Clinton Aims to Aid Disabled in Getting Jobs

The Clinton administration will announce today plans to spend $2 billion over the next five years to help disabled adults return to work without losing their federal health insurance, White House officials said.

The proposal also would offer a $1,000 tax credit to assist the disabled with paying for prescriptions, transportation and other items that would help them hold jobs.

Part of the president’s 2000 budget proposal, the measure is expected to be especially helpful to the 1.6 million working-age adults who have diseases such as cystic fibrosis, Parkinson’s, AIDS, mental illness and other medical conditions that cause difficulty with one or more activities of daily living.

A bipartisan group of senators including James M. Jeffords (R-Vt.), Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), William V. Roth Jr. (R-Del.) and Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.) plans to introduce legislation later in the month that will include most of the components in the president’s proposal.

Under current law, many disabled adults must choose between returning to work and keeping their health insurance. If they take jobs, their cash disability benefits and their health coverage through Medicare or Medicaid can be terminated.

Medicare is the federal health insurance program for the elderly and disabled. Medicaid is the state and federal health insurance program for the poor and disabled. A person is considered disabled if he or she has a mental or physical impairment expected to last at least 12 months that makes the person unable to be gainfully employed--defined as earning more than $500 a month.

A number of disabled adults want to work but are reluctant to do so for fear of losing government health insurance, according to disability experts.

The initiative follows the recommendations of the President’s Task Force on the Employment of Adults With Disabilities, which is co-chaired by Tony Coelho, a former Democratic congressman from California, and Alexis M. Herman, the secretary of Labor.

“This is one of the most significant steps since the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed,” said Coelho, who has epilepsy and has been involved with disability issues for many years.

“The president is putting disability issues on the front burner and making sure that we as a government give an opportunity for those with disabilities to participate,” Coelho said. “We want to work, we want to pay taxes.”

The president’s proposal has four elements:

* It would allow disabled people who are receiving their health care through Medicare to continue that coverage when they go to work.

* States would have the option through their Medicaid program of covering the disabled poor who return to work.

* It would create a program to pay for rehabilitation services to help people find jobs.

* An annual $1,000 tax credit would be available to the disabled to help them cover costs of such items as transportation and technology.