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.
Utterly outrageous. I’ve been to Puerto Rico. Nobody’s handicapped by not speaking English. Why the bleep can’t they just learn it? They hear it all the time. BUT WAIT, some very far leftwing Anti-American groups refuse to speak Spanish. I’ll bet they are behind this, lobbying for disability payments to their own families.
GOPe
“You pull out a gun, we blow bubbles with a 4 year old...that’s the D.C. way.”
Request for change of tagline : )
This has got to be a scam-the last time I looked, English was not the predominant language in Puerto Rico-I believe that is Spanish...
On the other hand, my dad was stationed in Puerto Rico when I was a kid-being Latino and knowing Spanish, we were well able to communicate with locals, but were pleasantly surprised to find that just about everyone we met on that island spoke adequate English-especially in tourist areas.
I speak Spanish as a second language-so do a lot of people of all ethnicities from rural SW Texas-can we all now get 1/2 an SSDI check for that-or are most of us ineligible because we are fluent in both languages?
And how is it that myself and the other kids where I grew up were able to learn two languages as little kids, but these adults in Puerto Rico can’t learn English as a second language if they choose to-they never heard of Rosetta Stone, or some other program?
Another flagrant waste of your money and mine by idiot government workers...
GMTA!
“Oh, you’re speaking Spanish. For a minute I thought there was something wrong with you”. - Basil Fawlty.
“thumbs up”
Aha! I loved Fawlty Towers...
“Under the rules, Puerto Ricans are allowed to receive disability benefits for their inability to speak English as well.”
Me no speaka english.
Please-a translato.
If a person isn't prepared for the inevitable then it's their own fault.
Ding, ding, ding - we have a thread winnah!
Am I Disabed??? I only speak English.
“There are no limits to government stupidity.”
If that isn’t racist than I don’t know what is, and it shows you the rats are the biggest racist
Exactly. People forget: Who owned slaves in the USA? The Democrats. It’s not even debatable. Nothing’s changed with them in the 150 years since the end of the Civil War.
The Rats are who they are. The more people on government assistance, the better for them. The Republicans, however, are timid, spineless, selfish, power hungry scum bags who are simply unwilling to even acknowledge the path to destruction this country is on. It’s no wonder I feel like the whole world has gone insane.
Seriously, blacks, Hispanics and women are considered disabled when it comes to college admissions, hiring, and promotions.
AA promotions are creating a new master class.
It is creating a false middle class segment, but it isn’t working out as planned as long as the non-protected groups (white & Asian males) have the knowledge and work ethic. Behind every token such a person is making money for doing the real work.
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