VERSION|0.5.1|NAME|Dinah|DATE|1387138844|CONTENT|What is so depressing about this is that it will probably cost the government more in the end because stopping people’s disability/Motability allowances may in many cases remove their means of working and living independently.  They will be forced into care homes or very sheltered accommodation which is bound to be more expensive.  People who can no longer get out and about, go to work, see friends, go for therapy and have a social life will get depressed and require more medication and home visits – they will no longer be able to visit surgeries and hospitals unless transport is provided.  Remember that many disabled people are either unable to use public transport, or find it so difficult that the effort involved is not worth any resulting rewards.

The raising of the pension age will also hit disabled people, because ageing often affects disabled people more acutely than the able-bodied.  Chronic conditions get worse, mobility gets worse and the ability to hold down a job into ones late sixties and early seventies will be well-nigh impossible in many cases.  No one appears to have considered this, or suggested that disabled people should be eligible for state pensions at an earlier age.

While it may be true that the benefits bill is costing the country more than it can afford, surely there are better way of balancing the books than reversing reforms which have taken many disabled people out of dependency, long-term homes and improved their quality of life, sometimes beyond recognition.
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