DISABILITY EPIDEMIC: More than 10 million Americans are getting disability payments through Social Security, but the well is running dry.
Posted on 08/18/2013 7:45:33 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
By Eric Boehm | Watchdog.org
New numbers from the Social Security Administration show more than 76,000 workers were added to the disability insurance program in July.
Since the beginning of 2013, more than 530,000 workers have been added to the Social Security disability program’s rolls. More than 8.9 million Americans are receiving disability benefits through Social Security, with an average benefit of $1,129 per month.
DISABILITY EPIDEMIC: More than 10 million Americans are getting disability payments through Social Security, but the well is running dry.
Adding benefits paid to spouses and children of disabled workers to the mix, the number of recipients totals more than 10.9 million with an average benefit of about $900 per month.
The rapid growth in the disability program – enrollments are up 15 percent since 2009 – is causing concern. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the disability insurance program will be broke as soon as 2018.
“Without legislative action to reduce the DI programs outlays, increase its dedicated federal revenues, or transfer other federal funds to it, the Social Security Administration will not have the legal authority to pay full DI benefits beyond that point,” the CBO concluded in a 2010 analysis of the fund.
Officially, the growth in disability payments is blamed on an aging population.
“The sheer number of baby boomers is going from about 35 million now to about 70 million in a couple of decades,” Doug Nguyen, a Social Security Administration spokesman, told Watchdog.org in July. “So you have the aging of the baby boomers, the overall growth of the working age population and then as the boomers age, they reach their years where they’re more prone to being disabled.”
But with medical advances allowing more people to lead healthy, productive lives than ever before, it is somewhat counter-intuitive to see the roles of disabled workers growing so dramatically.
Some experts say the disability insurance program has become a back door to welfare for some unemployed workers.
The aging of the U.S. population accounts for only 13 percent of the growth in disability payments to men — only 4 percent of the growth in payments to women — according to Mark Duggan and Scott Imberman of the National Bureau for Economic Research.
And the CBO’s projections may turn out to be overly rosy, according to the Social Security Administration’s internal review of the disability program.
On May 31, the Social Security Board of Trustees released its annual report on the long-term financial status of the Social Security Trust Funds, reporting in matter-of-fact fashion that “the DI Trust Fund will become depleted in 2016.”
Some groups, such as the Brookings Institution, have pointed to the sharp increase in disability payments for those with mental ailments such as depression. It’s a trend that dates back to the mid-1980s, when eligibility requirements for the disability program were loosened by Congress.
Meanwhile, there are fewer workers to provide support for those who collect disability.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, there were 51 workers for each beneficiary in the disability system in 1968. Today, that ratio is 13-to-1.
THE DEMOCRAT PLAN
1 - Overload Social Security with the bogus disabled and illegals until it is ready to collapse
2 - Claim Social Security is Broken (anything democrats don’t like or that doesn’t extort enough in taxes is “broken”)
3 - Pass a 2,000 page “comprehensive” Social Security reform law written by lobbyists and unread by anyone in government
4 - Act shocked and dismayed when they discover the law just increases taxes, spending and government control without “fixing” anything
Yea, let's start by doing away with laws based on, "thou shalt not steal" and "Thou shalt not murder".
The easy ones.
TArcher: “He was really proud of having gamed the system so, the L.I.F.E.R. POS.”
You make a good point. Many military veterans claim disability when they aren’t really disabled, too. It’s legal, but it’s dishonorable. That’s the way these programs work. People develop a mindset that if the rules let them claim something, then they’ll claim it. They forget that other people have to make a living to pay for it.
Disability payments are justified for those who are truly disabled in the line of duty. I figure the country owes a G.I. who gets one or both legs (or worse) blown off in Fallujah. The problem is all the other dishonorable veterans who are claiming every possible ailment or discomfort, many that are clearly not service related. I’m sure civilian disability is even worse.
All of these programs need a very, very hard look.
Look our side needs to stand up and insist on American companies returning American jobs, to America.
We have no leg to stand on about American jobs, when our companies are firing Americans, and sending our jobs to foreign countries.
We have been exporting American jobs now for an entire generation.
CHINA now exports more than America. And is growing.
Quit whining about Democrats and unemployment, until we as Republicans stop exporting American jobs.
BRING BACK AMERICAN JOBS.
Quack, Waddle - oh look a Fiscally “Conthervative” rainbow duck.
The economy can take care of itself without Mussolini’s Corporatist merger of State and Commerce.
The only legitimate purpose of American government is the securing of the inalienable rights of the governed; especially the right of the Individual to contradict the errors of the rainbow mob who would rule over him. Period.
This is Cloward-Piven working as advertised. Obama's planned economic destruction of the country to prepare for a Marxist takeover..
We already did that on the right. See record of last Presidential candidate for details. See also the dupport he got drive house and senate Republicans to embrace more of his positions than they had prior to his run.
Then see people still making excuses for it.
If I understand correctly, once one has been accepted onto the rolls of the subsidized disabled, the only way to be removed is to show an improvement in whatever condition lead to the judgement of disability.
[I figure the country owes a G.I. who gets one or both legs (or worse) blown off in Fallujah.]
Amen. God bless those who serve and sacrifice.
But, the intact (but typically morbidly obese) DV con-artists and dykes climbing down from their 4x4 Lexus jackwagons in disabled parking spots — not so much.
“I had an acquaintance who upon separation of svc got himself a “disability” rating because he snored.”
Please do not take this wrong folks. Have been wondering for a long time with the rise of PTSD over the years how many veterans are now drawing disability along with the VA benefits. When I was still working in LE in a city with a large VA most veterans I dealt with would tell me they suffered from PTSD and were drawing a check. Just wondering.
“I had an acquaintance who upon separation of svc got himself a “disability” rating because he snored.”
Please do not take this wrong folks. Have been wondering for a long time with the rise of PTSD over the years how many veterans are now drawing disability along with the VA benefits. When I was still working in LE in a city with a large VA most veterans I dealt with would tell me they suffered from PTSD and were drawing a check. Just wondering.
Amazing. I hit the post one time and my message posted twice.
I tried several times, too. Even went to a disability attorney for help. They said that because my diagnosis wasn’t on “the list”, I’d never get it approved.
I was lucky. Last February I found an employer willing to work with me. I’m mute, with a bad back and a messed-up shoulder. My current job involves listening to calls at a call center and grading the agents. The job interview was awkward, but I made it!
Good got you! Just to clarify, it was almost 4 years WITH an attorney. Chrons disease for me with a bunch of permanent steroid damage.
Docs gave me a choice when I was a teenager. Take the roids and maybe have a functional life (thankfully I did) but I’d pay for it when I got older (I am) or suffer a LOT. I went with option one.
They are nasty things in high doses. But at least I spent many productive years and don’t regret it. More than many can say.
I had an acquaintance who upon separation of svc got himself a “disability” rating because he snored.
He was really proud of having gamed the system so, the L.I.F.E.R. POS.
**
This goes on every single day among newly retired military officers. We know several of the same type ...disability for an old football injury, snoring, etc. They are ALL going for it and totally gaming the system, and yes, they are PROUD of it! It’s disgusting.
I refused to allow my husband to apply for any of it ...he will receive his retirement, which he EARNED, and nothing else. The “gamers” ought to be ashamed of themselves ...but this is the type of military we’ve cultivated over the years. It’s more about the BENNIES and the post rewards than the service.
What?
Oh!
Nevermind. Sigh.
Dam these parasitic scum.
how can they process 70,000 + in one month while the VA has a 2 year backlog?
[They are ALL going for it and totally gaming the system, and yes, they are PROUD of it! It’s disgusting.]
I was told they’re counseled on separation to do so.
Makes ya wonder what kind of crooked life they lead afterwards in business or civil service.
Here’s an example:
http://www.4thjudicialda.com/MostWanted/PDF/Stanley_Ronald.pdf
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