Clinton Signs Bill Extending Benefits for Working Disabled

President Clinton signed into law Friday legislation that could allow as many as 8 million Americans with disabilities to go to work without fear of losing their federal health insurance.

“No one should have to choose between taking a job and having health care,” Clinton said as he signed the legislation at the memorial to former President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was himself partially paralyzed from a bout of polio.

Previously, Americans with disabilities who earned more than $700 per month eventually lost the health insurance that they received through the Medicare and Medicaid government programs.

Under the new law, those on Medicare could retain this health insurance for 8 1/2 years after taking a higher-paying job. Under the older law, they lost Medicare after four years, officials said.

Advocacy groups and insurers welcomed the new law, saying it will remove a major obstacle that prevented many people with disabilities from getting jobs.