There are a lot of conversations going around about having a hard time finding people to work for them. It’s frequently blamed on this false perception that people don’t want to work. The real truth is that for many, they face tremendous barriers to working that if we made a few adjustments as a society, we could fix. Here in Nebraska alone, we have a waiting list of hundreds of people with disabilities who want to work but need support from Vocational Rehabilitation. We have possibly thousands more who would like to work but have been afraid of losing their benefits.

“In 2020, 17.9 percent of persons with a disability were employed, down from 19.3 percent in 2019, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. For persons without a disability, 61.8 percent were employed in 2020, down from 66.3 percent in the prior year. The unemployment rates for persons with and without a disability both increased from 2019 to 2020, to 12.6 percent and 7.9 percent, respectively. Data on both groups for 2020 reflect the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and efforts to contain it.” According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In my own experience, one time, I had a fantastic employee named Lynn Redding. She showed up early, stayed late, and produced better results than anyone else. I told her that I wanted to give her a promotion. She said, “No” I was shocked. I thought maybe she didn’t understand, so I tried to clarify, “I want to give you more money and more authority.” She said, “No. I can’t risk losing $60,000 in Medicaid that keeps me alive for the few dollars extra an hour you are offering.” I was shocked. But as I’ve come to realize, this is an everyday experience for people with disabilities.

In 2020 we passed LB 323 in the Nebraska Legislature, a bill to significantly expand our Medicaid Buyin Program due to the low usage of the program. LB 323 helps individuals with disabilities who use Medicaid keep their job, take a raise, or go to work without losing their Medicaid benefits by allowing individuals to earn up to 2.5 times the Federal Poverty Rate ($31,225 for a family of 1) without losing Medicaid with a small premium for those at the top tier of earnings. We are excited to see that as of October 1st, 2021 that this update will take effect!

This will help to address so many issues facing Nebraskans with disabilities, including that:

· The employment rate for people with disabilities in Nebraska: 51.8%

· The employment rate for people without disabilities in Nebraska: 86.4%

· The percentage of people with disabilities working full-time, full-year (Nebraska): 37%

· The percentage of people without disabilities working full-time, full-year (Nebraska): 68.6%

I hope that as employers out there that you will consider how to hire more people with disabilities. If you need guidance about how to do this, check The Arc of Nebraska’s database of trainings that has several trainings on employment issues or feel free to reach out to me.