Adults with disabilities are much more prone to financial strain due to costs of disability-related expenses and many cannot meet their basic needs – especially those from underserved communities, a recently released study by a Stony Brook professor and his research team has found.
The study entitled The Disability Squeeze: Out-of-Pocket Expenses and Unmet Needs for Disability-Related Goods and Services in the U.S. surveyed more than 1,100 adults with disabilities nationwide about their out-of-pocket costs related to their disability. The findings were released late last year.
In the three-year research study, Stony Brook University School of Social Welfare Associate Professor Zachary Morris – building on prior findings about the “disability tax” – sought to determine how much people spend on disability-related needs and “how those expenses vary, and how often individuals are unable to afford what they need,” he said.
The report published in the Disability and Health Journal, focused on the amplified cost-of-living challenges faced by people with disabilities – what Morris and his team referred to as “The Disability Squeeze.”
That “squeeze” refers to additional costs for goods and services such as assistive technologies, home modifications, and extra transportation. Prioritizing spending on such items can make it difficult to afford other staples such as adequate housing, food, or preventative medical care, the report found.
A key finding was that $1 out of every $5 spent went toward disability-related expenses, and two-thirds of disabled individuals reported unmet needs.
“One in every $5 is kind of an understatement of the problem because if people could afford to spend more, they would,” Morris said.
Morris surveyed a representative national sample of 1,168 adults with disabilities across the country about their out-of-pocket costs. The report found that:
- A total of 10% of disabled people said they were unable to make their housing payments because of their disability costs.
- A total of 20% reported having to cut the amount they spent on food because of their disability.
- Nearly 18% reported going into debt.
- And 32% said that their costs make it difficult for them to make ends meet.
Regarding changes in perception before and after the study, Morris cited previous research he conducted estimating that people with work-limiting disabilities need 30% more income to maintain the same standard of living as non-disabled people. Those estimates aligned with findings from the study, while also highlighting differences in spending patterns between higher- and lower-income people with disabilities.
Adults with disabilities living below the federal poverty level reported lower health care spending but experienced greater financial strain from out-of-pocket costs. Hispanic adults with disabilities also reported lower spending yet were more likely to have unmet health care needs.
“It’s usually higher-income people who are spending a lot on their disability. When we look at lower-income people, they’re not spending much on their disability at all,” Morris said.
The study found that 67% of people reported at least one unmet need.
Moving forward, Morris aims to recognize the 40 million voters with disabilities as cost-of-living concerns become a top priority on the American economic agenda. He recently met with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s office, hoping it will lead to bipartisan efforts to tackle this issue.
Currently, millions of people receive Social Security disability benefits. However, their annual cost-of-living adjustment is based on inflation, which depends on the average urban consumer and their spending habits. Morris is seeking to create a Consumer Price Index (CPI) for disabilities–a way to track spending patterns and inflation realistically.
“I think it’s really important that we have an accurate measure to track their inflationary trends,” said Morris, who currently hosts a podcast called The Disability Squeeze that explores why everyday life is often more expensive for disabled people and their families.
Amir Browne is a reporter with The SBU Media Group, part of Stony Brook University’s School of Communication and Journalism’s Working Newsroom program for students and local media.
For a related story, see here.