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The article discusses a telephone survey of outpatient physicians in the U.S. to determine the extent to which they understand their legal obligations to patients under the American With Disabilities Act (ADA). Topics covered include their understanding of their responsibility in ensuring the provision of equitable care to patients with disability, their perceived risk of ADA lawsuits, and the associations among physician characteristics, their knowledge of ADA, and perceived lawsuit risk.

United States' courts have played a limited, yet key, role in shaping health equity in three areas of law: racial discrimination, disability discrimination, and constitutional rights. Executive and administrative action has been much more instrumental than judicial decisions in advancing racial equality in health care. Courts have been reluctant to intervene on racial justice because overt discrimination has largely disappeared, and the Supreme Court has interpreted civil rights laws in a fashion that restricts judicial authority to address more subtle or diffused forms of disparate impact. In contrast, courts have been more active in limiting disability discrimination by expanding the conditions that are considered disabling and by articulating and applying the operative concepts "reasonable accommodation" and "other qualified" in the context of both treatment and insurance coverage decisions. Finally, regarding constitutional rights, courts have had limited opportunity to intervene because, outside of specially protected arenas such as reproduction, constitutional law gives government wide discretion to define health and safety goals and methods. Thus, courts have had only a limited role in shaping health equity in the United States. It remains to be seen whether this will change under the Affordable Care Act or whatever health reform measure might replace it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to the Internet is increasingly critical for health information retrieval, access to certain government benefits and services, connectivity to friends and family members, and an array of commercial and social services that directly affect health. Yet older adults, particularly those with disabilities, are at risk of being left behind in this growing age- and disability-based digital divide. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was designed to guarantee older adults and persons with disabilities equal access to employment, retail, and other places of public accommodation. Yet older Internet users sometimes face challenges when they try to access the Internet because of disabilities associated with age. Current legal interpretations of the ADA, however, do not consider the Internet to be an entity covered by law. In this article, we examine the current state of Internet accessibility protection in the United States through the lens of the ADA, sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, state laws and industry guidelines. We then compare U.S. rules to those of OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development) countries, notably in the European Union, Canada, Japan, Australia, and the Nordic countries. Our policy recommendations follow from our analyses of these laws and guidelines, and we conclude that the biggest challenge in bridging the age- and disability-based digital divide is the need to extend accessibility requirements to private, not just governmental, entities and organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students with disabilities are a growing population in higher education (National Center for Education Statistics, 2009). Providing accommodations for students with disabilities can raise ethical and social justice questions and pose challenges for social work faculty, administrators, and field instructors. Social work educators must balance the legal mandates for nondiscrimination and reasonable accommodation against ethical obligations around protection of clients and preparation for practice. This article presents case examples in the context of legal analysis to help social work educators make difficult decisions about student academic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The funding of assistive technology (AT) in the United States falls within a complex web of traditional and non-traditional funding sources that often create challenging barriers for individuals with disabilities. This article outlines the founding policies that drive the federal and state funding of AT across insurance, education, rehabilitation sectors and beyond. A presentation of specific medical and non-medical funding options is discussed addressing eligibility, types of AT covered and general program characteristics. I conclude with recommendations for the pursuit of AT funding in light of these policies and options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]