News Release

Statement by Mike Leavitt Secretary of Health and Human Services Regarding the Fifteenth Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act

Today, we celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. I want to encourage all of us to reflect on and recognize the impact this landmark legislation has had on our health care and human services delivery systems. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has transformed policies and programs to the benefit of people with disabilities, and it continues to do so. It has helped everyone understand the lives, needs, challenges, and triumphs of people with disabilities.

Right now, 54 million Americans, or one in five people, live with at least one disability, and most Americans will experience a disability some time during the course of their lives. Some people are born with disabilities. Others acquire them through illness, injury, or some other cause. People with disabilities are of all ages, races, and ethnicities. They live in towns, cities, and rural areas. They attend schools, worship, vote, marry, have children, work, and play. They also need health care, health promotion programs, and social services programs for the same reasons anyone does: to remain well, active, and a contributing part of the community.

The ADA is a reminder of just how much remains to be done to increase access to health care, in both treatment and wellness promotion, for all individuals with disabilities.

A range of barriers�social, interpersonal, economic, and environmental�often combine to prevent a person with a disability from enjoying a full and healthy life in their community. To stimulate America�s response, President George W. Bush has called upon Americans to advance his New Freedom Initiative (NFI), which fosters inclusion and community-based living for Americans with disabilities.

I�m pleased that HHS plays an important role in ensuring access to health care and human services under the ADA. We are working hard to promote the New Freedom Initiative�s focus on full inclusion of people with disabilities in our society. We�re encouraging flexibility in Medicaid waivers. We�re implementing Medicare reforms. We�re supporting state grants that promote innovative system reform, and we're also ensuring that people with disabilities have access to human services programs.

On Friday, we announced the Transforming Mental Health Care in America. This Federal Action Plan is an unprecedented federal commitment and collaboration to reform mental health care and enable Americans with mental illness to live, work, learn, and participate fully in their communities. And today, the Surgeon General will issue a Call to Action to Improve the Health and Wellness of Persons with Disabilities, appealing to all Americans to help increase the quality of life for people with disabilities through better health care and understanding.

We will continue our work to carry out the ADA and New Freedom Initiative and help people with disabilities benefit from improved health, productive work, flexible living arrangements, and a good education.

Americans with disabilities often face unique challenges to achieving good health. The good news is that by uniting health care professionals, educators, service providers, persons with disabilities, and communities, we can ensure the health and well-being of all Americans, and build a society that�s free and open to everyone.

Thank you all for your hard work and commitment to helping people with disabilities.