Examining the Impact of Inflation on the Economic Security of Disability Program Beneficiaries
Disability program beneficiaries, including those who receive Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) benefits or Supplemental Security Income (SSI), often incur substantial out-of-pocket (OOP) expenses for disability-related goods and services. The market basket of goods and services purchased by disability program beneficiaries is thus likely to differ from the goods and services purchased by the average urban consumer, thereby creating different actual rates of inflation. Our study explores and documents these kinds of disability-related spending patterns and the potential impact of inflation on these items, providing new evidence to better understand the economic well-being of disability program beneficiaries. We present data collected from the Survey of Used and Needed Disability-related Goods and Services (SUNDiGS), a novel survey drawn from the Understanding America Study, a nationally representative panel with a large sample of disability program beneficiaries.
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