COAT Groups Tell HHS To Make Health Care Web Portal Accessible

On June 4, 2010, twenty-two organizations signed on to a letter to U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to ask for the proposed health care web portal to be usable by and accessible to all users. Among these were five COAT affiliates -- AAPD, AADB, NAD, NCIL and WID. Another disability group, The Cerebral Palsy (CP) Group, also signed on along with another sixteen civil rights groups. The letter is attached below showing all groups raising these concerns. The disability groups' concerns focused on how accessible the web portal would be -- such as for screen reader users -- and whether the content provided would also be usable by people with disabilities.

The letter to HHS offered comments and recommendations on the "Interim Final Rule Detailing Health Care Reform Insurance Web Portal Requirements." The letter noted that as the rule currently stands the benefits of the web portal may not extend to the increasing number of individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP), nor the large number of Americans with disabilities, and others. The letter raised three areas of concern: Language Access, Disability Accessibility, and the need to provide information on costs such as Premium Rates for any new health care plans resulting from health care reform efforts.

Advocates expect that the website or portal will include information about: Private insurance; High-risk pools;  Medicaid; and The Children's Health Insurance Program.

Portal information will likely be collected from states, trade and health care associations, and high-risk insurance pools. The website will be maintained by HHS' Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, which is directed by Jay Angoff, to whom the letter was also sent.