Connecticut disability advocates push for legislation to improve medical access

Disability rights advocates in Connecticut are demanding better medical access.

And this legislative session, they’re pushing lawmakers to pass two bills. Both aim to improve medical equipment and training, and access to better care when examining, diagnosing and treating patients with disabilities.

We hear from one advocacy group involved in this effort, the Citizens Coalition for Equal Access, or CC=A. Public Health Committee Co-Chair and State Sen. Saud Anwar also shares his hopes for the pair of bills — one focused on medical diagnostic equipment, the other on lifts — which he helped to draft after an informational hearing with disability rights advocates across Connecticut last September.

Where We Live heard from eight members of CC=A prior to this program, who talked about some of their negative experiences in the medical setting. As Jamie Mosier shared, "Something has to be passed to make sure we get what I need, that we get what everybody needs, before we're all dead."

Plus later today, wheelchair users and advocates across the state will gather at the State Capitol. They plan to rally in support of the "transformational recommendations by the legislative Wheelchair Repair Task Force to tackle the absurd delays faced by 90% of roughly 5,000 CT consumers."

Task Force member and consumer advocate Jonathan Sigworth joins us to discuss this legislative push.

GUESTS:

Dr. Cindy Miller: Member, Citizens Coalition for Equal Access; Former Associate Professor, Yale University

Ruth Grobe: Secretary, Citizens Coalition for Equal Access

Jonathan Sigworth: Consumer Spokesperson, Connecticut Wheelchair Task Force; Member, CT Wheelchair Reform Coalition; Member, State Independent Living Council; Co-Founder, CEO and President, More Than Walking

Carly Malesky: Student, UConn Medical School; Member, Disability Interest Group

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