Evaluating the potential cost-savings of job accommodations among individuals with psychiatric disability

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Two decades since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, individuals with psychiatric disabilities continue to face barriers to employment that includes sensitivity to the benefit structure of the Supplemental Security Income (SSI). OBJECTIVE: This study examines cost-savings to the SSI program due to enhanced employment outcomes for persons with psychiatric disabilities associated with the receipt of job accommodations. METHODS: Data come from a federally funded, multi-site, implementation effectiveness study of supported employment models for 987 working age adults. Cost-savings were estimated using ordinary least squares regression to examine averted SSI payment. RESULTS: Accommodations were associated with a marginal monthly SSI savings of $11.73, and these savings were 68 percent higher compared to the non-accommodations group. Being married, having independent housing, and recent employment history predicted savings increases. Physical and emotional problems affecting work, a schizophrenia diagnosis, and symptoms of social withdrawal and blunted affect predicted lower savings. CONCLUSIONS: This study adds to a small body of literature examining the impact of accommodations for persons with psychiatric disabilities. Future work in this area might examine savings to the Social Security Disability Insurance program and should include factors unavailable in this analysis.

A systematic review of work accommodations for people with mental disorders

“…A study conducted by Chow and colleagues (2014), elucidated the economic benefits of implementing work accommodations on broader Supplemental Security Income (SSI) expenditures. Results from this study concluded that working adults with accommodations were associated with a monthly SSI saving of $11.73 which was 68% greater saving than those not receiving accommodations [27].…”

“…A barrier to implementation of work accommodations from the perspective of employers may include the perceived costs of implementing such accommodations. However, the studies which looked at costs associated with accommodations demonstrated minimal costs and lead to potential of downstream savings [27]. Work accommodations may have the potential to provide government savings in several hundred million dollars in SSI expenditure [28].…”

“…Three studies evaluated costs associated with accommodations [14,17,18], and 1 evaluated the potential savings to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) [27]. No specific study conducted a formal cost-benefit or cost-effectiveness analysis, however general costs and their associated outcomes were discussed.…”