For many of those with disabilities, proficient and competent medical care is an absolute necessity. Thankfully, medical care is often provided to disabled individuals who qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) through Medicare and Medicaid.
For instance, SSDI provides disabled workers with medical coverage through Medicare while those with limited incomes that receive SSI often have Medicaid coverage. Sadly, however, a recent report has indicated that those currently with Medicaid coverage may not have access to a wide variety of potentially life-saving preventative health screenings.
Specifically, while the Affordable Care Act generally requires coverage for a several types of health screenings for those on both Medicaid and Medicare, these requirements do not necessarily extend to those already receiving Medicaid through state programs.
Add that to the fact that researchers from The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services found that covered screening services can vary greatly from location to location, and it creates a situation in which many of those with disabilities run the risk of not having certain health screenings covered. For example, researchers found that less than half of state Medicaid programs actually cover screenings for cholesterol or obesity.
Moreover, many states had Medicaid policies with extremely unclear language, meaning disabled individuals could not even tell what types of screening were covered and what were not. Unfortunately, the lack of screening for those individuals on Medicaid may result in several ailments that could have been prevented had the proper testing been done in the first place.
Source: Disability Scoop, “For Many With Disabilities, Health Screenings Still Not Covered,” Shaun Heasley, July 10, 2013
