Disability claims going through the roof
Social Security is reporting that the number of people asking for benefits has increased dramatically this year. Last year 3.3 million people received new disability claims where for 2009 we are already at 3 million people and we still have five months left to go. No one is quite sure why the dramatic increase in benefits claims but some researchers believe it is because of the economy and the aging baby boomer work force. It is well known that disabled workers are usually the first to be laid off and the last to be rehired. Add to that the number of baby boomers that cannot find work because of their age or medical problems and we have a recipe of millions of people using the Social Security System so they can keep paying their bills. The statistics are showing that disabled people that had been working at companies are finding it next to impossible to get another job in their field. This fits with what is happening with the able bodied where engineers have had to change professions becoming school teachers or salesmen just to keep a paycheck coming in. To make matters worse, even if a job can be found, most workers are finding that their paychecks are typically 20% less than what they made previously. Rust belt states have been the worst hit with claims blasting through the roof in Connecticut, Ohio, Wisconsin, Maine, and Michigan among others. This increase has put even more pressure on states with withering tax bases and income tax workers to draw from.
To make matters harder on the disabled, Social Security denies nearly two thirds of all initial claims. This forces hundreds of thousands of people to either wait in line for a hearing or to pay for a lawyer that specializes in disability payments. So people get to wait months before any money comes in, or lose a percentage of their payments to a lawyer forever. More money has been given to Social Security to bring down the number of cases quickly. Note that this has already happened but with only a tiny amount of money, but the number of cases are just holding steady, there is no decrease in the average number. It is obvious that major changes to Social Security need to be made so that everyone can be handled quickly and there is money to pay for everyone in the program.
Just as the medical system is presently going through changes that should help everyone to gain medical care affordably and those that are sick cannot be thrown out, Social Security needs help. Unfortunately this is a political football that no one wants to deal with and each congress kicks it to the next one. This has worked for the last twenty years but we are at the point that we are seeing major cracks in the system that may eventually breakdown if we do not act. Just as our infrastructure needs to be updated so bridges, roads and electrical systems can handle the load of more people, Social Security needs updating. Things need to be streamlined so people don’t wait months to get help and there is money in the program to last indefinitely. Waiting for a massive crash is ridiculous for the largest economy on the planet. We can fix the problem, but we need to make the decisions that need to be made so we don’t throw millions of people in the street because we could not vote on a bill.
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User Comments
While I can somewhat understand drivel like this coming from those that either have never dealt with the disabled or run from them, it is sad that people that think this way are still around. It proves that the disabled need to work harder to get laws passed that open doors for the disabled. Just as there are people who hate black Americans or Asians there are those that hate the disabled. The ugly laws that were created in the 50’s and were still on the books in the mid 70’s were created by a minority in power. The majority did not say anything against these types of laws so they must have agreed with them. Unfortunately the disabled has their work cut out for them trying to convince the majority that we can do what they can do and deserve the American dream just as anyone else is.
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Deal with your disabilities you whiners and abusers!!