SENATOR SESSIONS: "MAKE SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY 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.  

Of Note:  Alabama's other Republican senator, Richard Shelby, has repeatedly called on Congress to raise the Social Security retirement age to 70 or 72.  He says that would be "a positive thing."  Seems both our senators have the scissors ready for Social Security. 

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)

----------
P.S.  I should say that I voted for both Senator Sessions and Senator Shelby and believe both of them do a good job with their offices.  I do wish they would take a more realistic view of Social Security and consider less extreme methods of addressing its problems.

Comments

  1. Charles W. ForsytheFebruary 15, 2016 at 7:43 PM

    I realize this post was first published in 2012. But it is NOT out of date because both parties of Congress keeps talking about cutting/gutting Social Security disability to save money. While some changes may need to be made, I urge voters to let their Congress members know that Social Security disability is a vital lifeline to millions of Americans and changes must be fair, gradual and reasonable. The cut it or gut it mentality must be stopped. Voters are the only ones who can stop it. Call or write Senator Sessions or your own congress member!

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownJanuary 30, 2017 at 1:05 AM

    Why in the world would anyone want social security harder to get? It's already a process that takes a few months to even a few years to complete, and even then, it's sometimes hard to get the money that you deserve. All of the options that are discussed are irrational as well, especially changing the waiting period.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

GETTING MONEY FROM SSDI

SSDI stands for Social Security Disability Insurance .  When you first began working, the Government deducted a percentage of your wages, called a FICA tax.  This continued as long as you worked, in most cases.  This money was matched by your employer and set aside in a government trust fund to help you if you later became disabled and could not work. SSDI is a type of government sponsored insurance program, usually called "Social Security disability insurance."  To get benefits out of SSDI, you must prove  that you have a medical disability so severe that you cannot work any full-time job; that this disability has lasted, or is expected to last, for at least 12 consecutive months. That sounds simple but Social Security has made it rather difficult to prove that you are disabled.  One reason is that their definition of 'disability' is so strict.  You usually must prove that you cannot perform even simple, unskilled work at the sedentary (sitting) leve
Read more

POST HEARING EVIDENCE

Many people assume that a Social Security disability case is over when the hearing has been held.  This isn't always the case.  Often there is post hearing work that should be done to achieve the best chance of a favorable decision. Everyone at a disability hearing works under pressure.  This includes the claimant, the representative, the vocational expert and even the administrative law judge.  Hearings are generally limited to less than one hour.  The judge will ask questions that place the claimant under stress to answer correctly.  The representative or attorney will be asked to respond to procedural issues or points of law that place him or her under pressure.  The judge must constantly conduct the hearing so that it follows Social Security laws, rules and regulations.  Further, the judge must form accurate hypothetical questions for the vocational expert based on the medical and vocational evidence in the file and upon the claimant's testimony.  The vocational expert th
Read more

PARTIALLY FAVORABLE DECISIONS ON DISABILITY

You attended a hearing on your Social Security disability claim.  A few weeks later, you receive a Notice of Decision in the mail that says you have received a Partially Favorable decision.  Does this mean that you are only partially disabled, not fully disabled? ANSWER:  No.  Social Security does not make awards for partial disability.  You are either disabled or not disabled.  There is no such category as "partially disabled" within Social Security law. A "partially favorable" decision means that the administrative law judge has found you to be disabled.  However, he or she has changed some material fact in your application.  Most often, this change involves the established onset date--the date you were found to have become disabled.  For example, in your application you may have alleged that you became disabled on June 1, 2012.  After reviewing the facts of the case, the judge may have decided that you did not become disabled until September 1, 2012.  Theref
Read more