What are the options for internationally moving if disabled?

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > What are the options for internationally moving if disabled?

Jeza: Feb 13, 2011; The cries of the dead are terrible indeed; you should try not to hear them.

Canada? Scandinavia?

Seems like the general gist is that you need other factors to overrule your health problems. i.e. a job or family even in permissive countries. Maybe you can visit NZ and some places that allow visitors free healthcare. That's how most people see the world anyhow. Seems like moving countries with your issues is a pretty unnecessary gamble, with no end-goal other than "I think I don't like the US".

I'm not American, but it's a big and varied place, politically, culturally, geographically and economically. I don't exactly know your situation, but from an outsider's perspective there's not many more interesting places to be "stuck" in, as it were. Since I don't know the ins and outs of your financial/living situation though, obviously that might not be true for you.

# ¿ Oct 1, 2016 17:12

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 16:07

Jeza: Feb 13, 2011; The cries of the dead are terrible indeed; you should try not to hear them.

tsa posted:

If you think the US is on a downward path hooo boy you don't want to look at europe. The US is one of the best places in the world to live with a disability and even assuming some other country would take you (nope) you'd still be worse off in the end. I mean generally upending your entire life and leaving your support network comes with costs.

Also consider that the general mood in Europe right now is not very welcoming of immigrants coming in and taking all their welfare, so be prepared for a good chunk of any country you go to to hate you!

The US is probably one of the worst developed countries in the world to be disabled in terms of support. It is quite literally famous for doing the minimum possible.

quote:

...compared to most other advanced nations the US�s provision is so negligible and its criteria to qualify is so strict that, as Rebecca Vallas of the Centre for American Progress in Washington says, �it is almost offensive�. For a sense of how badly it compares Vallas points out that the definition of what qualifies as a disability in the US for benefits purposes �is basically the most stringent in the entire developed world�. One in five Americans has a disability (the current population is around 320 million). Despite huge barriers to work - including for people with milder disabilities - the vast majority of people receive nothing in the way of disability benefits. For many who don�t qualify food stamps (a federally funded programme for the most impoverished people) is an essential, if meagre lifeline.

There are two main benefits that disabled people can apply for, both of which are administered nationally by the social security administration. The is Social Security Disability Insurance, (SSDI) which is funded through worker and employer payroll contributions. Approximately 9 million working-age adults are currently in receipt of SSDI (with a small number of dependents qualifying for some additional assistance). Most claims (which call for strict medical assessments as well as meeting additional criteria) are denied. Only four in 10 people are eventually approved after all levels of appeals while a fifth of recipients live in poverty.

According to the OECD, SSDI payments average $1,140 per month (�777) and are much less than the benefits paid by most other advanced nations placing the US 30th out of 34 countries in international rankings. The US is also hovering towards the bottom of the league tables (27th) on the percentage of its GDP that goes on disability benefits (just 0.8% in 2009 compared to the UK�s 2.4% - before austerity and recent welfare reforms).

Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the second type of disability benefit and which is designed to meet the basic needs of the poorest disabled people, is paid to just under 5 million working age people with around 1.3 million disabled children also receiving payments. On average, working age adults on SSI receive $525 per month and for most it is their only source of income. People who are paid disability benefits generally receive some public health insurance but eligibility criteria varies between states.

Also I have yet to hear any Europeans complaining about immigration from other developed nations. The immigration question in Europe is quite clearly racial and economic - people don't like muslims and they don't like more poor people. I hardly think some American on dialysis is really going to set off anybody's radar, even if logically it probably should.

# ¿ Oct 4, 2016 11:34

Jeza: Feb 13, 2011; The cries of the dead are terrible indeed; you should try not to hear them.

KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:

How is someone on disability receiving government assistance not poor?

They are, but it's a matter of biased perception. An American who is able to move across the Atlantic and start a life in Europe won't be remotely perceived as impoverished. Even if they are, and are effectively coming to mooch off the system more than the average migrant. Hence my saying that logically they probably should be seen in the same light. Also, probably white, and with a Western education, outlook and set of cultural values.

I should have probably just rolled what I said into referring to the homeless, jobless, nearly without resources/assets, muslim immigrants that constitute the "crisis" which tsa was referring to, and what is causing a lot of anti-immigration sentiment across Europe.

# ¿ Oct 4, 2016 17:11

Jeza: Feb 13, 2011; The cries of the dead are terrible indeed; you should try not to hear them.

KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:

is basically a giant middle finger to handicapped people.

edit: for instance, the Paris Metro line 1 has exactly two handicapped-accessible stations out of 25, and they are directly next to each other at the La Defense end of the line (newer business district).

I mean, France has a pretty generous welfare system overall. It's harsh to use its aging infrastructure as an example of poor disabled policy. London is probably the most disabled-friendly major capital in the world, but only 1/4 of its metro system is wheelchair accessible at the moment, despite being committed to providing step-free access since I don't even know when. It takes a long time and a lot of money to retrofit century old, and in-use train stations.

That being said, I don't need any extra reasons to dislike the French.

# ¿ Oct 7, 2016 15:13

Jeza: Feb 13, 2011; The cries of the dead are terrible indeed; you should try not to hear them.

GORDON posted:

It's slightly amusing to me that the country that disgusts you is the one willing to treat you the best.

That's a moronic statement. A person could be born into a torturous hellhole from which they are unable to leave, and if other countries are unwilling to offer any form of asylum you'd still be in the country willing to treat you the best. Even if that "best" is objectively worse than what they would have had if they had been fortunate enough to be born elsewhere.

Maybe you could claim some kind of moral victory if America had a benevolent immigration policy, but in fact it has an extremely stringent one, and anybody who is perceived to be at risk of becoming a "public charge" at any time is completely inadmissible. So the OP couldn't move to the US if he had been born somewhere else either.

# ¿ Oct 8, 2016 15:14

Jeza: Feb 13, 2011; The cries of the dead are terrible indeed; you should try not to hear them.

GORDON posted:

That's an ironic statement. You claim mine is moronic and yet lay out some moronic scenario that the OP clearly didn't describe.

At any rate, I don't care. Go be disabled anywhere with my blessing, the world is his/her oyster.

Did you leave school before you covered analogies? Let me help:

The OP was born in a country. This country only looks after them on sufferance and provides minimal support. You suggested the OP should be grateful because that country treats him the best, but since no other country will take them in, it's the "best" because it's their "only" option. So it's a moronic statement.

My moronic scenario is comparable. If you're born somewhere that is a living nightmare, but at least provides for you a brutal subsistence when other countries won't allow you to immigrate to a better life, by your logic you should be grateful for living there because it's your best option. It would cause forums poster GORDON wry amusement to hear anybody from this place to complain about their situation.

# ¿ Oct 8, 2016 17:36

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 16:07

Jeza: Feb 13, 2011; The cries of the dead are terrible indeed; you should try not to hear them.

GORDON posted:

Dude. The OP literally stated they were looking to uproot to some other country because, and I quote, " I live in the US, which if you've been paying attention, kinda sucks lately..."

Making a major life decision, with a major disease, and that's the most compelling argument they can think of to describe their decision is "kinda sucks." Yes, this is amusing to me. It sounds like a horribly bad decision, but with peeps like you cheer leading, supporting, and enabling them, what can go wrong? I'm sure you'll be there to pick them up if it goes wrong.

Also I already spent the morning arguing with a dementia patient, you remind me strongly of her, and I am no longer in that mood. She also insists on making very bad decisions, this time regarding her meds. So as I said, good luck to everyone on their move, happy house hunting, and god bless, because honestly this doesn't affect me at all, and I realize that, and I am happy for that realization. :-D

First thing I said in this thread was that it was a bad idea. Doesn't mean that somebody walking into the thread to laugh and claim that the OP makes you laugh for thinking about moving elsewhere, and that disliking the US is irrational because it's the best they can get isn't insufferably smug and idiotic. Hope you don't have any real responsibility over the mentally ill. "God Bless".

# ¿ Oct 8, 2016 17:53

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > What are the options for internationally moving if disabled?