The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is now accepting comments on a proposed rule implementing Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability in covered health programs and activities.
The proposed rule would strengthen civil rights protections for people who use health programs and services funded by HHS and includes a number of provisions that are particularly relevant for older adults and people with disabilities.
The proposed rule also clarifies that the non-discrimination protections of Section 1557 of the ACA apply to all HHS-administered health programs and activities, and outlines requirements for covered entities. ACL programs may be covered entities.
You can submit comments via Regulations.gov thru October 3, 2022.
In case you missed it: Earlier this week ACL published a blog post with details on this proposed rule and the input that is needed.
Informational webinar Thursday, August 11: Please join ACL and OCR for a grantee and stakeholder webinar on Thursday, August 11 at 2:30 PM ET. The webinar will provide an overview of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
If you have questions that you would like addressed during the webinar, please send them in advance to Administrator-ASA@acl.hhs.gov by 12:00 noon on Tuesday August 9, 2022.
Please register in advance for this webinar. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
ASL interpretation and closed captioning will be provided as part of this Zoom webinar. If you have any additional accommodation needs to participate in this webinar, please contact Marcia Gordon at Marcia.Gordon@acl.hhs.gov by 12:00 noon on Tuesday August 9th.