The Nexus of Health, Disability, and Work

Friday, September 17, 2010

A new University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning study will take a close look at the interaction of health, disability, and work among low-income people with disabilities. The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research in the U.S. Department of Education awarded $486,000 for the study, which will begin in October. Jean Hall, associate research professor at the Center, will lead the project.

Unemployment rates for low-income people with disabilities are much higher than for the general population, at least in part because individuals can lose federal disability cash benefits and health care coverage through Medicare or Medicaid if they are employed. However, some states offer a work incentive program (Medicaid Buy-In) that allows people to work and accumulate assets without endangering their Medicaid coverage. The new study will examine health disparities between the 1,100 people enrolled in the Kansas Medicaid Buy-In program, Working Healthy, and 1,200 low-income Kansas Medicaid beneficiaries with disabilities who are not enrolled in Working Healthy.

One of the goals of the study is to understand how work—especially participation in a work incentive program such as Working Healthy—affects the health and quality of life of low-income people with disabilities. Hall and her colleagues will identify implications for health care policy and will develop recommendations for policymakers.