Stubborn Statistics
Here in the States, we just commemorated the seventeenth anniversary of the passage of the (ADA). The ADA is a major piece of federal legislation designed to guarantee basic civil rights to people with disabilities. One of the primary intents of the ADA is to improve access to employment opportunities. Most employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations to job candidates and employees with disabilities. But nearly two decades later, the ADA's vision of people with disabilities working alongside their able-bodied peers remains largely unrealized. The national unemployment rate hovers consistently .
In the time I've been working in the disability policy field, I've heard several explanations for the persistently high unemployment of people with disabilities. One explanation is the structure of our publicly financed health care system for people with disabilities: . When Medicaid was established in the 1960s, legislators didn't consider the possibility that people with disabilities might actually want to work. As a result, disincentives exist in Medicaid that have forced people with disabilities to choose between earning an income and maintaining their health coverage. This is slowly beginning to change. Many states, including Minnesota, have implemented that allow working people with disabilities to purchase Medicaid coverage. I participate in such a program myself and it's made a tremendous difference in my own life. But time and again, I hear that people with disabilities refrain from seeking employment because they're afraid it will jeopardize their health care coverage.
I'm curious: is access to health care a barrier to employment for people with disabilities in the UK? How about other parts of the world? I would think that the availability of universal health care would make this a moot point, but perhaps I'm wrong. Or are there other barriers that are more prevalent, like employer bias, access to transportation or...something else?
In the coming years, developed countries will see millions of their citizens retire and leave the workforce. People with disabilities could be a crucial labor market for employers, but there seems to be precious little recognition of that at the moment.
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Here in BC, once you're on Disability Benefits, they will continue to provide health benefits even after you get a full-time job, if you need them. I SOOO need them. My medication costs more than my rent.
Over here in Holland, things are taken care of fine. It hasn't made a difference for me in any healthcare benefits between the time I wasn't working and the latest years I was.
Here in the UK, healthcare is free. It is far from perfect due in particular to long waiting times and not always seeing the same consultant. People in the US with the same illness as me are horrified at the care I receive. I in turn am horrified at the bills they pay (some more than my monthly rent) and for example the situation of one fellow support group member who had to file for bankruptcy.
I had to turn down a good job in the US because I couldn't afford the health care bills! Most people in my line of work move to the US at some point in their careers. I never will be able to.
I consider myself lucky as there are many other barriers to employment in the UK, for example the nigh impossibility to quickly move around the country if you receive care and need accessible accommodation, employer discrimination, lack of social services care support, but healthcare is thankfully not one of them.
Here in Canada, it varies. We have universal health care in terms of the basic services like doctor and hospital visits, but province to province the rules are different for things like prescription drugs and mobility aids. I live in Ontario, and I know many people who aren't in a position to get off social assistance because they need the supplemental benefits. Our tax system allows you to claim medical expenses over a certain minimum, but of course, you need to make enough income to get this credit. Thus there is a wide, unfortunate gap between being "poor enough" to qualify for medical/disability-related supplements and "rich enough" where you can either write off some of the expenses or you can otherwise still maintain a decent quality of living after paying those expenses. Access to health care, along with lack of reliable transportation definitely seem to be among the more common barriers to employment here. Additionally, while we have the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (which covers people with disabilities), it is extremely hard to raise a case for discrimination (it can take years to resolve a Charter case), meaning it is fairly easy to deny employment to certain people.
Here in BC, Canada they announced that the shortage of workers was so high that they were paying $500 million to three recruitment companies to seek disabled workers (the sort of hitting the bottom of barrel idea). Yet taking a part time job eliminated your assistance (not medical) nor is there any incentive to from the government (in Britian, I had three workers who were paid for by the government at 80%, which for a small business makes you WANT people who qualify for that). Here if you live in Vancouver, a business can get a top up for hiring someone with a disability, but if you live elsewhere, including the capital, Victoria - no incentive.