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The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires State and local governments and public accommodations to provide programs, activities, and services in a manner that is accessible to people with disabilities. The Department will seek public comment on proposed changes to its regulations to adopt the U.S. Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board's (Access Board) Standards for Medical Diagnostic Equipment (MDE) to ensure that MDE is accessible to persons with disabilities in their participation in or benefit of services, programs, and activities provided by public entities and public accommodations. The Department previously announced that it intends to issue an ANPRM, titled Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability by State and Local Governments and Places of Public Accommodation; Equipment and Furniture (RIN 1190-AA76) addressing possible revisions to its ADA regulations to ensure the accessibility of equipment and furniture generally. However, given the specialized nature of this equipment, the Department has decided to publish a separate NPRM that addresses the accessibility of MDE. 

Statement of Need:

MDE that is accessible to individuals with disabilities is often critical to a public entity's or public accommodation’s ability to provide an individual with a disability with equal access to its health care programs, services, and activities. The Department’s ADA regulations contain the ADA Standards for Accessible Design (the ADA Standards), which include accessibility standards for some types of fixed or built-in equipment and furniture. However, there are no specific provisions in the ADA Standards or the ADA regulations explicitly addressing the accessibility of MDE. While manufacturers have begun to offer MDE that is more accessible to and usable by people with disabilities and the Department has sought to ensure people with disabilities have equal access to medical care under the ADA’s general regulatory provisions through enforcement and the issuance of technical assistance, the Department recognizes that more specific standards are necessary to guarantee full and equal access to health care services, programs, and activities. This rule is necessary to ensure that inaccessible MDE does not prevent people with disabilities from accessing title II and title III entities’ programs, services, and activities.

Summary of the Legal Basis:

The summary of the legal basis for this regulation is set forth in the above abstract.

Alternatives:

There are no appropriate alternatives to issuing this NPRM. The Access Board has issued standards on MDE, but these standards only become legally enforceable under the ADA when the Department adopts them through a rulemaking. Alternatively, the Department could create its own technical standards and implement them through a rulemaking.

Anticipated Costs and Benefits:

The Department anticipates costs to covered entities (i.e., State and local governments). Entities may need to acquire new MDE to meet technical standards that the Department includes in its regulations. The Department also anticipates significant benefits to people with disabilities, who may obtain greater access to public entities’ services, and activities, which may improve their health or potentially save their lives.

Risks:

Failure to adopt technical standards to ensure that people with disabilities have access to MDE in public entities’ programs, services, and activities will prevent people with disabilities from having the full and equal access to which they are entitled.  The health of people with disabilities may suffer as a result of unequal access to medical care.