Physical Disabilities

This report is an update of an earlier report, "Americans with Disabilities: 2005." The 2010 findings indicate that approximately 56.7 million Americans have a disability, an increase of 2.2 million since 2005. Additionally, the number and percentage of Americans with a severe disability also increased. This document also presents descriptive statistics about disability prevalence and economic conditions of the people with disabilities.

In recent years, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has placed a greater emphasis on increasing employment among people who receive federal disability benefits while also reducing their reliance on those benefits. SSA’s efforts have led to a growing interest among policymakers in exactly how many disability beneficiaries forgo cash benefits because they are working and how long they are able to remain off cash benefits. This brief summarizes findings from a longer report.

As technology continues to transform the workplace, demand is growing for the development, purchase, maintenance and use of information and communication technology (ICT) that is accessible to and usable by all applicants and employees, including individuals with disabilities. This paper provides a framework that can be used to develop technical assistance tools to help employers design, purchase, lease, maintain and use ICT that is accessible to & usable by people with disabilities and others.

CDC introduces an online interactive system that quickly helps translate state-level, disability-specific data into valuable public health information. With Disability & Health Data System (DHDS), users can customize how they view disability & health data throughout the country, making it easy to understand health disparity information, identify trends, & help support the development of fiscally-responsible, evidence-based programs, services and policies that include people with disabilities.

All Americans including people with disabilities and seniors should be able to live at home with the supports they need and participating in communities. To help meet these needs, HHS is creating a new organization, the ACL with the goal of increasing access to community supports and full participation, while focusing attention and resources on the unique needs of older Americans and people with disabilities. Visit the website for funding opportunities and announcements.

This brief explains how Medicare beneficiaries become eligible for Medicaid, provides national & state-by-state data on enrollment, & examines national & state-specific data on Medicaid spending for dual-eligible beneficiaries by service & eligibility group. The Foundation also has a collection of resources on dual-eligible beneficiaries, including basic facts & data, and analysis & explanation of specific issues, which include provisions of health reform affecting dual-eligible beneficiaries.

The goal of Our Ability is to be the online resource for people with disabilities. The site will add Our Community - a social network where people can communicate, add a profile, search for jobs as well as upload their own video stories. Our Ability will be the pathway for people with disabilities to find careers, education and inspiration.

Discussions were conducted to uncover lessons from abroad for Community Living Assistance Services & Supports (CLASS), a federally run voluntary public long-term care insurance program created under the Accountable Care Act of 2010. Discussions were conducted during an international conference of LTC experts, followed by personal meetings & individual correspondence. Findings indicate that programs in the five countries studied have lessons, both positive & negative, relevant to CLASS design.

This portion of the Center for PAS website presents various data and resources related to Personal Assistance Services by state. Recent updates include two sets of information concerning Medicaid home-and community-based services (HCBS). Users can select a state or select a specific topic such as state statistics, program data, and other PAS projects.

Providing personal assistance services (PAS) in the workplace (WPAS) is one approach to support the employment of individuals with disabilities. This study examined the implementation of Medicaid WPAS by collecting & analyzing telephone interview data from key informants selected from county & public authority officials in California in 2010. The results showed that less than a fraction of 1% of individuals with disabilities who used Medicaid personal care services used the services at work.