Government hospitals and other health care providers, academic medicine and other schools, and other state and local governments should begin assessing their responsibilities under a new Justice Department final rule that requires State and local governments to improve web and mobile application (app) access for people with disabilities.
The rule clarifies what State and local governments must do to meet their existing duty under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for website or other activities movedto the digital space.
The rule, signed by the Attorney General earlier this month and published in the Federal Register today, adopts a technical standard for web and mobile accessibility to ensure that people with disabilities can better access important public services like health care, voting, and education. Read this fact sheet for a high level summary.
The final rule requires State and local governments with a population of 50,000 or more to comply with the rule’s requirements beginning on April 24, 2026. The compliance deadline for State and local governments with a population of less than 50,000, as well as special district governments, is April 26, 2027. This means that State and local governments’ web content and mobile apps will have to generally meet the technical standard in the rule by these dates and on an ongoing basis after these dates.
Until then, State and local governments still have existing ADA Title II, Section 1557 and other disability accessibility and accommodations aggressively enforced by government agencies like the Civil Rights Divisions of DOJ, the Department of Health & Human Services and Department of Education as well as private litigants. This means that even before the compliance dates, State and local governments must provide people with disabilities equal access to their services, programs, and activities offered via the web and mobile apps.
The Department plans to issue a Small Entity Compliance Guide to assist small State and local governments in complying with the rule. Stay tuned!
Meanwhile impacted health, education and other government entities and their contractors should begin evaluating and implementing the changes required to ensure the defensibility of the accessibility of their current web, mobile access and other services now and when the new rules take effect.
As websites, mobile apps and other Internet, based communications, records, and other services portals usually collect patient healthcare, financial, or other sensitive personal information and interface with medical, education, financial and other systems, these efforts should continuously include documented efforts to assess and fulfill data security, privacy, retention and other requirements under applicable laws like the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act, the Family Educational Rights Act, the Fair & Accurate Credit Tranactions Act and other relevant Federal and state privacy, data security and other laws.
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If you need have questions or need assistance with this or other cybersecurity, health, benefit, payroll, investment or other data, systems or other privacy or security related risk management, compliance, enforcement or management concerns, to inquire about arranging for compliance audit or training, or need legal representation on other matters, contact the author Cynthia Marcotte Stamer via e-mail or via telephone at (214) 452 -8297.
About the Author
Cynthia Marcotte Stamer is a practicing attorney board certified in labor and employment law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and management consultant, author, public policy advocate and lecturer widely known for 35 plus years of work with health care, employee benefit, managed care and other insurance, education, workforce and other performance and data dependent organizations, public policy leadership and advocacy, coaching, teachings, and publications.
A Fellow in the American College of Employee Benefit Counsel, Co-Chair of the American Bar Association (“ABA”) International Section Life Sciences and Health Committee and Vice-Chair Elect of its International Employment Law Committee, Chair-Elect of the ABA TIPS Section Medicine & Law Committee, Past Chair of the ABA Managed Care & Insurance Interest Group, Scribe for the ABA JCEB Annual Agency Meeting with HHS-OCR, past chair of the ABA RPTE Employee Benefits & Other Compensation Group and current co-Chair of its Welfare Benefit Committee, and Chair of the ABA Intellectual Property Section Law Practice Management Committee, Ms. Stamer is most widely recognized for her decades of pragmatic, leading-edge work, scholarship and thought leadership on heath benefit and other healthcare and life science, managed care and insurance and other workforce and staffing, employee benefits, safety, contracting, quality assurance, compliance and risk management, and other legal, public policy and operational concerns in the healthcare and life sciences, employee benefits, managed care and insurance, technology and other related industries. She speaks and publishes extensively on these and other related compliance issues.
Ms. Stamer’s work throughout her career has focused heavily on working with government and private health care and managed care, life sciences, health and other employee benefit plan, insurance and financial services, education and other public and private organizations and their technology, data, and other service providers and advisors domestically and internationally with legal and operational compliance and risk management, performance and workforce management, regulatory and public policy and other legal and operational concerns. Author of a multitude of highly regarded publications on HIPAA and other medical record and data privacy and scribe for the ABA JCEB Annual Meeting with the HHS Office of Civil Rights, her experience includes extensive involvement throughout her career in advising health care and life sciences and other clients about preventing, investigating and defending EEOC, DOJ, OFCCP and other Civil Rights Act, Section 1557 and other HHS, HUD, banking, and other federal and state discrimination investigations, audits, lawsuits and other enforcement actions as well as advocacy before Congress and regulators regarding federal and state equal opportunity, equity and other laws.
For more information about Ms. Stamer or her health industry and other experience and involvements, see www.cynthiastamer.com or contact Ms. Stamer via telephone at (214) 452-8297 or via e-mail here.
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