The Disability Squeeze
The disability squeeze is the experience of simultaneously have less income and more expenses due to a disability.
When it comes to work, the squeeze may come from having to accept a lower paying job on one end and having to pay more for accessibility accommodations in order to be able to work on the other.
...people with disabilities often require additional disability-related goods and services that those without disabilities do not.22,23 These needs are reduced by existing disability policy supports. However, because such supports are often insufficient, the remainder must be purchased OOP or foregone. Those who can afford to purchase the remainder OOP incur disability-related expenses, while those who cannot afford their needed items experience unmet needs. Many will experience both OOP expenses and unmet needs. The disability squeeze results from both forms of financial pressure and increases the risk for negative social, economic, and health outcomes. From <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1936657425001591?via%3Dihub>
When it comes to healthcare the squeeze is often created by having more health needs on one end, and greater out of pocket expenses from uncovered accessible equipment, transportation and health items generally not covered by insurance (vision and hearing health being foremost.)
When these two squeezes combine, it can become a bind that patients cannot escape from on their own. However, public assistance is often designed to keep people barely surviving within this cycle of poverty rather than giving them the resources to be able to get out of it and live their best, healthiest life. Therefore, the disability squeeze is also a health equity issue.
The disability itself is often not the problem, but rather the entire social and economic system that puts the financial burden, time and coordination of accommodations onto the person. If each business, health care providers, and public policy had built in and already functioning accommodations and policies for working, living and caring for a diversity of patients it would greatly reduce the pressure of the squeeze and lead to better health outcomes for people living with a disability.
Researchers at Stony Brook University, the University of Tennessee, National Disability Institute and the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing found that a household containing an adult with a work-limiting disability needs on average 28% more income to reach the same standard of living as a comparable household without one. At median household income that is roughly $17,690 a year, paid in equipment, repairs, transport, medication, accessible housing, delivery fees and hours lost to paperwork. From <https://www.forbes.com/sites/keelycatwells/2026/08/10/why-more-young-people-are-using-mobility-aids-and-why-thats-good-news-for-employers/>
Reducing that pressure comes from integrating access into daily life and creating a culture and expectation of accessibility. The Americans with Disabilities Act, passed 36 years ago, directs federal, state and private entities to build into their daily operations accommodations for those with disabilities. All citizens should have equal access to the services rendered by governments and business open to the public whether in person or virtually. Congress’s intent was that each government and business would build access into their business model. Since then, various guidelines, best practices and regulations have been set to guide what access looks like and how it is best implemented.
Funding
Congress did not fund the ADA specifically as the expectation was that every entity would participate in creating a culture and society that is accessible to all. The government isn’t going to fund it because it is something everyone is expected to do. It’s not a special program or added convenience, it is assuring the basic human right to participate in society and have equal access to goods and services. The cost of accommodation cannot be handed onto the consumer either. Disabled consumers experiencing the disability squeeze are already at a disadvantage; charging extra for accessibility would only exacerbate the problem.
Have a Plan
Accessibility is something that should be worked into every business plan and procedure manual before doors even open for business, not an add on later once a customer in need shows up.
All of those sit within an organization's control. This is a commercial point as much as a moral one, because it moves the work of adaptation from the individual, who cannot rebuild the station, to the institution, which can. From <https://www.forbes.com/sites/keelycatwells/2026/08/10/why-more-young-people-are-using-mobility-aids-and-why-thats-good-news-for-employers/>
Businesses should not wait until consumers who need access come and educate them on the law and methods of access. This is placing the burden on people who are already dealing with the financial, time and health effects of the disability squeeze. Public policy makers should not make accessibly laws complaint based, but rather assure accessibility is required, inspected and at the ready when consumers need it. Having working accessibility options are good for consumers and good for business employees to. Employees never want to be left scrambling for a solution when a consumer is right in front of them.
Accessible Prescription Labeling
In 2013 the United States Access Board drafted accessible prescription labeling best practices.
The goal of the best practices for accessible prescription drug container labels is to offer guidance to pharmacies on how to provide accessible prescription drug container labels to patients with visual impairments to enable them to manage their medications independently and privately and have the confidence that they are taking their medications safely, securely, and as prescribed. From <https://www.access-board.gov/rx.html>
The key to providing accessible prescription drug container labels is patient-centered communication between pharmacists and patients with blindness and visual impairment and patient representatives. Because the extent of visual impairment varies from person to person, some patients may need prescription drug container labels in an audible format, while others may need braille, and still others may need large print. Additionally, it is important to keep in mind that visually impaired patients who are not computer savvy may need hard copy braille or large print labels, or a dedicated electronic method that is easy to operate. From <https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2087516552394474395/5674862695633122502>
Prescription labeling was important enough to public safety to made into a law, it stands that it's important enough to provide that information in a format every patient can access. Pharmacies providing and covering the cost of accessible prescription labels can ease the squeeze and simultaneously provide life-saving access to health information so patients can make informed health care related decisions.
With current profit margins so low, no pharmacy wants to have unnecessary added expenses. However, increasing profit margins can't come from ignoring the basic human right to informed health care for vulnerable patients, who are often already bearing the financial and time burden of navigating the world with a disability.
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