Finalized HHS Rule Promotes Equity and Strengthens Protections for People with Disabilities under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
Pressley has long called for the administration to improve access to health care for people with disabilities.
WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (Massachusetts, 7th District) released a statement applauding the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) final rule prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability. The rule, titled “Discrimination on the Basis of Disability in Health and Human Services Programs or Activities,” promotes equality and strengthens protections for people with disabilities under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 504).
Rep. Pressley is a longtime advocate for the disability community and recently wrote a letter to the Biden-Harris Administration urging the administration to improve access to health care for people with disabilities.
“The unfair status quo subjects our neighbors with disabilities to unfair treatment every day,” said Rep. Pressley. “This much-needed and long-awaited rule is a historic step forward to prevent discrimination against people with disabilities and help them access the health care and other services they need and deserve. I thank Secretary Becerra and the Biden-Harris Administration for heeding the calls of advocates, and I look forward to working with them to further advance disability justice at the federal level.”
Reflecting more than 50 years of advocacy by the disability community, the Section 504 final rule clarifies and strengthens civil rights protections for people with disabilities, addresses discrimination in health care, adds enforceable standards for accessible medical diagnostic equipment, and ensures accessible web content and mobile apps. The rule advances the promise of the Rehabilitation Act and helps protect people with disabilities from discrimination on the basis of their disability in programs and activities funded by HHS.
Section 504 prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in programs and activities that receive funding from HHS. Since the Act was enacted, significant legislative and judicial developments have changed the legal status of disability discrimination under Section 504.
More details about the finalized rules can be found here.
Senator Pressley has been a long-time advocate for the disability community and champions policies that advance justice for people with disabilities.
On April 4, Rep. Pressley led her colleagues in urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) to strengthen and expeditiously finalize proposed rules to improve access to medical diagnostic equipment (MDE) for people with disabilities. On December 12, 2023, Rep. Pressley wrote to the Biden-Harris Administration requesting data on the housing needs of seniors, people with disabilities, and Medicaid recipients. On September 29, 2022, Rep. Pressley and Rep. Cori Bush introduced the Reproductive Health Care Accessibility Act, a bill to eliminate barriers and enhance access to reproductive health care for people with disabilities. On June 25, 2022, Rep. Pressley applauded the passage of HR 2543, which includes several key amendments that Rep. Pressley advocated for to advance disability and economic justice. On May 24, 2022, during a House Financial Services Subcommittee hearing, Rep. Pressley discussed the Long COVID crisis as a disability justice issue, outlining how the status quo relegates Americans with disabilities, including Long COVID patients, to a second-class standard of living. On April 14, 2020, Rep. Pressley called on Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker to repeal the Care Crisis Standards, which have disproportionately harmed Massachusetts communities of color and the disability community. On March 29, 2022, during a historic committee hearing on Medicare for All, Rep. Pressley highlighted Medicare for All as a disability justice issue, questioning Ady Barkan, founder of Be a Hero and leading advocate for Medicare for All, about how tying health insurance to employment perpetuates severe inequities against people with disabilities. On February 25, 2021, Rep. Pressley, Rep. Katie Porter, and their colleagues introduced the Mental Health Justice Act to reduce violence against people with mental illnesses and disabilities. On March 30, 2021, she joined 107 of her colleagues in sending a letter to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris calling for a historic $450 billion investment in home- and community-based services (HCBS) in the Build Back Better infrastructure package. On September 18, 2022, Rep. Pressley, Dr. Soubini Ansey Anamma, and Villissa Thompson published an op-ed in Teen Vogue calling for an end to policies and systemic injustices that result in the disproportionate criminalization of Black girls with disabilities in schools. On July 29, 2020, Rep. Pressley, Rep. Ilhan Omar, Sen. Chris Murphy, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren introduced the Criminalization Not Counseling in Schools Act to end over-policing in K-12 schools and stop the criminalization of students, including those with disabilities. In early 2020, she worked with advocates to challenge Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker’s standards of care in crisis situations and released updated guidelines with input from the disability community. On October 11, 2019, Representative Pressley and her colleagues introduced the Improving Access to Higher Education Act to improve college access and completion for students with disabilities.
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