Kelcie Laube, a 19-year-old with Cerebral Palsy, loves to dance and push herself to get stronger. Laube wants to see the treatment of people with disabilities change for the better.

By: Logan Mertz

Disabilities in general are described as limitations that effect an individual intellectually or developmentally. The Arc, in their 2011 report, “Still in the Shadows with Their Future Uncertain,” describes that physical disabilities are characterized by limitations on intellectual and behavior functioning, while developmental disabilities are characterized by limitations on mental or physical capabilities that effect things like movement, self-care, and language skills. A considerably large percentage of people in the U.S. have at least some form of disability. According to the Institute on Disability in their “2016 Disability Statistics Annual Report”, the overall estimated rate of people with disabilities in the U.S. in 2015 was 12.6%.

Although the types of disability vary in severity and effect on capabilities, the overall statistics show that people with disabilities don’t receive the same amount of opportunities as people who don’t have disabilities do. According to the Institute of Disability, there was a 41.1% gap in employment rate, and a 7.4% gap in poverty percentage between people with disabilities and people without disabilities. The Institute of Disability also showed that 39.9% of people ages 18 and over with disabilities were obese, which was 14.5% more than people of this age requirement who did not have disabilities.

In the U.S., organizations that offer assistant living, independence classes, funding for accessibly for people with disabilities, and special education programs play a significant role in promoting equal opportunity for people with disabilities. However, creations, repeals, and reforms of health care bills can affect these organizations and programs significantly due the proposals that cut their funding. Medicaid, for example, is a main way for people who have disabilities to receive health coverage.” In Kaiser Family Foundation’s article, “Medicaid Restructuring Under the American Health Care Act and Non elderly Adults with Disabilities,” Medicaid covers “more than three in 10 non elderly adults with disabilities, providing a broad range of medical and long-term care services that enable people with disabilities to live and work in the community.” However, the proposed AHCA can greatly affect services. According to KFF, the AHCA would have an “estimated $880 billion reduction in federal Medicaid spending from 2017 to 2026. This could affect people with disabilities by a per capita cap, as the KFF said, “most disability-related coverage pathways and many services…are provided at state option, making them subject to cuts if states are faced with federal funding reductions.”