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MAKING DISABILITY BENEFITS MORE DIFFICULT TO GET


  CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE REPORT: 

MAKE SOCIAL SECURITY HARDER TO GET?

At the request of Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), the Congressional Budget Office issued a report on July 16 (2012)  titled "Policy Options for the Social Security Disability Program." One section concerns approaches to "fundamental changes" in the Social Security Disability Insurance Program (SSDI).  The CBO report takes note of the tremendous growth of the disability program since 1970.

 What is troubling to me is that politicians are looking at "fundamental changes" in SSDI in light of projected budgetary shortfalls and a recent barrage of media reports concerning the Social Security disability program, some of which contained false, misleading or inaccurate information.

 3 of the specific options presented in the CBO report are especially troubling:
  • Change the benefit formula
  • Change the eligibility rules
  • Change the waiting period from 5 months to 12 months
In my view, implementation of either one of those 3 options could seriously gut the Social Security disability program.  I represent claimants who are barely hanging on financially with the waiting period that is now in place.  Many of my clients are already facing home foreclosure, inadequate medical care and lack of money for essential costs of living.  Anyone who says that Social Security disability is too easy to get has not been involved with the process.  It is not easy to get and it's getting more difficult all the time.    

 While the objective of the CBO report was to produce a non-partisan analysis of economic issues in support of the Congressional budget process, there are concerns among many Social Security claimant's advocates, myself included, that Congress may make unnecessary and harmful choices to the detriment of disabled claimants--especially new claimants who try to access the SSDI benefits in the near future.

 I am providing the link to the entire CBO report in case anyone is interested in reading it.

 Congressional Budget Report on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)

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