Disability News October 11, 2025
Editor's Note: The disability community is increasingly preferring to use identity-first language (disabled person) in place of person-first language (person with a disability). This is because many in the community view disability as being a core component of identity, much like race and gender. Some members of the community, such as people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, still prefer person-first language. Both should be considered valid. Articles shared in this newsletter may contain one or the other (or both) depending on the author's preference, and if they themselves have a disability.
Brace for the Single Largest Spike in Health Insurance Premiums—Ever: The GOP’s backdoor plan to gut Obamacare: Kill the tax credits. - by Julia Métraux on October 9, 2025 at Mother Jones
"As the federal government enters the ninth day of a shutdown sparked by Congress’ failure to pass a continuing resolution which would fund the government for around two more months—with hundreds of thousands of workers going unpaid, federal loans to small businesses on hold, and the future of SNAP benefits at risk for coming months if the shutdown continues; soaring health care costs, the crux of the shutdown fight, are looking increasingly likely."
The Human Costs of Trump’s War on Government: For many disabled workers, federal jobs were decent, human, and accommodating: everything the president hates. - by Julia Métraux on October 7, 2025 at Mother Jones
"In my conversations with more than a dozen former federal employees with disabilities who were laid off under the second Trump administration, a common theme emerged: They found the federal government to be an extremely accommodating employer. That added an extra layer of grief to their terminations—would their next job actually support them?"
Trump Administration Abruptly Cut Off Highly Effective Support for Disabled People Experiencing Homelessness posted on October 6, 2025 at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
"The Trump Administration abruptly ended federal support for a highly effective intervention that helps disabled people experiencing or at risk of homelessness access benefits to help them stabilize their lives. Disability benefits help provide not just steady income but an important pathway to health care and other needed supports. But these benefits can be hard to access — particularly for people with severe mental illness and unstable housing."
Annual COVID Vaccines Protect People against Severe Disease, Even with Prior Immunity by Sara Novak on October 8, 2025 at Scientific American
"A study, published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that last season’s 2024–2025 mRNA COVID vaccines reduced people’s risk of emergency department visits by 29 percent, their risk of hospitalizations by 39 percent and their risk of death by 64 percent. Of the nearly 300,000 U.S. participants in the study, 35 percent received the Pfizer vaccine (COMIRNATY), and 64 percent received the Moderna vaccine (Spikevax). According to the study’s authors, COVID vaccination was effective in all age groups and “in persons with or without major chronic conditions.”"
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