Rural Health: Financial Insecurity Plagues Many Who Live With Disability
Having to come up with $1,000 unexpectedly can be a challenge for anyone. NPR's recent poll on rural health found that especially true for one group: people with disabilities.
Carol Burgos is worried her neighbors think she is bringing the neighborhood down.
She lives in a mobile home park in a woodsy part of Columbia County, N.Y, just off a two-lane highway. The homes have neat yards and American flags. On a spring Saturday, some neighbors are out holding yard sales, with knickknacks spread out on folding tables. Others are out doing yardwork.
Burgos' lawn is unruly and overgrown.
"How bad do I feel when these little old ladies are mowing their lawn and I can't because I'm in so much pain?" she says.
Burgos is in her early 50s. She can't mow her lawn herself because of in 1997 and lives on payments from Social Security Disability Insurance. She gets health coverage through Medicare.
