The frequently zany scribblings of a well-rounded man with passionate opinions. Hey, it's better than "Something I put up because I needed to rant before my head exploded."
Thursday, October 31, 2024
PEOPLE WITH BLINDNESS AND LOW VISION ARE SQUEEZED BY HIGH COSTS OF LIVING
People with blindness and low vision are squeezed by high costs of
living − new research
Zachary Morris
(Survey in the US but relevant enough I guess to blind folk in tthese
parts also.) TS.
Colin Wong, a blind Ph.D. student, can’t forget having to pay US$100 for
an Uber when he needed to take a standardized test. There was no testing
center in San Francisco, where he lived, that could accommodate his
disability.
That kind of expensive hassle isn’t unusual. It costs nearly $7,000 more
per year to live in the U.S. with his disability, according to research
I, a social work scholar, conducted with four experts at the American
Foundation for the Blind – a nonprofit dedicated to promoting equality
and inclusion for people with blindness or low vision.
For our research, we looked at survey data from a representative sample
of Americans, focusing on how people with visual impairments answered.
We considered anyone who said they live with a vision disability – or
said that they have a lot of trouble seeing or can’t see at all, even
with glasses – as a person with low vision or blindness.
We calculated that people with blindness or low vision spend, on
average, 27% of their household income on expenses related to their
disability – about $7,000 per year.
Low-income Americans with disabilities are shouldering an even bigger
burden. The people who took this survey and were earning less than
$25,000 per year said they spent about 40% of their income on costs
related to their disability, on average, compared with 16% for those
with higher incomes.
That leaves them with less money for other essentials such as food and
housing. About 1 in 4 of the people we surveyed said they spent less on
food to cover their expenses associated with their disability.
And about 2 in 3 of the people we surveyed said they frequently go
without goods and services they need, including medical care, assistive
technologies and transportation to get to school or go to work.
Why it matters
Cost-of-living issues rank at the top of all Americans’ concerns,
according to a recent Gallup survey. And people with disabilities,
including those with physical or mental health conditions, tend to have
more trouble making ends meet than the average person.
That includes the roughly 7 million Americans with blindness or vision
loss who are among the more than 1 in 4 people in this country with a
disability.
One reason for the higher costs of living is that people with
disabilities tend to incur many other extra expenses, such as spending
more on transportation, prepared foods and grocery delivery services.
Others struggle to afford the prescription and over-the-counter drugs
and supplements they need.
Politicians and policymakers appear to be paying more attention to this
problem, which my research team calls the “disability squeeze.” Vice
President Kamala Harris, for example, announced in October 2024 a
proposal to expand Medicare to cover the long-term care needs for older
adults and people with disabilities.
What still isn’t known
Our survey included 288 people with blindness or low vision. Studies
with larger numbers of participants could greatly expand upon what’s
known about this problem and what can be done about it.
Expanding accessible public transit, making assistive technologies more
affordable and increasing disability benefits might be enough for some
people with disabilities to have an opportunity to thrive, but not for
others.
Future research could shed a brighter light on the cracks in the U.S.
health and social welfare systems. For example, researchers could look
into why people with health insurance from Medicaid or Medicare told us
they had more unmet needs rather than fewer than those with coverage
through private insurers. Other studies could examine how the disability
squeeze affects the health and employment of people with disabilities
over the long term.
The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.
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