Department of Health and Human Services September 14, 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS or the Department) is committed to protecting the civil rights of individuals with disabilities under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (section 504). To implement the prohibition of discrimination on the basis of disability, the Department proposes to update and amend its section 504 regulation. The proposed rule would add new provisions that clarify existing requirements under section 504 prohibiting recipients of financial assistance from the Department (recipients) from discriminating on the basis of disability in their programs and activities, including in health care, child welfare, and other human services. The proposed rule includes new requirements prohibiting discrimination in the areas of medical treatment; the use of value assessments; web, mobile, and kiosk accessibility; and requirements for accessible medical equipment, so that persons with disabilities have an opportunity to participate in or benefit from health care programs and activities that is equal to the opportunity afforded others. It also adds a section on child welfare to expand on and clarify the obligation to provide nondiscriminatory child welfare services. The proposed rule would also update the definition of disability and other provisions to ensure consistency with statutory amendments to the Rehabilitation Act, enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act of 2008, the Affordable Care Act, as well as Supreme Court and other significant court cases. It also further clarifies the obligation to provide services in the most integrated setting. Finally, the proposed rule would make other clarifying edits, including updating outdated terminology and references.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is modifying a system of records maintained by the Administration for Children & Families (ACF), 09-80-0327 ORR Repatriation Program Records, to reflect the change ownership of the repatriation program that was transferred to ACF's Office of Human Services Emergency Preparedness and Response (OHSEPR), and to broaden the scope of the system of records to include functionally similar records that OHSEPR uses to identify, assess, and address immediate unmet human services (i.e., social services) needs of survivors of federally-declared disasters in the United States. To reflect the transfer and broadened scope, HHS is changing the name of the system of records to OHSEPR Repatriation and Disaster Human Services Case Management Records.