I agree with you. The story just doesn’t sound right.
When I first got out of college and married, I worked for two years as a claims rep for Social Security. This was back in the early 70s.
SS Disability was really difficult to get. I would guess 90% of people who applied were turned down. After being denied one could file for a re-consideration. Practically no one ever got it on that.
Nearly every one who was approved, was by the administrative law judge after a hearing. I think they made the process long and drawn out to weed out as many as they could.
When I first got out of college and married, I worked for two years as a claims rep for Social Security. This was back in the early 70s.
SS Disability was really difficult to get. I would guess 90% of people who applied were turned down. After being denied one could file for a re-consideration. Practically no one ever got it on that.
I think you partially answered your own question, 1970’s vs the 2008 - present. A huge difference I’ve found. I’ve known several people who have managed to get on SSDI, and it usually takes more than one go around to do it but once they do in my neck of the woods which is very rural, getting on SS disability is considered the Brass ring on the Carousel of welfare. You are set for life!
And yes, it pisses me off to no end too.
Not true anymore, accordng to my neighbor who makes his living as an "expert witness" in SS hearings. It is a rare judge who calls in a witness to take the side of the SS Admin. We were talking about this last week. He's a Psychologist with a jillion additional degrees and teaches at the Medical College here, but the bulk of his income comes from his SS testimony. Even when my friend tesifies, the case generally is settled by arbitration. In cases like that, the plaintiff generally gets a positive settlement.
That was exactly the same sequence my wife went through to get SSDI in 2006, except that the ALJ actually rendered a favorable decision without a hearing, based on the documentation that was submitted.
Some quick research on the web turned up this fact:
Most SSDI recipients receive between $300 and $2,200. The average SSDI payment in 2012 is $1,111.
Source: http://www.disabilitysecrets.com/how-much-in-ssd.html
Today, they are jamming people into SSD. There was an article here that showed about 250,000 a month were being approved. Vote buying, nothing more. I think the article’s numbers are bogus, but people are on welfare at a staggering rate.