In a shocking expose, the Department of Justice has announced a nationwide crackdown on healthcare providers who have been found guilty of discriminating against individuals with disabilities.
The Barrier-Free Health Care Initiative, launched by the DOJ in partnership with U.S. Attorney’s offices across the nation, aims to ensure that people with disabilities have equal access to medical information and physical access to medical buildings.
The initiative comes on the 22nd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which was passed on July 26, 1990. Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez announced the new initiative at an event celebrating the anniversary of the ADA in Washington, D.C.
"Access to health care remains an area of critical need for too many people with disabilities, especially those who are deaf or who have hearing loss," said Assistant Attorney General Perez. "The Barrier-Free Health Care Initiative will make sure people with disabilities are capable of physically accessing medical buildings and facilities and are not discriminated against when it comes to receiving potentially life-saving medical information."
The DOJ has already seen success in enforcing the ADA in this area, with 35 U.S. Attorneys committing to the initiative. Recent settlements include a large-scale agreement with Henry Ford Health System to ensure effective communication for people who are deaf or who have hearing loss throughout its entire system of hospitals and medical facilities.
"These settlements ensure that deaf and hard of hearing patients can communicate with their doctors and obtain equal access to medical treatment, especially at critical moments in their care," said Barbara McQuade, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan.
The Barrier-Free Health Care Initiative is a multi-phase plan that will also involve other key issues for people with disabilities, including ensuring physical access to medical buildings and effective communication with healthcare providers.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Hampshire has also been a leader in enforcing the ADA, filing a complaint and consent decree against a major hospital in Keene, N.H. for its failures to provide effective communication and for its discriminatory decision to require a deaf patient’s hearing mother to serve as an interpreter for her daughter.
For more than 15 years, U.S. Attorneys have been a critical force multiplier with the Civil Rights Division in enforcing the ADA through the U.S. Attorney Program for ADA Enforcement with the Disability Rights Section. Eighty-four U.S. Attorney’s offices across the nation currently participate in this critical and unique partnership effort and have resolved hundreds of matters involving core issues ranging from accessible voting, access to places of public accommodation and state and local governmental facilities, and discriminatory policies, practices and procedures.
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