Using Diabetes as a "Disability" to Claim Certain Benefits

You've likely heard of stories of people who use diabetes as an excuse to avoid waiting in long queues at Disneyland or Disney World attractions. It's not as if diabetes impairs one's ability to wait in line at a crowded, hot theme park. I have also never tried to use diabetes as an excuse to get priority boarding on an airline flight, although some people attempt that. 

But, there are a few "perks" of having a disability such as diabetes, which is what today's post is about.

On October 23, 2023, an article written by April Hopcroft was published by diaTribe News entitled "How To Get a Free Lifetime National Parks Pass" (see https://diatribe.org/lifestyle/how-get-free-lifetime-national-parks-pass for the source). The article was published in late October, and most people tend to visit National Parks during the summer, so it might not have received as much coverage it really deserved to get at the time as if it had been published in the springtime when people plan their summer vacations.  

One of the perks of living with any type of diabetes is you can receive a free National Parks pass. It means that patients with diabetes have the ability to get a FREE lifetime National Park Pass enabling them to access various parks and recreation sites across the U.S. The free-if-you-have diabetes pass is called an "Access Pass", and it is a free, lifetime version of the National Park Service's (NPS) "America the Beautiful Pass", which ordinarily costs Americans $80 per year. 

The diaTribe article said that the National Park Access Pass provides free access to over 2,000 federal recreation sites, from iconic National Parks – such as Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, and Yosemite. 

Of course, national parklands are most abundant in the Western United States where there are vast tracts of land and the states are physically large but many are sparsely-populated. 

But even those of us living in places like the East Coast have access to the stunningly beautiful Cape Cod and/or Fire Island National Seashores. In Wisconsin, we have what's referred to as the "National Lakeshore" along Lake Superior which is known as Apostle Islands. On top of that, other national parklands also include historical sites, battlefields, and other landmarks such as Manhattan's Stonewall Inn, now considered to be the birthplace of the gay rights movement in 1969 but it was originally a mafia-owned bar which served gay clients. 

A few years ago, after a trip to Phoenix, Arizona, my spouse and I extended our stay to make a trip to the Grand Canyon which I'd never seen in-person. The Grand Canyon National Park is actually much closer to Las Vegas, Nevada than it is to the state capital Phoenix, but there are plenty of bus tour operators in Phoenix, so I did not even have to drive. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to see what is arguably one of the jewels of the U.S. National Park Services, and because our visit was in early May, we avoided the typical summer traffic jams at the park entrances plus the weather was very pleasant at that time. 

Similarly, my sister and brother in-laws bought a house where they're likely to retire on Cape Cod, and we visited them off-season so getting into the Cape Cod National Seashore was not an issue because those parklands were not officially open at the time (and, it was too cold to sunbathe at the beach), but it's nice to avoid paying an entrance fee of $20 to $35 when it IS beach season. 

Like anything FREE, getting a free National Park Access Pass (the paid version costs $80/year and is known as the "America the Beautiful Pass") is not always easy. 

Qualified individuals can go to a National Park Visitor Center and get their free pass there, but that also means waiting in line in a Visitor Center rather than enjoying the beauty of our National Parks. I'm the type of person who likes to have those things already taken care of upon my arrival. The last thing I want to do is arrive trying to get a free pass only to find I would only be able to use it for my next visit.

There are two requirements for getting a FREE lifetime National Park "Access Pass" (the card itself has the internationally recognized handicap symbol on the lower left side of the card featuring the outline of an individual in a wheelchair). The National Parks" Access Pass" is pictured below.

I liked the diaTribe article, but found it a bit difficult to follow its instructions to get one. So I'll try it again with better instructions.

To apply, you must submit an application form which is available at a National Park Visitor Center, or the form is also available online at https://prod-ibis-green.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/access_pass_application.pdf and then complete it (which is straightforward enough), sign it, date it and then either mail it to the USGS (the U.S. Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center) processing center in Denver, Colorado (the address is listed on the application form), or you may hand it to a park ranger working at the National Park Visitor Center along with the other required proof of your eligibility. Alternatively, perhaps the easiest way is to submit the application (along with relevant proof of eligibility) online at https://store.usgs.gov/access-pass. 

The documentation of eligibility consists of the following items:

First, a signed, dated and completed application form (see above).

Second, applicants must provide photo identification to verify that they are a U.S. citizen (or lawful permanent resident), which could include any of the following:  

• A U.S. State (or Territory)-issued Driver's License, Identification Card, or Birth Certificate
• A U.S. Passport or U.S. Passport Card
• A Permanent Resident Card (Green Card)

Photocopies (or scanned digital copies if you apply online) of a valid passport, driver's license or valid state-issued photo identification card are accepted with the application.

Third, you must also provide proof of eligibility that you have a legally-defined "permanent disability" which includes diabetes (either Type 1, Type 2 or idiopathic diabetes; note that gestational diabetes is not a permanent condition and is therefore ineligible).

In order to qualify and apply, applicants must show any ONE of the following forms of evidence of disability: 

1. A statement by a licensed physician on their official letterhead who treats someone with diabetes noting that the person has a permanent disability of diabetes, and that it limits one or more aspects of their daily life, and the nature of those limitations.
   
   Eligibility applies to U.S. citizens (or lawful permanent residents) with permanent disabilities, and diabetes is considered under the law to be a disability because "it substantially limits the function of the endocrine system," according to the American Diabetes Association (see https://diabetes.org/advocacy/know-your-rights/is-diabetes-a-disability for more).
   
   I actually advocated and pushed in order to make sure that diabetes was included on the list of conditions defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) back in 1990. I did so under the American Diabetes Association which was pushing to include diabetes on the list, and when then President George H.W. Bush (the now deceased successor to President Reagan) was in office, who signed that into law. Originally, diabetes was not included on the list, but the ADA and patient advocates successfully pushed to include the "invisible disability" of diabetes on that list.
   
   
2. A document issued by a federal agency, such as the Veterans Administration, Social Security Disability Income, or Supplemental Security Income.
   
   
3. A document issued by a state agency, such as a vocational rehabilitation agency.

In my case, the only one I can get is to ask my endocrinologist to write a letter on their letterhead to satisfy item #1 above as proof of disability, and address "To whom it may concern" stating that I have a permanent disability of autoimmune Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) which substantially limits the function of my endocrine system. The nature of those limitations is that Type 1 diabetes mellitus requires uninterrupted access to an exogenous supply of insulin, as well as regular and continuous monitoring of my blood glucose levels in order to maintain euglycemia.

With that, I intend to submit an application to receive a FREE lifetime National Park "Access Pass" which entitles me to free entrance to any of our National Parks. Because I intend to apply online or by snail-mail, while the "Access Pass" itself is completely free, but they do charge $10 for processing and shipping of the card itself.