"It's durable and so simple to use, even a Puerto Rican can figure it out!"
Posted on 04/06/2015 12:56:28 PM PDT by Kaslin
95 percent of Puerto Ricans speak Spanish
The Social Security Administration (SSA) approved disability benefits for hundreds of Puerto Ricans because they do not speak English, despite the fact that Puerto Rico is a predominantly Spanish-speaking territory.
According to a new audit by the Office of Inspector General (OIG), the agency is misapplying rules that are intended to provide financial assistance to individuals who are illiterate or cannot speak English in the United States. Under the rules, Puerto Ricans are allowed to receive disability benefits for their inability to speak English as well.
“We found the Agency did not make exceptions regarding the English-language grid rules for claimants who reside in Puerto Rico, even though Spanish is the predominant language spoken in the local economy,” the OIG said.
The audit said a person applying for disability in Puerto Rico who cannot speak English “may increase his/her likelihood of receiving disability benefits.”
The agency does not currently have a system in place to keep track of the number of beneficiaries who receive disability insurance for not being able to speak English.
However, the OIG was able to identify 218 cases between 2011 and 2013 where Puerto Ricans were awarded disability due to “an inability to communicate in English.” Furthermore, 4 percent of disability hearings in Puerto Rico involved looking at the individual’s ability to speak, read, write, and understand English.
Though 95 percent of Puerto Ricans speak Spanish at home, according to the rules a Spanish-speaking nurse in Puerto Rico would be considered “unskilled,” the OIG said.
The SSA told the OIG that the rules are applied one-size-fits-all.
“SSA managers at various disability decision levels stated Social Security is a national program, and the grids must be applied to the national economy, regardless of local conditions,” the audit said.
The SSA takes into account an individual’s education level when considering awarding disability benefits if they do not qualify for medical reasons. Part of the education requirement involves looking at a person’s ability to speak English, to determine whether it limits his ability to find a job.
Last year Sen. Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.) raised concerns that the Obama administration was broadly applying the education rule under the Social Security Act to allow individuals to receive disability payments solely because they cannot speak English.
He noted that the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) rolls swelled 230 percent between 2000 and 2010, while the U.S. population only grew 9.7 percent.
Former SSA judges have also testified that individuals have been approved for disability in the United States without having to prove they cannot speak English.
The hundreds of Puerto Ricans noted in the OIG’s report have received disability insurance despite a 1987 U.S. District Court ruling that appears to contradict the SSA’s policy. Benefits were denied on the grounds that “it is the ability to communicate in Spanish, not English, that is vocationally important in Puerto Rico.”
“It should be noted, however, that the court explicitly declined to apply this rationale outside of this one case,” the OIG said.
The SSA agreed with the OIG’s recommendations to figure out how many individuals have been “awarded disability based on their inability to communicate in English,” and to “evaluate the appropriateness” of applying the English-speaking rules to Puerto Rico.
The SSA is currently gathering information for a proposed regulation that “could lead to changes” to the English-speaking rule, the agency said.
“Specifically, we are soliciting public comments and supporting research on how the inability to communicate in English affects an individual’s ability to adjust to other work that exists in the national economy,” the SSA said.
Is the world just totally nuts? Put me out of my misery...........
seriously, if we’re saying that not speaking English is a disability, then won’t this pave the way for millions of illegals to collect disability, and not just people in Puerto Rico, but all across the country????
In a similar vein, can blacks be considered disabled because they speak Ebonics? /S
"It's durable and so simple to use, even a Puerto Rican can figure it out!"
So, if they were in say, Kansas, they would receive Social Security Disability because they speak Spanish?
Why are we giving disability for not speaking English no matter who they are? Learn effing English. Its the
international language of business.
The Democrat Party must be dismantled. They are killing the country.
Oh you can be certain they will be guaranteed to receive disability because of it
No, it's just the liberal Western nations (US and Europe). Putin and the mullahs just have to be patient. In due time, they'll be able to pick up the pieces.
Will Obama now grant disability to the millions and millions of blacks who can’t speak understandable English?
My natural language is German. When I met my husband I could only speak a little English. Be the time my husband; who was in the service in Germany brought me to the states when he was transferred, I was able to speak, read and write English
ju known main....eef I can use theese HERE in el States...meebee I can how ju say ? SCORE EL BIGGO??
Eye juste 4got howe 2 spel? Giv monee know???
Ping
I never knew him to speak anything other than English, and without any noticeable non-American accent.
The Nuffins family grows every day, first there was Dindu Nuffins now there is Kant duNuffins, and next we will no doubt hear about Wont duNuffins. Rhianna’s “New America.”
With Affirmative Action laws, the Federal Govt. has said that females and everyone else who’s not Caucasian or Oriental are essentially retarded.
This is consistent with those policies.
Ping to 19.
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