Physical Disabilities

Although Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits are an important support to many people with disabilities, modifications to programs are under consideration given current and projected governmental fiscal constraints. This article provides data about levels of safety net cross-participation among working age SSDI and SSI program participants and estimates how changes to disability benefit levels might influence their economic security.

We use the American Time Use Survey to examine the extent to which adults with disabilities—defined using both the new six-question sequence on disability and the traditional work-limitation question—spend more time on health-related activities and less time on other activities than those without disabilities.

A new criticism of the variety in measures serving to identify the disabled population in the American Community Survey (ACS) has been raised by Burkhauser, Houtenville, and Tennant. This article provides another perspective on the relationship of the current ACS measure and a work limitation measure demonstrating the complications introduced by combining measures that represent two different metrics and introducing an unmeasured environmental element.

The Money Follows the Person (MFP) demonstration grant program helps long-term residents of institutions move back to the community. This report aims to answer several questions about the expenditures (medical care and long-term services and supports [LTSS] expenditures) of people who transition from institutional care to community-based LTSS.

In this brief, the authors summarize key features of the Social Security Disability Insurance program and describe some of the salient issues policymakers will need to consider to address the projected depletion of the SSDI Trust Fund in 2016. They also discuss the eligibility criteria for the program, benefit levels, and beneficiaries' ability to work.

This report fulfills NCD’s statutory mandate to annually report and make recommendations concerning the state of disability policy in the United States. Specifically, the 2014 Progress Report focuses on seven key areas: the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD), employment access and inclusion, subminimum wage, education outcomes, Medicaid managed care, mental health care, and data trends in disability policy.

In 2014, ADvancing States surveyed state aging and disability agencies regarding the significant policy, fiscal, and operational issues occurring within each state. The survey collected detailed information about the structure of agencies, the supports provided, and the populations served by aging and disability agencies. Of particular interest is the summary of services provided in Medicaid waivers across the country. All of this information is presented in the charts accompanying this document.

The report features select qualified, demonstration, and supplemental services that seem particularly innovating and promising. The MFP grant program allows states to test and implement innovative services without the restrictions of a waiver. This report provides illustrative examples of how states are taking advantage of this flexibility, particularly in the areas of pre-transition and short-term services.

Review the progress by the 42 MFP grantee states (including the District of Columbia) that are actively transitioning MFP participants. MFP grants support state efforts to help individuals living in institutions move to home and community-based settings if that is where they wish to receive LTSS. During the second half of 2013, states transitioned 5,485 new enrollees, bringing the total number of people that had ever transitioned to the community through MFP to 40,693 at the close of 2013.

A resource for participant direction program stakeholders, this toolkit is in response to new rules promulgated by the US Department of Labor (DOL) that will take effect January 1, 2015. This webpage is designed to be your one-stop location for information and resources about the FLSA Home Care Final Rule and it's impact on participant direction programs. Resources include webinars, toolkits, and flowcharts. More resources will be added as they are developed.