Florida Is One of Only Three States Still Fighting Disability Rights Protections. Here's Why That Matters

September 1, 2026

For more than 50 years, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act has protected people with disabilities from discrimination in any program or service that receives federal funding. Among its most important guarantees is the right to receive services in the most integrated setting appropriate: the legal foundation that allows people with disabilities and older adults to live in their own homes and communities instead of being unnecessarily institutionalized.


That right is now under direct threat, and Florida is one of the states leading the fight against it.


What Is Texas v. Kennedy?

Texas v. Kennedy (formerly Texas v. Becerra) is a lawsuit that began in September 2024, when a coalition of 17 states, including Florida, challenged the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' first substantive update to Section 504 regulations in nearly 50 years. The suit originally combined two claims: that Section 504 itself is unconstitutional, and that the rule's integration-mandate provisions exceeded HHS's authority.


Since then, the case has narrowed considerably, but not because states have backed away from challenging disability rights. States dropped the constitutional claim in 2025 following advocacy pushback, and several states have withdrawn from the case entirely as a related dispute over separate regulatory language was resolved through other means. As of this year, 14 states have withdrawn from the litigation.


Florida has not. Today, Florida remains one of only three states, alongside Alaska and Texas, still party to a lawsuit that could unravel decades of hard-won civil rights protections for people with disabilities and older adults.


Adding to the concern, the legal landscape shifted further in mid-2026. In June, the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel issued an opinion disputing the legal basis for the "integration mandate" altogether: the principle that people with disabilities have a right to receive services in the most integrated setting possible. The following month, DOJ formally stated it would no longer rely on the 2011 Olmstead guidance that federal courts have used for over a decade to determine when a state is unnecessarily institutionalizing someone with a disability. Neither action overturns the underlying Supreme Court precedent in Olmstead v. L.C. (1999) or the ADA itself, but both signal a federal retreat from enforcing the protections that make community living possible.


What's Actually at Stake

Section 504 protections help ensure that people with disabilities can:


  • Live and receive services in their homes and communities
  • Receive community-based supports when appropriate
  • Avoid unnecessary segregation in nursing facilities and other institutional settings
  • Be protected from disability discrimination in federally funded programs
  • Receive services in integrated settings
  • Participate fully in community life


For older adults with disabilities in particular, these protections can be the difference between receiving care at home and being placed, or kept, in a nursing facility they never wanted to enter.


These are not abstract legal technicalities. They are the protections that determine whether someone can stay in their own home, keep their independence, and remain part of their community.


Lisa Stella Speaks Out in The American Journal of Managed Care

This issue has drawn national attention from health policy media. Lighthouse Executive Director Lisa Stella, MBA, was recently quoted in The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC), in an article by Giuliana Grossi examining the shifting federal posture on Texas v. Kennedy and its implications for Medicaid and managed care.


"Invalidating the Section 504 Final Rule could put people at greater risk of discrimination, unnecessary institutionalization, and loss of the independence, dignity, and opportunity to live fully in their communities."


Later in the article, Stella put the stakes for Florida in even starker terms:


"Texas v. Kennedy threatens to strip away critical civil rights protections for Floridians with disabilities. For Floridians with disabilities, the stakes could not be higher."


You can read the full AJMC article, "DOJ Abandons Olmstead Defense as Texas v Kennedy Advances," here: ajmc.com/view/doj-abandons-olmstead-defense-as-texas-v-kennedy-advances


Florida Has a Choice

Fourteen states have already withdrawn from this litigation. Florida can too.


Disability Rights Florida is calling on Florida's Attorney General to follow that lead and end the state's participation in Texas v. Kennedy, and they need to hear from as many voices as possible to make that happen.


Disability Rights Florida is asking advocacy groups, civil rights organizations, community organizations, advocates, self-advocates, people with disabilities, older adults, family members, allies, supporters, and loved ones to add their name to a letter urging Florida's Attorney General to withdraw from the case. You do not need to live in Florida to sign. People and organizations from across the country are encouraged to stand with Floridians with disabilities and older adults.


Join in Opposition of Florida's Participation in Texas v. Kennedy Lawsuit →


Why This Matters to Lighthouse

At Lighthouse for the Blind of the Palm Beaches, Treasure Coast & Okeechobee, our mission is to help people who are blind or visually impaired live full, independent lives in their own communities. That mission depends on the same legal protections now under threat in this lawsuit. Section 504 is not just policy language. It's the foundation that makes independence possible for the people we serve every day.


We are proud to stand alongside Disability Rights Florida and disability advocates across the country in calling on Florida to end its participation in this lawsuit. We encourage our community, including clients, families, supporters, and allies, to add their names to the letter and make their voices heard.


Florida should be protecting disability rights, not helping dismantle them.



Have questions about this issue or how it may affect services you or a loved one rely on? Contact Lisa Stella, Executive Director, at lstella@lhpb.org or (561) 586-5600, ext. 221.