How proposed cuts to this major national health survey could disadvantage Americans with disabilities
As many as a quarter of wheelchair users and more than a third of people who are blind or deaf could be miscategorized as not disabled because of the shorter survey, according to some advocates and researchers.
The U.S. government plans to significantly reduce its primary health survey, potentially leading to an underestimation of the number of disabled Americans. At least half of the survey questions could be eliminated, which would affect a quarter of wheelchair users and over a third of blind or deaf individuals. This could hinder the government's ability to identify the health needs of disabled Americans and the impact of health insurance changes.
The proposed cuts are part of budget tightening and difficulties in conducting in-person interviews, but officials anticipate the changes won't be as severe as previously suggested. The survey, which has been conducted since 1957, traditionally takes about an hour and includes various questions about disability, health, and insurance.
It's funded at around $40 million annually and has 30,000 households participate each year. The survey's upcoming redesign aims to make it about a half-hour long and shift to online or paper questionnaires, due to challenges with in-person interviews.
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