Legislative

December 3, 2012 — Representative Michael Honda (D-CA) introduced the Health Care Innovation and Marketplace Technologies Act of 2012 (H.R. 6626). The bill focuses on promoting the adoption of mobile health (mHealth) technologies. Representative Honda notes that there is a “lack of an established marketplace for new technologies and a lack of trained workers to handle the implementation and use of these technologies.” To support further development of such technologies, the bill requires the U.S.

October 2012—Senator Kirsten Gillibrand [D-NY] introduced The Voter Empowerment Act of 2012 [S.3608] to the U.S. Senate in September.

October 15, 2012—In a Presidential Proclamation, President Barack Obama announced October 15, 2012 as Blind Americans Equality Day. President Obama discussed the continuing efforts to ensure that individuals with disabilities have equal access to education, information, and job training.

October 9, 2012 — A consent decree was entered into by plaintiffs National Association of the Deaf (NAD), Western Massachusetts Association of the Deaf and Hearing Impaired, and Lee Nettles and the defendant Netflix, Inc. (Netflix). The Consent Decree [Case No.

September 25, 2012—The Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, the Habilitation Benefits Coalition, the Coalition to Preserve Rehabilitation, and the Independence Through Enhancement of Medicare and Medicaid Coalition, released a technical assistance document that aims to be a resource for states in designing essential health benefits packages for “rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices,” as defined by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA).