Landes Quoted in Associated Press Article on Proposed Changes to Major National Health Survey

October 14, 2026

The Associated Press

Scott D. Landes

Policy, Place, Population Health and Aging Program

Sociology Department

Aging Studies Institute

Disability

Federal Government

U.S. Health Policy

United States

The Associated Press

Scott D. Landes

The federal government plans to cut the National Health Interview Survey from 490 adult health questions to roughly 200 to 225 by 2028, in response to tightening budgets, staffing difficulties and declining response rates, though some researchers and advocates worry the shorter version could undercount disabled Americans. Officials say the final cuts are still being determined and may be less severe than earlier proposals.

Questions that have been proposed for removal deal with memory, fatigue, arthritis, difficulty walking and climbing stairs, as well as others about the use of hearing aids, canes, wheelchairs and scooters.

“We just won’t know any of that anymore,” says Scott Landes, professor of sociology.

Read more in the Associated Press article, “Americans with disabilities worry about proposed changes to major national health survey.”