From Time:
During the height of the pandemic, political leaders made a number of decisions that helped the poor and disabled. Now as those policies end, those who advocate on behalf of people with disabilities are fighting against a return to normal. They are asking officials to “make permanent some of the systemic tweaks that helped make everything from employment and health insurance to housing and schooling more accessible to all Americans during the pandemic.” In particular, they want:
widespread access to COVID treatments and testing; improved ventilation systems; flexible masking policies that ramp up when necessary; and a slew of economic proposals, including paid sick leave, affordable housing and measures to help people secure disability benefits. They want, in other words, to embrace the pandemic-era shifts that allowed people with disabilities, who are more than twice as likely to live in poverty as nondisabled people, to engage more fully in many parts of society.
Some studies suggest that 10-30% of people who contract COVID-19 end up with Long Covid. Some of those folks will likely need ongoing economic and medical aid in the future, leading to changes in the Social Security disability benefits system.