Costs of Disability

Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, the guy who told the Senate Hearing that the burden Long Covid is on par with the burden of cancer and heart disease, wrote a brief explainer of a recent study (Gascon, Martorana & Moore, 2024) that found "a significant surge in the number of people with a disability in the U.S."

I still have educated people in my life that argue Covid isn't a big deal because they know tons of people and don't know anybody who's been disabled or died from it. They don't seem to understand why the scientific method uses random sampling instead of taking anecdotal accounts as evidence. But the numbers don't lie. And the big picture will hit home eventually: 

"Above Trend Increase in Disability - Since 2019 the number of disabled individuals has surged beyond the expected trend by nearly 2 million. This isn't just a statistical anomaly—it's a huge indicator of a deeper, underlying health crisis.

Cognitive Disabilities Skyrocket - Most alarming is the rise in cognitive disabilities. The population reporting only a cognitive disability has grown by nearly 1 million—a 43% increase since 2019.

A Sudden and Astonishing Shift - To put this in context: from 2014 to 2019, the average annual growth in cognitive disabilities was about 28k. Since 2019, that number has skyrocketed by more than one million. This is a huge increase and deserves attention.

Why This Matters - This isn't just about numbers—it's about real people whose lives have been affected. Understanding the drivers of this surge is critical for shaping public health policy and support systems. 

Long Covid? - Could LongCovid be a contributing factor? Possibly yes! We need more research to understand the forces behind these troubling trends.

Let’s Not Ignore This - The data is clear: something has changed, and it’s affecting millions. These troubling findings deserve investigation. This should be on the radar screen of every person who cares about the health and well-being of Americans. Let’s Not Ignore This!"

I can't imagine what also could cause this sudden and dramatic surge in disability since 2019. Can you??

There's a lot of talk about Covid's costs to the economy, but little discussion about costs to the individual. Here's one account from an education prof in Calgary, Jackie Seidel, PhD who most likely got Covid from her classroom:

"I had Covid one time despite all my precautions (from teaching very crowded classes last October wave). Was SO sick and on leave for many weeks, and my long awaited hip replacement got postponed. It cost me nearly $9,000 of my not big salary. I can’t tell you the number of people I tell this to, and they say “no it didn’t”. lol 🙄. Folks don’t want to know about the financial consequences of illness and disability. 

I would not eat in a restaurant if someone paid me a million dollars. I ask folks if they have enough money to pay all their expenses if they couldn’t work for a year (no), for six months (no), for one month (maybe). What if you could never work again? Can you live on 50% of your pay on LTD (no)? Do you know our LTD plan is only for a year if they even approve it? (What?!?). Then after a year on LTD at 50% of salary if you’re still sick you have to apply for CPP disability (they say “what?!?”). The risks are extreme. Not only to one’s own self, but to others on the chain of infection. 

I can’t make sense of folks accepting this level of risk. When I got Covid, I was three weeks away from hip replacement surgery (almost three years from original referral). I was taking zero risks. I live alone. Only going to work or medical appointments and groceries at non busy times in a vflex or Aura mask, which is what I’d been doing all along. Some said “you must have messed up once”. I did not. It’s a very contagious, sneaky virus. Many students were coming to class sick in rooms so crowded you could barely move in them. Who bore the cost of no protections? Me. I can’t afford it. Neither can most people."

Her story also clarifies the imperfection of one-way masking in a classroom full of unmasked sick people. A mask reduces the odds of infection dramatically, but we need a good 80% of people masked in a room to get down to a zero chance of infection. Without masks in class, that's a risk some staff and kids can't make, and a risk nobody should have to even consider making!!  

Wouldn't it be better to prevent this from happening instead of continuing to provoke it?? We courted death and disability, and they won! Wear a mask, if not to prevent yourself from getting sick (because maybe you think you're too strong and capable to be affected by a little virus), then at least to enable other people to go to work without risk to their life or livelihood. It's a pretty basic level of consideration of others.