, 2016): The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and individual plaintiffs Juan Figueroa, Derek Manners, and Martti Mallinen announced the filing of a major federal lawsuit today in U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts, Western Division. The lawsuit charges the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through its sub-agency, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and its CMS sub-contractors, with systemically violating the civil rights of blind Medicare recipients.

Juan Figueroa, Derek Manners, Martti Mallinan, and The National Federation of the Blind v. US Department of Health and Human Services

February 10, 2016
The lawsuit filed today by the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and individual plaintiffs charges the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through its sub-agency, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and its CMS sub-contractors, with systemically violating the civil rights of blind Medicare recipients. The complaint details how, 40 years after the federal Rehabilitation Act and a the growth of a new world of technology, blind people are still forced to -- among other long-outmoded practices -- rely on others to read inaccessible materials, and to disclose private personal and financial information to sighted third parties. [...]

Comments on Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2016

December 26, 2014
DREDF submitted comments on HHS proposed rules affecting implementation of portions of the Affordable Care Act that directly affect people with disabilities. In addition to supporting comments submitted by the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), we urged HHS to issue comprehensive language access standards and technical support for navigator and non-navigator assistance personnel to ensure that people with communication disabilities have equal access to the Health Insurance Marketplace.

DREDF Files Administrative Complaint with HHS and OCR

July 13, 2012
DREDF has filed an administrative complaint with the US Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (HHS–OCR) charging the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) and the California Department of Health Care Services (CDHCS) with failure to adequately monitor disability discrimination in public benefits programs throughout California.

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Proposed ACA Data Collection Standards

August 1, 2011
In addition to calling for collection of data on disability status for applicants, recipients, or participants by any federally conducted or supported health care or public health program, activity or survey, Section 4302 of the ACA also requires the collection of additional information related to specific, known barriers to healthcare that affect individuals with disabilities and that contribute to the health and health care disparities they experience, and sets forth the following specific data collection standards: