By Jim Brett.
As we reflect on the 35th anniversary of the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), it’s appropriate to consider advancements. We also need to acknowledge there is more work to be done in many areas, such as healthcare.
When thinking about the ADA, accessibility is often top of mind. The law requires that public spaces – buildings, transportation, schools, sidewalks and streets, parks, and recreational areas – be made accessible for people with disabilities. Today, in many places in the country, it’s difficult to imagine a time when the community routinely faced obstacles to board a train, go to work, cross the street, or sit by the shore.
The ADA prohibits discrimination in the workplace and, in fact, requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations.
Life and work are not limited to brick-and-mortar settings. The ADA also requires access to digital information, such as websites.
Looking ahead
As we look to improve our national programs, it’s clear it is time to move forward. Now more than ever, it’s important to ensure that as we advance, no one is left behind. After all, we are all part of the same community!
There is still work to do. Despite our national leadership in healthcare, studies have documented the reality of inequity in the system.
There are some 44 million people, or 13.6 percent of the US population, living with a disability, according to a Center for Research on Disability, Census Data, and American Community survey in 2023. Yet many do not receive regular preventative healthcare or adequate attention to chronic medical issues.
Numerous studies identify a lack of training for physicians in serving people with disabilities as a factor in health disparities.
Providers and stakeholders are working to improve access.
A new perspective
In May, US Reps. Seth Moulton (D-MA), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Debbie Dingell (D-MI), and Joseph Morelle (D-NY) introduced the Healthcare Extension and Accessibility for Developmentally Disabled and Underserved Population (HEADs UP) Act of 2025. It would designate people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) as a Medically Underserved Population (MUP), opening up many government programs aimed at improving access to care and reducing health disparities.
The bill sponsors noted in their announcement that when compared to people without disabilities, people with I/DD receive fewer preventative screenings and fewer dental services. “They have higher rates of undiagnosed hearing and vision impairments, diabetes, arthritis, and cardiovascular disease,” they noted. A shortage of medical and dental providers able or willing to treat them is cited as a factor.
With a MUP designation, people with I/DD may have access to expanded care and support. The designation focuses on education for providers to serve people with I/DD.
Education for providers
Every year, some 53,000 health care providers graduate in the United States and the majority receive virtually no training in the skills necessary to care for and treat people with disabilities, according to Rick Rader, MD, President, American Association on Health and Disability.
And a Surgeon General’s Task Force in 2022 concluded that in four years of medical school the students receive less than 11 minutes of training about intellectual and developmental disabilities.
The lack of formal training across the system makes it imperative that we require all 200 medical schools, 500 nurse practitioner programs, and 300 physician assistant programs to ensure that these future clinicians have the skills, confidence and experience to competently care for and treat the growing population of people with disabilities. It is noteworthy that these skills are not solely directed to patients with special needs but are appropriate and applicable to all patient populations.
We need to move forward together.
Signed into law by President George H.W. Bush in 1990, the ADA had solid bipartisan support. The law is an example of the power of public policy to improve lives. It also represents the limitless possibilities of what Americans can accomplish by working together for a common goal that is larger than themselves.
Jim Brett is the president and CEO of The New England Council, a regional business organization. He is the chair of both the Massachusetts Governor’s Commission for People with Intellectual Disabilities and the Massachusetts Disabled Persons Protection Commission. Jim’s late brother Jack was the inspiration for Jim’s work as an advocate for people with disabilities, and people who have no voice.
