Providers Must Offer Effective Communication for Hearing-Impaired or Face ‘Robust Enforcement’

The U.S. government entered into two recent settlements with healthcare providers who allegedly denied deaf and hearing-impaired patients or their caregivers auxiliary aids for effective communication. These settlements remind providers to consider when auxiliary aids, such as interpreters, must be provided free of charge. In the most recent settlement, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) Director Melanie Fontes Rainer stated: Read more>>