A National Health Survey May Change. What Would That Mean for Us?
The federal government is asking for comments on proposed changes to the National Health Interview Survey, or NHIS. The survey asks people across the country about their health, disability, health care, and insurance. Its results help researchers and public health programs understand people's experiences. The proposed changes would begin in 2028. They are not final yet.
You can decide whether to comment. You do not need to agree or disagree with every part of the proposal. You can tell the government what works, what worries you, and what information you think the survey needs to collect. Comments are due October 19, 2026.
What would change?
The government wants to shorten the survey. People are selected at random to take it, so not everyone will. If you are selected, your household would first be invited to answer online or on paper instead of over the phone. Interviewers would then follow up in person with some households that did not respond. The draft adult survey still asks about difficulty seeing, hearing, walking, remembering or concentrating, caring for yourself, and communicating. It also includes questions about health care and insurance. However, the changes would leave out many questions that could help identify people with other disabilities, including people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and understand their lives. Today's adult survey has 49 disability-related questions. HSRI's crosswalk shows about 15 in the proposed draft.
A shorter survey may be easier for some people to finish, and online or paper options may work well for some people. But they may create barriers for others, and a shorter survey may leave out details that show how different people with disabilities experience health and health care. The government has asked for feedback on the questions, how people would answer, and whether the results would still be useful.
Why does disability data matter?
If a survey does not ask about a person's experience with disability, that information can't be used to understand their needs or improve their health care. And if people cannot access the survey or get the support they need to answer it, their experiences may be missed altogether.
For example, a question about whether someone got health care may not tell the whole story. People may also want the survey to capture whether they could find a provider who met their needs, afford their care, or get the services they needed. The draft adult survey includes some questions on these topics but not others. You can look at the changes and tell the government whether you think they help or hurt people with disabilities.
What are disability organizations asking for?
Many disability organizations are sharing some thoughts on what you could include. You are welcome to use them as a starting point and say them in your own words:
Keep what works, such as a shorter survey and response options that help more people take part.
Keep the questions that identify people with disabilities, including the questions that help identify adults with developmental disabilities, in the survey every year.
Keep the detailed questions that show how disability affects daily life and health.
Make the survey work for everyone. Test the new way of answering with people who have many kinds of disabilities, and share what is learned.
Explain the decisions. Tell the public how the CDC chose which questions to remove and how disability groups were involved.
How can I learn more?
The Human Services Research Institute's (HSRI) 2028 NHIS resource page has two documents focused on disability:
A public comment guide that explains the proposed changes and offers questions people or organizations might consider raising.
A crosswalk that places disability-related indicators from the 2026 adult survey alongside those in the proposed 2028 adult survey.
HSRI says it may add more materials to that page. The crosswalk focuses on the adult survey. If you are interested in questions about children, you can also review the draft child questionnaire linked from CDC's redesign page. You can also see how the survey works today in the 2025 NHIS questionnaires and documentation.
What could I say in a comment?
Your comment can focus on one thing you know well. You might explain:
A question that should stay in the survey and why it matters.
A disability-related experience that the proposed questions may miss.
Whether you could complete the survey online or on paper, and what access or assistance you would need.
Why it matters to compare disability data from one year to the next.
A question about children with disabilities that you think the survey should ask.
If you suggest adding questions, explain what information those questions would provide and how it could be used.
You can start with your own words:
I am commenting on the proposed 2028 National Health Interview Survey. I think the survey should ______ because ______. My experience, or the experience of people I work with, shows ______. I would like the National Center for Health Statistics to consider ______.
Using artificial intelligence (AI) to help organize a comment is optional. HSRI's guide includes a suggested AI approach that uses its crosswalk. If you use AI, make the comment your own: check every claim, remove anything that doesn't reflect your views, and don't put private health information into a tool unless you are comfortable with how it may be used.
How do I submit a comment?
Visit the public comment docket and select the blue “Comment” button. You can type your comments or upload a document. The docket number is CDC-2026-1387. You can choose to comment anonymously before you submit. If you would like help getting started, AAPD offers an online form with a pre-written message that you can edit. You may also submit a comment by mail using the instructions in the Federal Register notice to:
Address: Jeffrey M. Zirger, Information Collection Review Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, N.E., MS-D74, Atlanta, Georgia 30329. CDC's redesign page lists this as a mail option for submitting comments and referencing CDC-2026-1387. Comments by mail must be received by October 19, 2026, so plan on sending them soon.
Plan to submit all comments, either by mail or online by October 19, 2026. Comments submitted to the docket may be posted publicly, so avoid including personal details you do not want others to see.