St. Augustine in his book "Confessions" wrote "Do I measure and know not what I measure." While he was speaking in the context of early philosophical thought, the comment brings perspective to the way we as a society approach the development of outcomes in health policy, including the significant and yet underecognized health disaprities that exist for Americans living with disabilities. 
 

The World Health Orginization recently conducted a study and found that people with cognitive disabilities are 5 times more likely to have diabetes than the general population and also that they are recieving less adequate management care.
 

They are also less likely to receive routine dental care, which raises serious concerns not only due to the impact on oral health, but also in regards to the role teeth and gums play a role in preventing cardiovascular problems
 

A recent study conducted by the National Institute on Health revealed that Americans living with mental illness die 15-30 years earlier those without mental illness 

Many will look at the above statement and assume that people with mental health problems die to causes such as suicide and overdoses but the data shows that they're  more likely to of the same conditions as anyone else such as cancer or heart disease.
 

Individuals living with Developmental Disabilities such as Autism or Down Syndrome also face a variety of different challenges such as transportation and staffing limitations.  Access to medical care services was raised as a concern for individuals with developmental disabilities in the 2002 Surgeon General’s report.
 

Even at the State level, if one examines the reports and studies conducted by the Minnesota Department of Health, ranging from last year's Strategic plan to the 2013 report on oral healthcare to the 2012 report on chronic disease, they will find as I have that individuals with disabilities are largely absent as a data group if they're even mentioned at all.
 

After a decade of fragmenting and turning Healthcare into an overly partisan  buisness,  it is probably not suprising that our current system is failing to provide quality care for those who need it most. 
 

 I would strongly encourage our incoming Gubenatorial Administration, state legislature and agency leaders to take meaningful action to address the disparities in access to healthcare facing the disability community. I would suggest starting with adding the phrase disability to the appropriate stas and developing outcomes for improvement over the next 5-10 years.

It's a small task but its certainly a step in the right direction.