This July marks the 34th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). A landmark civil rights law, the ADA ensures disabled people—more than one in four Americans—have an equal opportunity to find jobs, vote, ride on public transit, and access health care facilities. The ADA built on earlier laws, such as the 1988 amendment to the Fair Housing Act, which protects disabled people from housing discrimination, and Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, which first gave disabled people the right to access education and other public services.
Despite these legal protections, disabled people across the US continue to face more barriers accessing housing, health care, employment opportunities, and educational supports than their nondisabled counterparts. These inequities are even greater among disabled people of color and disabled immigrants.
Here are seven ways federal policymakers, agencies, and decisionmakers could advance equity and help disabled people thrive:
Develop a more accurate and inclusive way to count disabled people in the US.
Each year, the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) underestimates the disabled population. Since policymakers use the ACS to plan, fund, and evaluate programs in housing, transportation, and other areas, failing to count millions of disabled people could significantly affect their access to government programs and services.
In 2023, the bureau proposed changes to the ACS survey questions that would worsen the undercount, effectively cutting its current estimates in half. After receiving thousands of comments expressing concerns with this proposal, the bureau paused proposed changes this past spring. It has also tentatively scheduled a convening in September to consult with representatives of the disability community on how to improve disability measures.
Continuing to meaningfully engage the disability community could help federal agencies and decisionmakers generate more accurate and inclusive ACS questions. In the long term, they should work with disabled researchers and other experts to identify new disability measures that better reflect how disabled people see themselves. Involving disabled people in the policy and programming decisions that affect their everyday lives is critical to advancing disability equity.
Increase access to high-quality, affordable health care.
On a 2022 survey, 15 percent of disabled adults reported that in the previous year, they or someone in their household delayed or went without essential medical equipment. Among these respondents, 47 percent said they couldn’t access the equipment because they had struggled to secure authorization from their insurer.
To help people with disabilities access the home health services and equipment they need, federal agencies could make it easier for people to submit insurance claims and reduce the time it takes to process claims by requiring insurers to be more transparent about the authorization process. Federal policymakers could also reduce Medicare and Medicaid coverage gaps by increasing assistance to people who are wrongfully disenrolled and expanding Medigap coverage to people younger than 65.
Reforming policies like Medicare’s “in the home” rule, which states that durable medical equipment will only be covered if it’s necessary while people are at home, could help more disabled people fully participate in all aspects of life—many of which occur outside the home environment.
Close the employment and education gap for people with disabilities.
Though unemployment among disabled workers fell to a record low in 2023, disabled people are still half as likely to be employed compared with their nondisabled counterparts. They’re also less likely to graduate high school and complete a bachelor’s degree.
These barriers to education and employment—key indicators of well-being—are compounded for disabled immigrants, who face intersecting challenges related not only to their disability status but also to their citizenship and immigration status, race, ethnicity, and language.
To close the education and employment gap, federal policymakers could develop new ways to tap into the disabled workforce, such as apprenticeship programs. They could also expand the capacity of Protection and Advocacy systems (PAs), which provide federally mandated legal representation and advocacy for people with disabilities. This would allow PAs to develop more outreach and services tailored to non-English speakers and help more disabled immigrants access education and employment opportunities.
Set an asset limit floor for all public assistance programs.
Every day, millions of disabled people and their families rely on safety net programs to afford their basic needs. But many of these programs keep disabled people trapped in poverty, imposing asset limits that don’t allow them to save.
It’s been over 40 years since the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) cash assistance program has updated its asset limits. A lifeline for over 6 million disabled people, SSI doesn’t allow individuals to hold more than $2,000 in assets. For married couples, the limit is $3,000.
Setting an asset limit floor for all public assistance programs would significantly affect the financial security of people with disabilities. By increasing the limit to $10,000 for individuals and $20,000 for married couples, policymakers would enable disabled people and their families to accumulate higher savings without worrying they could lose their benefits. A universal floor could reduce administrative costs, saving the federal government money while advancing equity. Policymakers could also explore eliminating asset limits for programs that support people with disabilities, as some states have done.
Prioritize disabled people when designing environmental disaster programs.
To design environmental disaster programs that effectively support people with disabilities, federal agencies will need to collect high-quality data about their needs. More accurate data is especially critical to understanding the experiences and climate vulnerabilities of disabled people living in rural areas.
Policymakers could also partner with disability-led disaster recovery programs to learn more about what diverse populations with different disability types may need in the event of a climate disaster.
Address the shortage of affordable, accessible housing.
Compared with nondisabled people, people with disabilities face added barriers to securing stable, affordable housing that’s also accessible and meets their support needs. In 2021, more than 18 million disabled people in the US were eligible for housing assistance but didn’t receive it.
To help disabled people with low incomes find stable housing, federal policymakers could provide more funding to public housing authorities so they can maintain and upgrade their properties. Agencies could also work with community-based organizations spearheading disability-forward housing design to better address the accessibility needs of disabled residents.
Put more federal funding toward long COVID research.
An estimated 17 million people in the US have long COVID. A multisystemic condition, long COVID can affect peoples’ ability to work and ultimately pay for their basic needs.
To equitably address this new disability, policymakers need more data on long COVID. Policymakers could fast-track research on long COVID and fund holistic, multidisciplinary research that considers how social determinants of health affect outcomes for those with the chronic condition. In the interim, policymakers could support those affected by increasing access to affordable health care and expanding safety net supports.
Addressing these seven areas would significantly improve quality of life among Americans with disabilities and ensure they have equitable access to the resources and opportunities necessary to thrive.
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The Urban Institute podcast, Evidence in Action, inspires changemakers to lead with evidence and act with equity. Cohosted by Urban President Sarah Rosen Wartell and Executive Vice President Kimberlyn Leary, every episode features in-depth discussions with experts and leaders on topics ranging from how to advance equity, to designing innovative solutions that achieve community impact, to what it means to practice evidence-based leadership.