Benefit cuts threaten disability community

“Well, how are you going to pay for it?” is a question asked frequently whenever budgets are debated and mounting deficits in election years are suddenly considered a priority.

The current administration proposes to pay for it, once again, on the backs of the most vulnerable, least-connected and furthest from the tables of power.

Perople with disabilities will face proposed cuts to their Social Security Disability Insurance while being entangled in the red tape of weighty paperwork and costly reviews.

What the current administration is doing is wrong, but not new. In the early 1980s, the Reagan administration implemented a similar change in the review process for disability benefits. This change resulted in the termination of benefits for over a half million people with disabilities.

As a woman with a disability, it is a multi-faceted, timeconsuming, dehumanizing and demeaning process to get services from local or state levels. We do not need further complications from the federal level. Along with the hassles and hurdles to gain benefits, this change will add an estimated $1.8 billion price tag in administrative costs.

How are we supposed to take pride in the 30-year anniversary of the milestone achievement of the Americans with Disabilities Act this year, when this country continues to exploit our disability community with benefit cuts that threaten our independence?

LAURA POWER

Marshall

The writer is a member of the Write Stuff Work Group of Consumer Health Coalition.