National and State Program Participation Ratios for Working-Age People with Disabilities

This report contains national and state-level statistics on the number of participants in federal disability programs, drawn and produced from administrative data, relative to the estimated size of the working-age population with any self-reported disability based on the American Community Survey (ACS). For Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) combined, cross-state variation in the participation ratio is remarkably wide, with the two highest estimates (Massachusetts and New York) being more than twice as large as the lowest estimate (Alaska). There is also considerable variation across states in the distribution of participants across the three program categories (SSDI-only, SSI-only, and concurrent SSDI and SSI). The variation in combined Medicare and Medicaid participation across states follows a similar pattern as for SSDI and SSI, but is somewhat greater, mostly reflecting the extent to which each state’s Medicaid program covers individuals with disabilities who are neither SSDI nor SSI participants.