Posted on 08/30/2013 5:45:24 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
This week’s charts show total receipts, expenditures, and assets left in the Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) trust fund. Data from the 2013 Trustees Report show that the disability fund is currently predicted to be three years from insolvency. Under more pessimistic assumptions, the insolvency date is pushed up to 2015. The fact that the DI trust fund is not currently depleted shouldn’t mislead us into thinking we have until 2016 to deal with the shortfalls.
Spending on Social Security has more than doubled in the past decade, and DI now accounts for almost 20 percent of Social Security’s budget, up from 10 percent in 1988. The trust fund has been operating under deficits since 2008, as shown by the decline in the trust fund (green bars) and ever-growing gap between the payments (red line) and receipts (blue line). Despite these trends, disability insurance programs are often left out of the social safety net discussion.
The second chart shows the average monthly benefit workers receive. About 14 million Americans receive a disability check from the government every month. The average monthly payment to a disability beneficiary was $1,202 in July—a number that has more than doubled since 1985. While benefit payments won’t necessarily be stopped if the trust fund runs dry, they will certainly have to be cut by 20 to 30 percent.
As a result, disabled Americans are waiting longer and longer before receiving the benefits they are entitled to. Many now wait as long as two years before having their applications finalized. This situation must change; it’s untenable for both those who rely on the program and those who pay for it.
The figures in chart 2 represent the average benefit amount for benefits awarded in each month in current dollars.
So I up my drinking quota and I can draw disability? The gubmint pays me to drink? kewl beans
In his quest to “Fundamentally Transform” America, his primary strategy is simply to bankrupt the US.
The Criminal Illegitimate PO(TU)S could never create anything original, that would take ingenuity and effort.
But is very talented at destroying what others have built.
I can’t think of any part I would not like to see abolished.
disabled Americans are waiting longer and longer before receiving the benefits they are entitled to.
Holy cow. And they literally wrote this.
Who would want to live on 1240 bucks a month....ok sure 300 for food, low housing, low heat, obamaphone, but still not even near the money I enjoy making at my job. I think these people overall are crazy.
I can’t think of any part I would not like to see abolished.
Thing is, when it was first set up, the retirement age was 65, which was more than the average lifespan. Now it’s 12-15 years short of that.
In reality, there is no Social Security Trust Fund, Disability or otherwise. This term is used by the politicians to fool the idiots and keep the sheep calm until slaughter day. All Social Security payments go into the General Fund and Social Security payments are made from the General Fund month to month. LBJ fought the Vietnam War with the Social Security Trust Fund contents.
I'd wager many of the newbies are formerly unemployed who exhausted benefits after their 99 week extension.
There is a sort of inertia which sets in with the chronically unemployed, at some point drive goes into neutral and they are content to coast.
As for the 1240, that's just the base pay....likely as much as unemployment brought in for 99 weeks, and doesn't count the cash action on the side...for those who just signed up to coast and aren't truly disabled.
The obscenity here is that the genuinely disabled who paid in are going to lose because of slackers who have gamed the system.
when I lived in the midwest our church had a ministry doing various things such as transportation to doctors, for senior citizens in an apartment building a block away. It was a HUD program. The residents were great, played cards in the activity room , were free to roam around. etc. This was in the 80’s. At one point alcoholics began moving in and the residents became afraid. They locked themselves in their apartments, especially at night. The activity room always smelled like alcohol. The reason the alcoholics moved in is because HUD labeled them as eligible for benefits. Also, I knew of a family with several kids, one six years old was a terror. His parents never disciplined him. But some doctor diagnosed him with attention deficit disorder and put him on drugs. They applied for SS Disability and got it.
Once you are formally designated disabled...who do you thing pays for all the Medical needs?
You want goverment paid health insurance prior to age 65? Get on “disability”...no matter how young...you will never work again.
But trust me...I work in the "community" as a Home Health Physical Therapy Provider.
I would rather work my a## off until I drop, then sit in my dirty, stinky little rusted trailer/ghetto home...counting the days until my next monthly government check, while the TV drones on endlessly with daytime mind numbing liberal crapola.
Nothing to do...no where to go...just sitting...waiting...
This is the anti-Duck Dynasty...The reality TV show none of us want to appear in...”The Lives of Government Surfs.”
Honestly...Give me LIBERTY or give me DEATH!
Soon we’ll have to all hire lawyers to keep 10% of our check.
We already hire accountants to try to keep half.
It’s long past time!
Remember that’s just the SSDI amount.
Throw in $400 offood stamps and other deals, maybe some “underground economy” bucks, perhaps another family member is working.
I always wondered about that, thanks.
So when the worthless IOUs from one department to another run out do the lights shut off?
As long as the markets continue to swallow the endless torrent of Baraqqi/Bernanke minibucks, the party goes on. And when they stop, it will be hell....
Disability is just one program. Add food stamps to that. Section 8 Housing. Add Medicare. Add Medicaid. Add energy assistance. Add transportation vouchers & assistance.
SSDI is a racket. Everybody gets on it and they’re all able bodied:
http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/04/autor_on_disabi.html
It’s a slim sliver of people that really, really need it.
No work, no money - that should be the system.
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