Social Security Disability Insurance not sustainable

http://www.dotmed.com/news/story/13538 ^ | July 27, 2010 | Astrid Fiano

[Angelus]

Over 9 Million Americans are now on SSDI or SSI and soon it will be 10 Million. I have written a few times in the past about these corrupt programs and how they will soon be unsustainable because of how broad the definitions of disability are (especially mental disability) and the broad language that is used in the Federal Statutes that virtually anyone can get the benefits of SSI. I would like to add that SSI and SSDI are separate programs with SSI being the more Liberal of the two of them.

In SSI you do not have to have worked to get payments you simply need to match the criteria for the entitlement. SSI costs the taxpayers $50 Billion a year now and the costs does nothing but rise.

Also the Government refuses to put restrictions on who can receive benefits from SSI and SSDI such as Convicted Felons. No matter how many crimes on someone’s record whether felony or not they can still receive benefits. It is not fair to society to reward criminals with Taxpayer dollars. We do enough of that already paying to take care of them in County Jails and State Prisons. Why is it so hard to understand the fact that if you break the Government’s rules you lose your right to a Government check? Also why do we take away voting rights from Felons but not their entitlement checks? These are questions that need to be asked especially in this environment we are in now.

The Social Security Administrations website also provides assistance to get benefits even if you are not a legal citizen. It tells you how to become a “Qualified Alien” and get benefits. There have also been moves made by the liberals in Congress to expand the SSI Program to all American Overseas territories and not just confine it to the states.

And why do children get SSI checks when they would not be in the workforce anyway? What income is there to Supplement with children? Congress never seems to understand that the money being given out to children only goes into the hands of their parents who buy ???There are plenty of questions that politicians refuse to answer.

By the way (SSI the more liberal of the two programs) pays anywhere from $654 to $679 a month to its beneficiaries its beneficiaries also qualify for Food Stamps and Medicaid (Also Section 8 Housing if they so choose) and just because an SSI recipient has a fancy car means nothing according to the Federal Statute as an automobile and a house are excluded as resources. I know that not all of the 9 Million people on SSI live like kings and Queens but I have personally witnessed many who do!

Now according to this article and Mrs. Fiano (the writer) the CBO now admits what I have said in the past that our disability benefits programs are unsustainable.

Article below. From http://www.dotmed.com/news/story/13538

CBO: Social Security Disability Insurance not sustainable July 27, 2010 by Astrid Fiano, DOTmed News Writer The Social Security Disability Insurance program will exhaust its trust fund by 2018, according to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report, largely due to the significant growth of recipients. Between 1970 and 2009, the program increased from 2.7 million to 9.7 million people.

The reasons for the growth in beneficiaries include aging of the population; changes in laws that reversed previous restrictive policies in obtaining benefits; the growth of women in the workplace; and changes in overall health of the population. The last reason is not clearly defined, but may relate to some conditions no longer having the same mortality rate, such as HIV/AIDS. Another factor for the growth seems to be lack of job opportunities due to the current economic crisis. The program pays cash benefits to adults under age 66 who have worked in the past but are determined to be currently unable to perform "substantial" work. The CBO says that in 2009, the program paid benefits to nearly 8 million disabled beneficiaries and also two million beneficiaries' spouses and children. The Disability Insurance Trust Fund is financed mostly through a 1.8 percent payroll tax. However, without action to reduce the program's costs, increase from tax revenue, or transference of other federal funds to the program, the CBO says the Social Security Administration will not have the legal authority to pay full DI benefits beyond 2018.

The CBO does suggest a number of changes that could help in addressing the potential exhaustion of the trust fund. These changes include increasing revenues dedicated to the DI program (payroll or other taxes), or reducing outlays by adjusting the program's rules (i.e., creating a stricter definition of disability, or benefit formula). Other approaches suggested are strengthening incentives for people with disabilities to continue to work through early intervention programs; incentives for employers to offer more support to workers with disabilities beyond regulations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (i.e. special accommodations to a disabled worker); the federal government directly paying a portion of a disabled worker's wages; or allowing people with disabilities to receive partial disability benefits for conditions that preclude full-time employment but allow part-time employment.

[doc1019]

Give me back all the money I have put into SSI over the years and let me invest it my way, and we will call it even. I’m now on SSI and still think I can do better then the government.

[668 - Neighbor of the Beast]

Learn something every day here. I always thought SS disability criteria were very strict.

[TheBattman]

I really shouldn’t get started on SS Disability - the biggest scam since bridge and swampland salesmen...

Lets see - I know folks who have been denied and denied, who have lost limbs, who have had serious heart trouble (think serious congestive heart failure), etc.

Yet I could take you too the home of several SS disability recipients who drive big jacked-up pickups, who water ski, ride ATVs and horses, and who can do physical labor with pretty much anyone (when they want too), including spending lots of time on their feet and picking up heavy loads.

But when you contact the SS Administration, they basically give you the brush-off. I even got told “mind your own business” by a person on the phone once when calling to turn someone in.

But then again - just like the whole SS program in general - it is a fraud to make more people dependent on the government - period. Notice how long the Dems have used the “Republicans want to cut your Social Security” lie to get votes (and it still obviously works...).

Why is it that I have been offered Disability insurance (private) when working at various times in my life... yet the government does it’s “bailout” routine on a regular basis - even for folks without real disabilities...

The whole dang system is so out of wack... BUt considering that there is no Constitutional grounds for the SS system in the first place, it is no wonder that the system is crooked and about to collapse.

[dennisw]

Immigrants are on SSI like white on rice. Chinese, Russians and others are quite skilled at >>>

o- immigrating here
o- bringing mama-san and papa-san over here legally to “babysit”
o- then to hustle them onto SSI and free gov’t medical and subsidized housing ASAP! Systems that mama and papa have never paid into
o- I’m sure it is much worse now but 25 years ago I’m strolling along in downtown Manhattan and I see quite a few tall towers that (have signs outside saying they are) are senior citizen housing in Chinatown. I promise you most of them are on SSI and never worked in America or did so very minimally. They probably make yearly trips home to the PRC and can easily afford it.

[jtal]

in before Captain Obvious makes his appearance.

[JohnD9207]

Agreed...people who are in their 20’s collecting for ADHD, Depression, treatment center graduates for alcoholism, drug addiction, single disc back surgery (I have had 7 disc’s removed my neck is plated and still continue to limp off to work...I will work until I can’t walk).

Its the biggest welfare program in the country. When my dad died a few years ago SS had to let my mother in the side door to hand deliver his death certificate because the building was filled with middle aged folks lined up to the entrance filing for benefits. Its a big load of crap...and it needs to stop!

[DeaconBenjamin]

Yet I could take you too the home of several SS disability recipients who drive big jacked-up pickups, who water ski, ride ATVs and horses, and who can do physical labor with pretty much anyone (when they want too), including spending lots of time on their feet and picking up heavy loads.

I once spoke with a child support attorney who expressed his amazement that some noncustodial parents who are healthy as horses document they are receiving SSI or SSD, while others who are not receiving benefits appear on death's door.

I noted that it was no mystery -- the individual with disability benefits is either free from having to pay child support (SSI) or has them paid out of his benefits (SSD), while the parent who lacks disability benefits has to convince you not to sue to put him/her in jail.

[passionfruit]

“Learn something every day here. I always thought SS disability criteria were very strict.”

They are. The author doesn’t truly understand the reality of the system. Because of this, she has insulted disabled freepers, essentially calling them liars and ne’er do wells. Most of whom were denied arbitrarily one or two times before having to hire an attorney, then wait years before finally getting approval, or being denied again.

[RushingWater]

Yep, I thought disability was hard to get - like you always had to hire a lawyer to get it? Hmmm . . .

[Angelus]

I know exactly what you mean. I have also attempted to turn a person in who does not deserve the benefits he’s a convict with no physical disability and who has two cars - one of them a comarro! and the SSA told me he was on it for “Mental Disability” and to mind my own business. And this is coming from our government’s workers!

SSI is the biggest scam out there and it is truly a tragedy that no one in elected office will condemn the abuses in it.

The Media will not even report the abuses in it!!!

Aid to Families with Dependant Children was abolished in 1997 and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) was created. It was hailed as welfare reform however most of those who lost their checks from TANF simply went over to Social Security which is now the nation’s biggest welfare program.

[Dan B Cooper]

Applying for social security disability benefits online – SSD and SSI application online can be completed at ssa.gov or socialsecurity.gov.

Filing a claim can be simplified when you complete the process online. Filing disability online at ssa.gov or socialsecurity.gov allows you to file a claim from the comfort of your home without ever having to step foot outside your home. By filing online, you can instantly start the process of having you application reviews by the social security administration.

The length of time can be greatly reduced if you turn in all of the necessary forms and documents in a timely manner and ensure that you have not made any mistakes.

The application for social security benefits is available online and can be completed in just a few minutes. In addition, you will also have to fill out a medical and work history form and a medical release from. These are both necessary when it comes to filing a claim.”

[Angelus]

There are 9 Million Americans on SSI The criteria cannot be to strict.

[Comparative Advantage]

There’s a loser 19 y/o hs droput kid in my neighborhood who, according to his dad, collects social security because he is legally blind. Yet, he runs around at all hours of the day and night with his loser buddies. Which of these SS programs would cover him?

Is their a ss fraud hotline to report abuses?

[Angelus]

There is a hotline for phone calls and an online form to report fraud on the Social Security website.

However it may not get you anywhere as so many others will tell you.

[Angelus]

Well you bring up a good point. For some it is like climbing a mountain to get benefits however there are others who just get it for the dumbest reasons such as Drug addiction, Anxiety, Back pains.

I am not insulting all people on SSI but the ones who simply don’t deserve it. The definitions of Mental Disability are so broad that as long as you meet the income criteria you can get benefits if you have a “Disorder.”

[TheBattman]

People functioned in the world for a very long time before ADHD was ever even diagnosed... There use to be expectations.

Just like generations back, people just expected (and were expected) to work for what they got.

The Bible is pretty clear about lazy people... something to the effect that the slothful shall not eat... (paraphrase).

What blows my mind are those who collect SSI, and also work at jobs that pay them under the table (thus tax-free and out of the eyes of the SS administration).

I know folks who have had open heart surgery, stroke, and many other serious health calamities, who still went back to work for many years as productive citizens.

I know folks who go to work every day with backs that are in horrible shape, yet they have a work ethic that they should not get a free handout (which is correct).

But then again - this isn't really all that different from the folks living in public housing within a mile of me, with cars with multi-thousand dollar custom paint jobs, with 26 or larger inch very expensive rims, mega$ audio/video systems, yet don't work at all - instead getting free/heavily subsidized rent, a "check in the mail", and more promises of bigger checks by politicians.

I just don't get it.

[Angelus]

Supplemental Security Income SSI can go to those who never paid into the system at all their are children, teenages, Felons, even Illegal Immigrants on SSI.

This is the main reason the program is going broke.

[doc1019]

I’m 64, just give me the money I put into the system and I would be happy.

[Mac n Jac]

“Why is it that I have been offered Disability insurance (private) when working at various times in my life... yet the government does it’s “bailout” routine on a regular basis - even for folks without real disabilities...”

What you need to read in your “private” disability insurance is that they FORCE you to apply for SSDI. If you don’t they calculate how much you would recieve and simply deduct that from what they pay you. It’s the insurance company’s “insurance” against having to pay you the entire amount. I fought against it for 2 years. I had already had my income reduced by 50% because of disability and I had to choose between righteous indignation or losing half of what little I was getting at that point.