Policy Advocacy
Accessible Healthcare Policy Advocacy
According to the US Census Bureau, 54.4 million people (18.7 percent) in the US have some level of disability, and 35.0 million (12.0 percent) have a severe disability. Yet many lack access to accessible and culturally competent healthcare. Congress is currently attempting to improve healthcare for everyone by crafting sweeping proposals for reform. People with disabilities must be fully included in that process. Some key issues include:
- Available and affordable health insurance that does not exclude people with pre-existing condition
- Adequate benefits
- Long-term care
- Including people with disabilities in health disparities research
- Collecting accurate data about the healthcare experiences of people with disabilities
- Training and education on disability competency for healthcare professionals
- Implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act in hospitals and other places where healthcare is delivered
Disability Organizations Are Weighing In
- Independence Care System and New York Lawyers for the Public Interest co-author Breaking Down Barriers, Breaking the Silence: Making Health Care Accessible to Women with Disabilities, spurring the New York City Council to provide $5 million to New York City’s public hospitals over the next two years to make accessibility improvements.
- Disability Advocates Advancing Our Healthcare Rights Accessibility submits comments regarding Massachusetts duals demonstration project and accessibility
- Bazelon Center calls for integrating mental health into healthcare reform
- Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities
Principles for Healthcare Reform from a Disability Perspective (May 14, 2009)
CCD Health Task Force Response to Senate Finance Committee Health Delivery System Proposal (May 19, 2009)
- Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) calls for ADA/504 performance standards, data collection, Sign Language Interpreters (May 2009)
- Comments on the Senate Finance Committee’s “Description of Policy Options, Expanding Health Care Coverage: Proposals to Provide Affordable Coverage to All Americans” (May 22, 2009)
- National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) urges that long-term care be included in health reform
- Letter from over one-hundred disability groups calling for including disability in health disparities research