Report Highlights New Barriers to Accessing Disability Benefits in 2025
Assistant professor, Dr. Callie Freitag, recently released a report which highlights how changes implemented by the second Trump administration have created significant barriers for those seeking to apply for and maintain disability benefits. Dr. Freitag, who researches social policies related to aging, disability, and poverty in the United States, teamed up with professors from California, Dr. Katie Savin, and New York, Dr. Matthew Borus, who share her research interests. Together, they engaged in a study in which they interviewed 52 specialists who assist people with obtaining and maintaining disability benefits to discuss how changes enacted by the new administration have affected that process.
Results of this study were compiled into a recently released report. Overall, the findings revealed that the administration’s changes have made accessing benefits more difficult and created new and unprecedented challenges. The report also emphasizes how dire the consequences of these changes have been and that people attempting to access benefits have seen their health deteriorate, experienced homelessness, and even died while waiting for them. To address this, the report’s authors made several recommendations including to increase staffing and access to assistance from humans rather than automation only and to reduce administrative burdens to accessing benefits.
The full report can be read here “In the last year, it’s gotten a lot worse” A Qualitative Investigation of Barriers to Disability Benefits in 2025”