Posted on 07/06/2012 7:01:43 AM PDT by IBD editorial writer
More workers joined the federal government's disability program in June than got new jobs, according to two new government reports, a clear indicator of how bleak the nation's jobs picture is after three full years of economic recovery.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.investors.com ...
May I ask what you consider a legitimate disability?
I haven't seen any figures, but I wonder how many of the "new" disabled are people who were working in spite of a qualifying medical condition, but lost their jobs. I doubt it's easy finding another at 58 or 60 with a pre-existing condition, and there's lots of Boomers in that age group!
I know two people with rheumatoid arthritis who qualified for disability. One was married and although she had boughts of pain and illness, she carried on a full life. They also got a hefty discount on property taxes. The cheating azz of a husband left her, she had to go back to work full time and lost her disability. Now seriously, shouldn’t disability be for folks who can’t and never will be able to return to work? Not just some inconvenience pain when you have a spouse who can work to support the family?
If the economy was better, many would find employment in some manner. No easy answers as the system goes broke.
One-big-happy party of Democrats, killing the host.
He is saying: “No Quick Fix” which equals: “I don’t have a clue how to fix it.”
The SSI disability determinations are made internally by the SS bureaucrats. They use their own medical providers and bureaucrats to create the algorithms. Doctors in practice do not make these decisions, they only provide the medical records for use by SS administration. If you want someone to blame, blame the patients making claims, the lawyers that are helping the patients and the SS administration rules concocted mostly by the bureaucrats.
The doctors in practice are not getting a dime for this crap unless you count ten or twenty bucks in medical record copy fees as a windfall. Lay off the doctors, you might need one someday.
People, including Bill Ego-reilly, think all you have to do is apply. It’s a lot harder than that. And it appears now they turn everyone down on their first application. I’ve known several people who went on SSI but they all got it after their first appeal.
Never in the history of the United States has so much been done for so many by so few.
Our lawyer said 98% get shot down on the first attempt. 80% get shot down on the second. We are now waiting the 2+ years for the hearing. In the mean time my wife has been told by her doctors she can not work. She has neuropathy and her last employer said they would have had let her go if she wanted to stay anyways due to safety problems. she also now has weakness on the right side of her body due to a mini stroke.
Had I not got connected with the companies I am with we would be screwed when it comes to paying the bills while this case moves through the system.
They can wait two years for a hearing with a judge. And the judge is now a “surprise” to the lawyer. Used to be he knew who the judge was going to be. Bottom line is they need more judges to get through the cases.
Yup. while those of us that really need it (IE conditions that merit the use of the insurance) are forced to wait and wait...
An old navy buddy of mine has a bad heart and bad back and he got his on the first application. That was almost two years ago.
Did you know that on the first try, if SS sends you to one of ‘their’ doctors, the doctor may have nothing to do with the field? For instance, a pediatrician may look at a person’s file who has brain damage. These doctors are usually retired or not getting any business. They get something like $80 for each patient they see.
And they don’t make the decision. They just write up a report. Now, consider this. A patient has severe mental problems. One time she left her kids at home and went to Nashville to become a country singer. (True story...she does stuff like this a lot) Her shrink suggests she apply for disability. SS sends her to one of their shrinks for 1 hour and he’s supposed to give his oppinion of her mental condition. And now these doctors are so overloaded they’re running them through as fast as they can.
A lawyer I know said he doesn’t think SS even reads the files past a few paragraphs then they stamp it “rejected”. I think they figure if you’re not really disabled you’ll give up.
With all that said, I’m sure there are some crooked doctors out there taking kick backs and I’m sure there are some who are faking it. But that’s not your wife’s fault.
Buying voters in this fashion bankrupts the country and makes scammers out of people who aren't really disabled - while slowly destroying the program for those who are disabled.
It's an evil system.
And democrat politicians have convinced a lot of people that the republicans are going to take your SS away. My mother was convinced she’d never see another check if Reagan was elected.
You hang out in ghettos? Just kidding. The point is there are people who are truly disabled and their claims are being rejected on the first application just because of the scammers. The SS folks are not even reading the filings. They’re just too overloaded to separate the scammers from the disabled.
And it’s very easy to apply online. There are people applying online that’s able bodied and those should be shot down.
You didn't ask me, but I'll answer with an example. My wife has a genetic condition (22q11.2 deletion) resulting in 4 separate congenital heart defects, a missing kidney, plus some other more minor manifestations. She had her first open-heart surgery at 10 months of age and her fourth at age 22. During that one, she suffered permanent phrenic nerve damage, paralyzing her left hemidiaphragm. Consequently, she essentially operates on one lung, and that lung is somewhat damaged due to pulmonary hypertension as an infant before she was diagnosed. She has maybe a third of the effective lung capacity of a typical person, on top of her heart problems, in addition to other issues related to all those surgeries (opening the ribcage over and over involves a lot of scar tissue, lasting physical trauma, etc.). She's been on supplied oxygen since she was about 25. I've seen what she's like when she has tried to work a job, and she does NOT need to be working.
For the record, I oppose the existence of SS disability, Social Security in general, and Medicare, and will happily vote to abolish them if anyone ever gives me the opportunity. Government has no business operating any such programs. However, there are people who legitimately meet the criteria for them.
18-19 years ago my mom sailed through for disability. She could have stayed on but she insisted on going back to work. She was hit by one of Holders people in a stolen car during a police chase through down town Minneapolis during lunch..
My wife’s first application generated the “see our doctor” who basically admitted the problems my wife is applying for was not his field..
Rejection number one. Even though she looses feeling in her hands and feet and there are days she can’t even get out of bed they said she could no longer work in her trained field (daycare center) she could be “retrained”.. Never mind the fact that she is dyslexic and going through school once was near impossible. Are retrained to do what exactly? When your hands go numb they are much good for anything. I guess she could be a greeter at Walmart (and just for the record. She HAS been one. Walmart was the last job she had) but walmart does not what the risks of someone who could injure themselves on the job and not even feel the pain.
Rejection #2 came just 3 days after they got the appeal along with 200+ pages of documents from her medical “team” (given the medical problems shes been dealing with there are 5+ doctors involved) filed by the lawyer. We all said they didn’t read anything and just rejected it AGAIN.
We are waiting on a court date now. Since the last rejection she has had a mini stoke that has left her very weak on her right side..
We still don’t expect to win the case. The lawyer is still optimistic. She has a solid case, we just have to hope the judge in the case is willing to do what the rest of the SS crew has not. Listen/read the information given.
My Grand parents lived through the depression. Grandpa always told me “don’t count on anyone to do it for you. ESPECIALLY the Government” As soon as we learned she was likely to have to leave the work force we adjusted our life style. Ditched the car payments, moved out of the 1600 a month rental home and bought a mobile home on a 2 year contract (she was told she had to stop working 8 months before the end of it) and bought cars with cash. Our living expenses including food is under 1000 a month.
Had we not seen what was coming, and adjusted our lifestyle we’d have lost our house and likely our minds.
Getting through the disability process is not easy. You really can’t do it with out a lawyer. Those that apply with out a lawyer are the reason everyone gets shot down on the first try. SS counts on the lawyers who don’t get paid if they don’t win to weed out the scammers.
When the system's bankrupted by scammers, those with real disabilities will be thrown off - along with seniors on Social Security.
People will die.
Not many 85 year olds in wheel chairs can go out and get a job. Many will die. All those who don't have relatives or a church to take them in... they'll die too. The scammers? Scammers will go on to a new victims.
Liberals have succeeded in creating people with zero pride - and "no shame"... animals. Denizens of hellholes like Detroit and Chicago's South side... God help us if liberal are allowed to take us down this path...
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