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Suit claims state didn’t take steps to communicate with deaf, blind, other disabled from Metro Desk
Eight disabled state residents and a local advocacy organization today filed a lawsuit in federal court against the state agency that provides health care to more than a million low-income residents, arguing it has failed to comply with laws that require all forms and other documents to cater to the needs of deaf, blind, and other physically and mentally impaired recipients of care.
On the 21st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Boston-based Disability Policy Consortium and other plaintiffs – four who are blind, two who are deaf, and two with other disabilities – filed a suit in US District Court in Boston, claiming MassHealth violated the act by failing to provide written notices in Braille or other electronic forms, failing to use American Sign Language, and not listing phone numbers to help the hearing-impaired on the agency’s website.
“The ADA was pretty clear that state governments have to make communications accessible to people with disabilities, so they can participate as fully as anyone else,” said Bill Allan, executive director of the Disability Policy Consortium. “The Commonwealth has ignored this issue for years. It has been brought up to them in reports and by individuals. It’s time for them to take action.”
He said he did not know how much it would cost the state to comply. “Costs should not be an issue; this is really a civil rights issue,” he said. “That this administration has not thoroughly committed to adhering to the law is astounding.”
Jennifer Kritz, a spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, said the administration was reviewing the lawsuit.
“At this point, we have not yet had the opportunity to fully review the complaint, so I cannot comment on it at this point,” she wrote in an e-mail.
In the lawsuit, several plaintiffs said they had their health care canceled or suspended because MassHealth sent them forms they could not read or fill out without assistance.
Eight disabled state residents and a local advocacy organization today filed a lawsuit in federal court against the state agency that provides health care to more than a million low-income residents, arguing it has failed to comply with laws that require all forms and other documents to cater to the needs of deaf, blind, and other physically and mentally impaired recipients of care.
On the 21st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Boston-based Disability Policy Consortium and other plaintiffs – four who are blind, two who are deaf, and two with other disabilities – filed a suit in US District Court in Boston, claiming MassHealth violated the act by failing to provide written notices in Braille or other electronic forms, failing to use American Sign Language, and not listing phone numbers to help the hearing-impaired on the agency’s website.
“The ADA was pretty clear that state governments have to make communications accessible to people with disabilities, so they can participate as fully as anyone else,” said Bill Allan, executive director of the Disability Policy Consortium. “The Commonwealth has ignored this issue for years. It has been brought up to them in reports and by individuals. It’s time for them to take action.”
He said he did not know how much it would cost the state to comply. “Costs should not be an issue; this is really a civil rights issue,” he said. “That this administration has not thoroughly committed to adhering to the law is astounding.”
Jennifer Kritz, a spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, said the administration was reviewing the lawsuit.
“At this point, we have not yet had the opportunity to fully review the complaint, so I cannot comment on it at this point,” she wrote in an e-mail.
In the lawsuit, several plaintiffs said they had their health care canceled or suspended because MassHealth sent them forms they could not read or fill out without assistance.