Mortality Rates by Race and Ethnicity Among People with Disabilities

Madeline S. Helfer, Becky Staiger and Jessica Van Parys

No 35193, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This paper uses Medicaid claims data from 2017-2021 to measure racial/ethnic disparities in mid-life mortality among low-income adults with disabilities receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI). We find that American Indian and Alaska Native and White SSI recipients have the highest age-adjusted mid-life mortality rates (2.9% and 2.6%, respectively), followed by Black and Hispanic recipients (2.3% and 1.9%), and then Asian recipients (1.6%). We also find differences in diagnosed chronic conditions, "despair-related" conditions, substance use disorders, and disabling conditions by race/ethnicity. Controlling for these differences attenuates the White-Hispanic, White-Asian, and AIAN-White mortality gaps; however, differences in clinical diagnoses by race do not affect the White-Black mortality gap. Our results show that within a socioeconomically vulnerable population, Black adults outlive Whites.

JEL-codes: I14 I38 J15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-05
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