The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has a new report, “Health Care Accessibility: Further Efforts Needed to Address Barriers for People with Disabilities.” It found that people with disabilities face barriers related to accessibility in health care, including the design of medical settings and equipment, technology, communication with providers, and a lack of training.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) does not collect national-level data from people with disabilities about health care barriers related to disability, which could be used to help improve accessibility. HHS inspects some aspects of accessibility and does some reviews to make sure health care organizations are following disability laws. In 2024, HHS updated accessibility requirements, but has not taken certain steps to make sure health care organizations follow the new requirements and improve accessibility.
GAO made five recommendations to address HHS’s data collection and oversight of accessibility for people with disabilities.