About 265 of US adults have a disability and senior citizens are disproportionately affected by disabilities. Adults with disabilities are more likely to have heart disease, be smokers and have diabetes than the general population.
It’s critical that we recognize that people with disabilities are facing health disparities. One in three adults with disabilities does not have a primary care provider and one in three also has unmet health care needs due to financial cost. Since the passing of the Affordable Care Act, uninsured rates have decreased. By 2020, the percentage of people with insurance coverage was 91.4%.
Improving access to nutritious food–particularly in areas with limited access to fresh produce has been linked to improving overall health and eating habits.