The media lies constantly about the Social Security disability program. I expect the media to lie; however, it is making it difficult for disabled Americans go get benefits. Here are some of the worst lies the media is telling us.
Social Security benefits are responsible for the growing national deficit. The truth: Social Security benefits are not included in the national budget. Social Security is a self-financing program. Benefits are not allocated by Congress and not included in the national budget. Social Security benefits are funded by FICA taxes paid by workers, deducted from their pay checks and matched by their employers. These premiums go into a special fund and benefits are paid out of the fund. There is one fund for disability benefits and a separate fund for retirement benefits. There is no provision for the government to pay benefits if these funds become unable to do so.
People are using Social Security disability benefits to replace unemployment benefits. You cannot receive disability benefits until you provide objective medical proof of a disability. It takes the average person over 24 months to get a hearing and then there is only a 42 percent chance he will be approved. The claimant will be examined, prodded, poked, examined some more and his entire medical record examined with a fine toothed comb. He will be placed under oath, questioned, cross examined and treated like a criminal in many cases. In over 90 per cent of cases, he or she will have to hire a lawyer to get any benefits. Does this sound like a good replacement for unemployment insurance?
Because the number of disability claims have risen in recent years, that's an indication of massive fraud. Not true at all. The population is increasing. People are living longer. Baby boomers are aging and getting sick by the millions. The number of women in the workforce has quadrupled since World War 2. Social Security's own numbers predicted a peak in claims based on population and demographics.
Crooked doctors sign patients up for Social Security all the time. The truth is, doctors cannot approve anyone for Social Security benefits. That decision is reserved by law to the Commissioner of Social Security. Doctors may provide medical evidence, as they should, but they cannot sign anyone up or approve anyone. And if the objective medical evidence does not support a doctor's professional opinion, the opinion will be ignored--I promise. I've seen it happen too many times. On final thought on this subject, my experience is that doctors usually won't help their patients who are very legitimately disabled because they don't want to get involved.
Reporters who write about Social Security should get their facts straight. Unfortunately, most of them do not. It is a disservice to the American public but a tragedy for legitimately disabled people who have been forced to pay for Social Security disability benefits through FICA payroll tax, then denied the coverage they were forced to buy.
P.S. Look at your next pay stub. You will see a deduction of roughly 7.5 percent for FICA tax. Your employer matched that 7.5 percent, making a total FICA tax of 15 percent on every dollar you earned. FICA, by the way, stands for "Federal Insurance Contributions Act." Every worker is forced to buy Social Security disability insurance.
Social Security benefits are responsible for the growing national deficit. The truth: Social Security benefits are not included in the national budget. Social Security is a self-financing program. Benefits are not allocated by Congress and not included in the national budget. Social Security benefits are funded by FICA taxes paid by workers, deducted from their pay checks and matched by their employers. These premiums go into a special fund and benefits are paid out of the fund. There is one fund for disability benefits and a separate fund for retirement benefits. There is no provision for the government to pay benefits if these funds become unable to do so.
People are using Social Security disability benefits to replace unemployment benefits. You cannot receive disability benefits until you provide objective medical proof of a disability. It takes the average person over 24 months to get a hearing and then there is only a 42 percent chance he will be approved. The claimant will be examined, prodded, poked, examined some more and his entire medical record examined with a fine toothed comb. He will be placed under oath, questioned, cross examined and treated like a criminal in many cases. In over 90 per cent of cases, he or she will have to hire a lawyer to get any benefits. Does this sound like a good replacement for unemployment insurance?
Because the number of disability claims have risen in recent years, that's an indication of massive fraud. Not true at all. The population is increasing. People are living longer. Baby boomers are aging and getting sick by the millions. The number of women in the workforce has quadrupled since World War 2. Social Security's own numbers predicted a peak in claims based on population and demographics.
Crooked doctors sign patients up for Social Security all the time. The truth is, doctors cannot approve anyone for Social Security benefits. That decision is reserved by law to the Commissioner of Social Security. Doctors may provide medical evidence, as they should, but they cannot sign anyone up or approve anyone. And if the objective medical evidence does not support a doctor's professional opinion, the opinion will be ignored--I promise. I've seen it happen too many times. On final thought on this subject, my experience is that doctors usually won't help their patients who are very legitimately disabled because they don't want to get involved.
Reporters who write about Social Security should get their facts straight. Unfortunately, most of them do not. It is a disservice to the American public but a tragedy for legitimately disabled people who have been forced to pay for Social Security disability benefits through FICA payroll tax, then denied the coverage they were forced to buy.
P.S. Look at your next pay stub. You will see a deduction of roughly 7.5 percent for FICA tax. Your employer matched that 7.5 percent, making a total FICA tax of 15 percent on every dollar you earned. FICA, by the way, stands for "Federal Insurance Contributions Act." Every worker is forced to buy Social Security disability insurance.
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