The government has budget problems – big budget problems. One major problem is the expansion of Medicare and Medicaid. And, a significant part of that problem is due to disability policy and the way it is managed in this country.
As it works now, in order to get your disability covered under any kind of health insurance, it is necessary to “go on disability”, which means to stop working in order to qualify. In order to get some of the specifically disability related services that persons with disabilities need in order to work, it is necessary to stop working. If that sounds like a perverse system to you, you are not alone.
This is a system that came into being when persons with disabilities were not able to work. The technology that exists today was not available. Many persons with disabilities were institutionalized and many died prematurely because of complications. The current system helped to support these people in the community so as to reduce institutionalization. The level of support is minimal but, since persons with disabilities essentially had no life, it was adequate.
For some reason, there has been the perception that persons with disabilities were living great lives without the need to work. There is even an entire industry that promotes going on disability, as though that is a goal worthy of effort. After all, some of them say, you pay into the system, so you are entitled.
The truth is that going on disability is the first step on a path that leads to a life of poverty in a system from which it is nearly impossible to escape. At the same time, the system on which all these people are dependent is going to implode. There are so-called work incentives geared to aid transition off of disability, but the system is considerably more complicated than these incentives imply. In fact, the average person with a disability would have to earn $50,000 per year to simply replace the services needed. $50,000 will still guarantee living a poverty level, but the services will be paid for. That is not exactly an incentive to work.
The answer is a change in disability policy that allows persons with disabilities to work without being penalized. It will require a radical shift but everyone, including federal and state budgets, would benefit.
Annette Bourbonniere
401-846-1960
Fax: 401-846-1944
Twitter: @AccessInclude
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