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Objective: The objective of this article is to study to what extent European variations in differentials in disability by education level are associated to variation in poverty., Method: Using the European Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) for 26 countries, we measure the prevalence of activity limitation (AL) and the rate of economic hardship (EH) by level of education. We measure the increased AL prevalence (disadvantage) of the low-educated relative to the middle-educated and the reduced AL prevalence (advantage) of the high-educated groups, controlling or not for EH., Results: The rate of EH and the extent of the AL-advantage/disadvantage vary substantially across Europe. EH contributes to the AL-advantage/disadvantage but to different extent depending on its level across educational groups., Discussion: Associations between poverty, education, and disability are complex. In general, large EH goes along with increased disability differentials. Actions to reduce poverty are needed in Europe to reduce the levels and differentials in disability., (© The Author(s) 2016.)

Background: This article, based on a study by the Swedish Social Insurance Inspectorate, describes the development of young adults receiving disability benefits due to reduced working capability, and the disability benefit systems in seven European countries; Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the UK. This comparative study mainly uses Sweden as a benchmark., Methods: Apart from a documentary and legal data collection and analysis, 26 semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives of the responsible ministries and authorities in the studied countries. In addition, national and European data was collected., Results: There is an increasing trend of young adults, aged 19-29, on disability benefits in all studied countries. The most common diagnosis group among young adults on disability benefits is mental and behavioural disorders, ranging from 58% in the UK to 80% in Denmark., Conclusions: The comparison of the different disability benefit systems shows that there are relatively large national differences in terms of rules and regulations, the handling of disability benefit cases, and offered rehabilitation activities and other measures to support young adults on disability benefits to strengthen their working capability, and hence enable them to approach the labour market in the future. However, it is clear that these countries face similar challenges, and therefore there could be a lot to learn from European exchange of experiences and expertise in this area. This article identifies a number of measures of special interest to study and discusses further with regard to the further development of the Swedish system for disability benefits for young adults.

Objective: The authors explore state variation in expenditures for Medicaid community-based care services for the period 1990 to 1997., Method: A random effects panel model is used to explore the relationship between state demographic, supply, economic, programmatic, and political factors and states' Medicaid community-based care expenditures., Results: Although states increased provision of services over the study period, significant state-level variation was evident. Expenditures were positively associated with state per capita income, regulation of nursing home bed supply, and the number of Medicare home health users but were negatively related to nursing home bed supply., Conclusions: Recent legal rulings, combined with the demonstrated preferences of most individuals to receive care in the community, require policies to foster the expansion of Medicaid community-based care. The most consistent relationships that are amenable to policy intervention relate to state fiscal resources and long-term care supply regulation.