The Importance of Healthcare for Disabled Americans
There are many disabled Americans that depend on medical care such as medicine and medical equipment to survive. Employment and income is lower for people with a disability compared those without a disability, which means many cannot afford the healthcare costs they require. Many people with disabilities cannot afford their healthcare costs, so many rely on government programs such as Medicaid and Medicare. The problem is there are many politicians that have made government policy proposals that would threaten to lower funding for Medicaid. Lowering the funding towards Medicaid threatens the healthcare many disabled people rely on, even if it is just a little funding.
There are several key statistics to understanding the struggles people with disabilities go through. According to the Census Bureau there were 56.7 Americans with a disability in 2010, which is about 19 percent of the United States population. That is a lot of Americans with a disability who have specific needs. There are specific needs because each disability affects people differently depending on the type and severity. The different types of disabilities in 2010 included 30.6 million people with a physical disability, 15.7 million with a vision or hearing impairment, 7 million people with a mental health illness, 2.2 million with cognitive illnesses associated with elderly people (bls.gov). This shows there are many different types of disabilities that people can have, which affects a person needs. According to the Census Bureau, 15.5 million noninstitutionalized adults have difficulty with one or more key daily living activities and 9.4 million have difficulty with at least one daily living activity. This shows that each disabled person has different severity levels, which affects the level of care they need.
There are many economic difficulties disabled individuals face along with the physical or mental difficulty they may have. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 17.9 percent of disabled people in 2016 were employed compared to 65.3 percent for people without disabilities. The unemployment rate is also higher for people with disabilities at 10.5 percent compared to 4.6 of people without a disability (bls.gov). People with a disability are not likely to be employed when compared to people without a disability, which means disabled people will not be able to make money on their own. It is important to point out that there are many disabled people who are unable to work due to their disability but a 47.4 percent employment gap seems excessive.
People with disabilities received in 2015 on average about $13,980 for the year in Social Security disability benefits, which is just above the annual 2014 poverty level of $11,670 (ssa.gov). This is good because at least disabled people receive enough income to be above the poverty line when they cannot find a job. Even when disabled people over 16 found a job they “earned a median of $21,572 in 2015, less than 70% of the median earnings for those without a disability ($31,872)” (Bialic, 2017). This shows disabled people earn less even when they are fortunate enough to find employment.
The healthcare cost for disabled people are higher than for non-disabled people, which many cannot afford with the lower income they have. According to the CDC healthcare spending for people with disabilities was 26.7% of all adults in 2006, which cost $397.8 billion (including Medicare, Medicaid, and non-public sources) or about $7,015 per disabled person. That $7,015 is a little under 50% of what disabled people earned from disability benefits, but that number was from 11 years ago so healthcare cost could have gone up. That is most of people’s income for those who are disabled and not fortunate enough to be able to work or find work, which shows how important healthcare programs are for disabled people. There are over 10 million disabled people under 65 eligible for Medicaid (macpac.gov). Programs such as Medicaid are important because many disabled people need healthcare to live or to have a higher quality of life.
I have experience with depending on my healthcare because I am disabled with a condition called Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) and in a wheelchair. I cannot afford healthcare because I can only have a job from home and I have been unable to find one. I am on Medicaid and I am also fortunate enough to be on my Dad’s health insurance to pay for other healthcare expenses Medicaid does not cover. This good because the disability I have weakens my muscles so I have a hard time coughing up any congestion I may have.
I need nebulizer treatments 2-3 times a day to loosen the congestion and a cough assist machine to work it up. I also need a machine to help me breath better at night that is similar to a sleep apnea machine. I also have a heart condition that many people with DMD have where a valve in the heart does not pump at full stregth, which requires high blood pressure medication. All the medications and machines that I rely on to survive are paid for by Medicaid or my Dad’s health insurance provided by his job.
There are many disabled people in a similar situation to me, but there are many that are less fortunate. Not every disabled person is on a parent’s health insurance or have good healthcare that covers all their healthcare costs. This means Medicaid is vital to many disabled people because it is their only access to healthcare. There have been many politicians who have suggested that Medicaid should be cut down but that would threaten some of the healthcare many disabled people rely on. Medicaid should be improved to cover more disabled people and to give them more of the care they need to survive.
References
Bialic, K. (2017, Jul. 27). 7 Facts About Americans with Disabilities. Retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/07/27/7-facts-about-americans-with-disabilities/
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/disabl.nr0.htm
https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/miscellaneous/cb12-134.html
https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/data-highlights.html 015
https://www.macpac.gov/subtopic/people-with-disabilities/
https://ncd.gov/publications/2013/20130315/20130315_Ch2
https://www.ssa.gov/disabilityfacts/facts.html