Recently, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released final rules for Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits discrimination on disability in covered health programs/activities. The text of the pre-publication version of the final rule is also available to read online with OCR having published a factsheet.
Section 1557 of the ACA applies to any organization that receives funding through the ACA and one of the provisions in the regulations requires entities to train staff on providing language assistance services for people with limited English proficiency and effective communication, including reasonable modifications to policies and procedures for people with disabilities. It also requires covered entities to display a notice of nondiscrimination and the availability of language assistance services and auxiliary aids and provide accessible communication, including access to American sign language interpreters.
This directly affects people who are hard-of-hearing or those who are deaf, as they require a sign language interpreter in these settings. NDNRC’s factsheet on communications needs for people with disabilities covers this very subject!
The Administration for Community Living (ACL) also covered this rule and created a tracker to monitor developing disability-related regulations and changes. ACL will work with the OCR to help ensure that people with disabilities are aware of their rights under Section 1557.
We will continue to cover these new rules and how they relate to people with disabilities, so be sure to continuously check our blogs!