Health Law Advisor

To honor the 34th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), on July 26, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) signed a long-awaited final rule to improve access to medical diagnostic equipment (MDE) for people with disabilities (the “MDE Regulations”). Stressing that accessible MDE is essential for people with disabilities to have equal access to medical care and avoid poor health outcomes, the MDE Regulations, which were published by the Federal Register on August 9, 2024, amend Title II of the ADA (“Title II”) and apply to hospitals and health care clinics operated by state or local governments. The MDE Regulations create enforceable minimum standards for accessible design (as initially issued by the U.S. Access Board) covering MDE, including examination tables, weight scales, dental chairs, x-ray machines, mammography machines, and other radiological equipment commonly used for diagnostic purposes by health care professionals.

In full, the MDE Regulations and the accessibility standards they incorporate stand well in excess of 100 pages. To help our clients more readily understand what the MDE Regulations do and do not require, we are answering some of the most commonly asked questions here.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Access Board announced that the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (“VA”) will adopt the new Accessibility Standards for Medical Diagnostic Equipment.

As mentioned in our January 31, 2017, blog post, “The U.S. Access-Board Releases Long-Awaited Final Accessible Medical Diagnostic Equipment Standards,” the Access Board released its new Accessibility Standards for Medical Diagnostic Equipment (the “MDE Standards”) at the beginning of the year, with an effective date of February 8, 2017.

Despite the February “effective date,” ...