Public financial support for disability at the dawn of the 21st century.

This is an empirical study of contemporary public financial support for disability in the United States. Public support for disability programs in the United States totaled dollars 294 billion in 1997 (41.5 million recipients) and was estimated to be dollars 426 billion in 2002. Nationally, 52% of public long-term care financial resources supported persons with disabilities in institutions, although great variation existed among states and across disability groups (i.e., mental retardation, mental illness, physical disability). State financial commitments for community long-term care services for each of the three disability groups was strongly associated with state participation in the Medicaid HCBS Waiver and Personal Assistance programs and for persons with MR/DD, with states' early adoption of civil rights statutes promoting racial equality.