Friday, March 09, 2007
Now I've seen it all!
This is a multi-part post. First, please read the following outrageous and infuriating article, and then return here to read the rebuttal by the co-founder of the Social Security Disability Coalition (and please feel free to visit her website at your leisure; it is in my Links list). At the end of her article, I'm adding some comments of my own.....
Social Security provides tax-paid golden disability for job slackers
Social "Insecurity" Disability - Warning To All Americans – This Could Be You!
My name is Linda Fullerton and I’m President/Co-Founder of the Social Security Disability Coalition. I’m writing in response to the article published 3/5/07, by Melanie Scarborough entitled “Social Security Provides Tax-paid Golden Disability For Job Slackers.” It’s obvious to me that Ms Scarborough is totally out of touch with reality here, and failed to do the proper research on the subject that she chose. Sadly, I must also say that the majority of the people in this country think like Ms Scarborough, because the media for the most part only chooses to print pieces like hers, and fails to tell the American people what is really going on, since it would be too scandalous to do otherwise. I only hope that Ms Scarborough and those who think like her, never have an accident or become ill themselves, and have to apply for this help, because I assure you, they will be writing a different story! I think the time has come for the American people to get educated on this topic since it affects almost every citizen of this nation, and yet they know almost nothing about it, as evidenced by Ms Scarborough’s article.
You may be wondering how I know about these things. I was very unaware of this problem myself, like most people, until it suddenly happened to me. Many years ago I almost died, and continue to battle several incurable diseases, which have caused me to be permanently disabled and unable to work. Due to the government fraud, negligence, incompetence and backlogs I encountered, I lost all my life savings and pension money, and will never be able to recover from the financial, physical and emotional devastation that was caused by the process of filing for my own SSDI benefits in addition to battling my illnesses. My personal horror story can be found here:
A Bump On The Head
http://www.frontiernet.net/~lindaf1/bump.html
Social Security Disability Insurance/SSDI is a disability insurance plan administered by the Federal Government. If you should become sick/injured and can no longer work, it provides a financial resource to help you survive until you reach retirement age, at which point SSDI benefits automatically turns into regular Social Security retirement benefits. This is a Federal insurance policy, not a hand out like Ms Scarborough would like you to believe. It is not a reward, golden parachute or jackpot by any means and I would bet that Ms Scarborough would be hard pressed to survive on it. It’s supposed to be a safety net for millions of disabled Americans. Unlike her article states, it is not easy to get these benefits at all and I firmly believe (while nobody from the SSA or Congress will ever admit this), the SSDI program is purposely structured to be very complicated, confusing, nebulous, and with as many obstacles as possible from beginning to end, with the deck stacked against the claimant from the very start. This is in order to discourage you, hoping you “give up or die” trying to get benefits you’ve paid for all your working life! That’s how the government systematically robs your money and uses it for other purposes.
This program originally set up to help the disabled, in fact, is causing devastating, irreversible harm to both their health and financial wellbeing. The SSA instead, has been systematically destroying disabled Americans for decades, and Congress as a whole has failed miserably to do anything about it. This major ongoing problem within the State and Federal government is so scandalous, it should be on the front page of every newspaper, and on every TV/Radio news channel in the country. This is a very well kept secret in this country, that our government doesn’t want you to know about, yet they are taking money out of your paychecks every week for it. Unfortunately what you don’t know in this case, could be very detrimental to your health and financial wellbeing.
While the majority of Americans were shocked at the reaction of the Federal government in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, I wasn’t surprised at all. I have seen the horrifying results of their incompetence on a grand scale for the past few years. Nowhere is this more evident, yet rarely mentioned, than in the way the Federal government/Social Security Administration treats the disabled population of this country. Americans saw in a major way since hurricane Katrina struck, how the poor and disabled were left to die in the streets when they needed help the most. I shudder to think of how many more lives will be further ruined or lost, when the mentally and physically disabled victims of Katrina, other natural disasters, 9/11 victims who survived that day but are now disabled and facing a similar fate, Veterans and the millions of other disabled Americans, encounter their next experience with the Federal government as they apply for their SSDI/SSI benefits. There are cases of Veterans rated 100% disabled by the VA who get denied their SSSDI benefits and end up living in poverty or even homeless on the streets. Horrible treatment for those who protect and serve our country.
In fact disabled Americans who apply for SSDI benefits, at a time when they need help the most, are often treated like criminals. The general feeling, which Ms Scarborough has mistakenly helped to further generate, is that they’re frauds trying to scam the system. In fact the percentage of claims that in the end, aren’t legitimate is very miniscule. Nobody in their right mind would want to go through this process, and then live in poverty on top of their illnesses, if they could in fact work. In our country you’re required to have auto insurance in order to drive a car, you pay for health insurance, life insurance etc. If you filed a claim against any of these policies, after making your payments, and the company tried to deny you coverage when you had a legitimate claim, you would be doing whatever it took , even suing, to make them honor your policy. Yet the government is denying Americans their legitimate SSDI claims everyday, and everyone should be outraged!
Disability benefits determinations should be based solely on the physical or mental disability of the applicant. Neither age, education, or type of work experience should ever be used when evaluating whether or not a person is disabled, as long as they meet the medical and non-medical requirements for receiving benefits (work credits, citizenship etc.) If a person cannot work due to the severity of their medical conditions – they CAN’T work no matter what their age, or how many jobs or educational degrees they had, yet these are factors used to deny a claimant their right to collect disability benefits.
Ms Scarborough is very judgmental when it comes discussing the impairments that qualify a person for disability benefits. She fails to mention anywhere in her article, that she has any sort of medical degree, making her an expert in that field. She, nor anyone else has the right, or knowledge to judge another person’s health problems. Only those who actually suffer from these ailments, and their physicians, can possibly know what it is like to deal with these conditions. She chooses to insult the disabled citizens of this country further by claiming that they are frauds, when she states “more than 1.3 million claims — indicate how many people are trying to take advantage of the system.” I actually submitted written testimony to the Congressional hearing on disability backlogs that Ms Scarborough refers to. Her comment that “genuine disabilities are relatively rare,” holds absolutely no merit, and again shows that she has failed to do her homework as a journalist.
Yes I’m also well aware as I write this, that there’s some who’ve abused the system and that’s a shame, because it casts a bad light on those who really need this help. It is an extremely small percentage, and there are ways to “filter” them out, without causing harm to legitimate claimants. Social Security, SSDI, SSI and Medicare are great programs when they function properly, and have helped millions of Americans who may never have survived without them. It’s time that the government fixes the problems, so that those who really need this help can access it as soon as possible, instead of being treated as frauds, and criminals on trial, when they need to file a claim for benefits. Nobody in their right mind would want to live under the conditions that the majority of SSDI/SSI claimants and recipients are forced to endure. The majority would much rather have their health back and the jobs that once had before their lives were changed by illness or accidents. I am sure that any corporation in this country who ran their business this poorly, would be out of business in it’s first year!
If you have any doubt what I am saying here, you can read the horror stories of thousands of disabled Americans from all over this country on my organization’s website and on our petition to the US Government at:
Social Security Disability Coalition – offering FREE information and support with a focus on SSD reform:
http://groups.msn.com/SocialSecurityDisabilityCoalition
Social Security Disability Reform Petition – read the horror stories from all over the nation:
http://www.petitiononline.com/SSDC/petition.html
I think our sites prove beyond a shadow of a doubt, what is really going on, rather than anything that Ms Scarborough has to say. SSDI claimants were once hard working, tax paying citizens with hopes and “American dreams” but due to an unfortunate accident or illness, have become disabled to a point where they can no longer work. Because of that, they’re often considered "disposable" people by general and government standards. In addition their cries and screams are often ignored, many preferring that they just shut up or die. Does that mean they’re not valuable to our country, or give the government/society the right to ignore or even abuse them? A country is only as strong as it’s most vulnerable citizens, yet this program preys on the weak, decimating the disabled population even further. I ask that you please urgently contact all your elected officials and the media on this issue, as millions of American’s lives depend on it. We are your mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, children, friends and acquaintances and remember that disease and tragedy do not discriminate on the basis of age, race or sex. Wake up America! If you think this couldn’t happen to you – you could be DEAD wrong!
NOTE: This article is dedicated to Dane Edwards, who applied for Social Security Disability benefits in October 2006, because of terminal lung and brain cancer. When he’d call to check on the status of his claim he was told that he must wait like everyone else, and that he should stop calling to inquire about the status. He obviously didn’t have the luxury of time. Dane will no longer be calling and he never received his benefits. He was 53 years old when he died on February 13, 2007 - his SSDI disability claim still waiting for approval. Unfortunately I must report that stories like his are becoming more and more common.
Linda Fullerton
President/Co-Founder - Social Security Disability Coalition
The klbrowser commentary portion begins here.
I agree with pretty much every word Ms. Fullerton said. I just want to add a few views of my own as the Examiner article is just too objectionable for me to ignore.
The entire piece is misguided, even the title. Tax paid benefits? Not if you have a spouse that works; depending on your spouse's income, up to 85 percent of SSDI benefits are taxable.
Golden disability? My SSDI payments are less than a third of what I had been earning when I'd been able to work, and that is considered generous by SSDI standards. More like rust than golden.
The phrase "job slackers" is also inaccurate. You don't even qualify for SSDI benefits unless you have enough credits; for the most part, that means you have to have worked at least five of the past 10 years in a situation where you're paying into Social Security to get a penny out of its disability program. A true slacker would be SOL.
Now, onto the article itself. What on earth does a corporate compensation package have to do with disability? It's not like a CEO gets severance or any special consideration when they become too ill or injured to work; they are subject to the same financial limitation imposed on all who apply for SSDI.
In fact, a CEO would be far LESS likely to be approved for SSDI than a low-income manual laborer. The federal government considers whether an applicant has skills that are transferable to another type of work or whether they are educated enough to learn to do something less demanding. A CEO with a master's degree might be able to re-train to a simpler job, while a heavy-equipment operator with a fifth-grade education might not be able learn how to do sedentary work at a computer.
The example the article gives of the coach who blows out his knee and collects disability is ridiculous. Social Security would probably deny this person, claiming he can coach on the sideline without running, or can do another type of sedentary job. It is obvious the author of this article did no research on SSDI at all.
Since when did the disabled become undeserving? Most of them worked hard for as long as they could, applying for benefits only after they exhausted every job option. Cut them some slack; is it really fair to describe a person dying of cancer as undeserving of some financial consideration??
The story of the Newport News pipefitting apprentice who was granted disability for a wrist injury is the exception rather than the rule. It is entirely possibly that when this woman is up for review, her SSDI benefits will be terminated and she will be expected to go into another line of work not using that wrist. The author of the article fails to mention whether the woman had any sort of mental impairment that prevented her from re-training, which could also be a factor.
According to the author, SSDI's guidebook walks people to the disability pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Has the author ever tried to live on $900 a month? If she had, she would realize that, basically, the government requires you to be unable to earn more than poverty level before you can even apply for disability benefits.
The author presents a very misleading picture of Social Security's Blue Book. Yes, there are a lot of impairments listed because many ailments or injuries can be disabling. But just having one of the named conditions does not guarantee approval of benefits.
The quote from the Blue Book about musculoskeletal conditions, “inability to walk on the heels or toes, to squat, or to arise from a squatting position may be considered evidence of significant motor loss” is only PART of the requirement for disability for that condition. The applicant must meet the criteria in Listing Level Severity for the type of condition described as well as a very specific set of limitations outlined as Residual Functional Capacity to be considered. The diagnosis must be made by an appropriate medical specialist and must be substantiated by appropriate tests such as x-rays, blood work, biopsies, MRI, etc in order to meet most of the Blue Book criteria.
The form of dermatitis described in Social Security's Blue Book is NOT dishpan hands. It is wheals, papules and blistering extensive enough to limit function of the area involved (as in hands that cannot withstand any pressure applied to the skin), AND it must not be responsive to prescribed treatment. Up to 20 percent of these cases have an associated digestive disorder.
The author also demonstrates an astonishing amount of ignorance regarding mental illness as a disability. A person with severe bi-polar disorder or schizophrenia may appear to the uninformed as a jerk, but they can be just as unable to function at a job as a person with a physical malady or injury. Again, the Blue Book has very specific Listing Level Severity and Residual Functional Capacity requirements.
When evaluating an applicant's “concentration, persistence or pace,” at their job, Social Security compares it to the level of functioning the applicant had PRIOR to the onset of their illness or injury. It must be markedly different, not merely a bit slower than the applicant's co-workers. This might be documented by an increase in work-related errors in a worker whose record was exemplary until they became ill or injured.
The backlog of 1.3 million claims is NOT indicative of bogus claims. Anyone who had done their homework would know that Social Security has a severe shortage of personnel with which to handle claims. The other big reason for the backlog is that Social Security routinely denies up to 80 percent of LEGITIMATE initial claims, thus ensuring that these claims remain in the system for reconsideration, judge hearings or whatever it takes get them approved as they should have been in the first place.
The author lists only three potentially disabling conditions: MS, Down's Syndrome and blindness. There are upwards of 80 autoimmune diseases besides MS, many of which are potentially disabling and even fatal. And any uneducated person knows that cancer has that potential as well, so the 1.3 million disability applications is actually not artifically high at all.
The so-called extra expense to taxpayers of an award of backpay is ludicrous. An SSDI applicant usually has ZERO income during the entire time they wait to be approved for benefits, a wait that can last years. Backpay is simply giving them the benefits they were due, minus a five months' benefits for a waiting period, minus 25 percent for legal fees if necessary, and does NOT include interest for the period these benefits were withheld from the applicant.
What sort of expertise does Melanie Scarborough have? There were no quotes from medical professionals, legal professionals or actual disability claims examiners. I think it is she who is doing the scamming.
There are other factors she doesn't consider in her criticism of disability benefits recipients and applicants. One is that a reputable medical professional is unlikely to write up bogus documentation so a patient can defraud the government. Social Security will not approve benefits without adequate medical records, no matter how sick the applicant is.
Ms. Scarborough also conveniently ignores the fact that a person who qualifies for SSDI benefits may have astronomical medical expenses that eat up most or even all of their "windfall". An SSDI recipient must wait TWO YEARS before he or she is eligible for Medicare. And then payment for Medicare comes out of the SSDI benefits, eating further into that "jackpot".
This article is an insult to everyone who calls himself a journalist.
Social Security provides tax-paid golden disability for job slackers
Social "Insecurity" Disability - Warning To All Americans – This Could Be You!
My name is Linda Fullerton and I’m President/Co-Founder of the Social Security Disability Coalition. I’m writing in response to the article published 3/5/07, by Melanie Scarborough entitled “Social Security Provides Tax-paid Golden Disability For Job Slackers.” It’s obvious to me that Ms Scarborough is totally out of touch with reality here, and failed to do the proper research on the subject that she chose. Sadly, I must also say that the majority of the people in this country think like Ms Scarborough, because the media for the most part only chooses to print pieces like hers, and fails to tell the American people what is really going on, since it would be too scandalous to do otherwise. I only hope that Ms Scarborough and those who think like her, never have an accident or become ill themselves, and have to apply for this help, because I assure you, they will be writing a different story! I think the time has come for the American people to get educated on this topic since it affects almost every citizen of this nation, and yet they know almost nothing about it, as evidenced by Ms Scarborough’s article.
You may be wondering how I know about these things. I was very unaware of this problem myself, like most people, until it suddenly happened to me. Many years ago I almost died, and continue to battle several incurable diseases, which have caused me to be permanently disabled and unable to work. Due to the government fraud, negligence, incompetence and backlogs I encountered, I lost all my life savings and pension money, and will never be able to recover from the financial, physical and emotional devastation that was caused by the process of filing for my own SSDI benefits in addition to battling my illnesses. My personal horror story can be found here:
A Bump On The Head
http://www.frontiernet.net/~lindaf1/bump.html
Social Security Disability Insurance/SSDI is a disability insurance plan administered by the Federal Government. If you should become sick/injured and can no longer work, it provides a financial resource to help you survive until you reach retirement age, at which point SSDI benefits automatically turns into regular Social Security retirement benefits. This is a Federal insurance policy, not a hand out like Ms Scarborough would like you to believe. It is not a reward, golden parachute or jackpot by any means and I would bet that Ms Scarborough would be hard pressed to survive on it. It’s supposed to be a safety net for millions of disabled Americans. Unlike her article states, it is not easy to get these benefits at all and I firmly believe (while nobody from the SSA or Congress will ever admit this), the SSDI program is purposely structured to be very complicated, confusing, nebulous, and with as many obstacles as possible from beginning to end, with the deck stacked against the claimant from the very start. This is in order to discourage you, hoping you “give up or die” trying to get benefits you’ve paid for all your working life! That’s how the government systematically robs your money and uses it for other purposes.
This program originally set up to help the disabled, in fact, is causing devastating, irreversible harm to both their health and financial wellbeing. The SSA instead, has been systematically destroying disabled Americans for decades, and Congress as a whole has failed miserably to do anything about it. This major ongoing problem within the State and Federal government is so scandalous, it should be on the front page of every newspaper, and on every TV/Radio news channel in the country. This is a very well kept secret in this country, that our government doesn’t want you to know about, yet they are taking money out of your paychecks every week for it. Unfortunately what you don’t know in this case, could be very detrimental to your health and financial wellbeing.
While the majority of Americans were shocked at the reaction of the Federal government in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, I wasn’t surprised at all. I have seen the horrifying results of their incompetence on a grand scale for the past few years. Nowhere is this more evident, yet rarely mentioned, than in the way the Federal government/Social Security Administration treats the disabled population of this country. Americans saw in a major way since hurricane Katrina struck, how the poor and disabled were left to die in the streets when they needed help the most. I shudder to think of how many more lives will be further ruined or lost, when the mentally and physically disabled victims of Katrina, other natural disasters, 9/11 victims who survived that day but are now disabled and facing a similar fate, Veterans and the millions of other disabled Americans, encounter their next experience with the Federal government as they apply for their SSDI/SSI benefits. There are cases of Veterans rated 100% disabled by the VA who get denied their SSSDI benefits and end up living in poverty or even homeless on the streets. Horrible treatment for those who protect and serve our country.
In fact disabled Americans who apply for SSDI benefits, at a time when they need help the most, are often treated like criminals. The general feeling, which Ms Scarborough has mistakenly helped to further generate, is that they’re frauds trying to scam the system. In fact the percentage of claims that in the end, aren’t legitimate is very miniscule. Nobody in their right mind would want to go through this process, and then live in poverty on top of their illnesses, if they could in fact work. In our country you’re required to have auto insurance in order to drive a car, you pay for health insurance, life insurance etc. If you filed a claim against any of these policies, after making your payments, and the company tried to deny you coverage when you had a legitimate claim, you would be doing whatever it took , even suing, to make them honor your policy. Yet the government is denying Americans their legitimate SSDI claims everyday, and everyone should be outraged!
Disability benefits determinations should be based solely on the physical or mental disability of the applicant. Neither age, education, or type of work experience should ever be used when evaluating whether or not a person is disabled, as long as they meet the medical and non-medical requirements for receiving benefits (work credits, citizenship etc.) If a person cannot work due to the severity of their medical conditions – they CAN’T work no matter what their age, or how many jobs or educational degrees they had, yet these are factors used to deny a claimant their right to collect disability benefits.
Ms Scarborough is very judgmental when it comes discussing the impairments that qualify a person for disability benefits. She fails to mention anywhere in her article, that she has any sort of medical degree, making her an expert in that field. She, nor anyone else has the right, or knowledge to judge another person’s health problems. Only those who actually suffer from these ailments, and their physicians, can possibly know what it is like to deal with these conditions. She chooses to insult the disabled citizens of this country further by claiming that they are frauds, when she states “more than 1.3 million claims — indicate how many people are trying to take advantage of the system.” I actually submitted written testimony to the Congressional hearing on disability backlogs that Ms Scarborough refers to. Her comment that “genuine disabilities are relatively rare,” holds absolutely no merit, and again shows that she has failed to do her homework as a journalist.
Yes I’m also well aware as I write this, that there’s some who’ve abused the system and that’s a shame, because it casts a bad light on those who really need this help. It is an extremely small percentage, and there are ways to “filter” them out, without causing harm to legitimate claimants. Social Security, SSDI, SSI and Medicare are great programs when they function properly, and have helped millions of Americans who may never have survived without them. It’s time that the government fixes the problems, so that those who really need this help can access it as soon as possible, instead of being treated as frauds, and criminals on trial, when they need to file a claim for benefits. Nobody in their right mind would want to live under the conditions that the majority of SSDI/SSI claimants and recipients are forced to endure. The majority would much rather have their health back and the jobs that once had before their lives were changed by illness or accidents. I am sure that any corporation in this country who ran their business this poorly, would be out of business in it’s first year!
If you have any doubt what I am saying here, you can read the horror stories of thousands of disabled Americans from all over this country on my organization’s website and on our petition to the US Government at:
Social Security Disability Coalition – offering FREE information and support with a focus on SSD reform:
http://groups.msn.com/SocialSecurityDisabilityCoalition
Social Security Disability Reform Petition – read the horror stories from all over the nation:
http://www.petitiononline.com/SSDC/petition.html
I think our sites prove beyond a shadow of a doubt, what is really going on, rather than anything that Ms Scarborough has to say. SSDI claimants were once hard working, tax paying citizens with hopes and “American dreams” but due to an unfortunate accident or illness, have become disabled to a point where they can no longer work. Because of that, they’re often considered "disposable" people by general and government standards. In addition their cries and screams are often ignored, many preferring that they just shut up or die. Does that mean they’re not valuable to our country, or give the government/society the right to ignore or even abuse them? A country is only as strong as it’s most vulnerable citizens, yet this program preys on the weak, decimating the disabled population even further. I ask that you please urgently contact all your elected officials and the media on this issue, as millions of American’s lives depend on it. We are your mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, children, friends and acquaintances and remember that disease and tragedy do not discriminate on the basis of age, race or sex. Wake up America! If you think this couldn’t happen to you – you could be DEAD wrong!
NOTE: This article is dedicated to Dane Edwards, who applied for Social Security Disability benefits in October 2006, because of terminal lung and brain cancer. When he’d call to check on the status of his claim he was told that he must wait like everyone else, and that he should stop calling to inquire about the status. He obviously didn’t have the luxury of time. Dane will no longer be calling and he never received his benefits. He was 53 years old when he died on February 13, 2007 - his SSDI disability claim still waiting for approval. Unfortunately I must report that stories like his are becoming more and more common.
Linda Fullerton
President/Co-Founder - Social Security Disability Coalition
The klbrowser commentary portion begins here.
I agree with pretty much every word Ms. Fullerton said. I just want to add a few views of my own as the Examiner article is just too objectionable for me to ignore.
The entire piece is misguided, even the title. Tax paid benefits? Not if you have a spouse that works; depending on your spouse's income, up to 85 percent of SSDI benefits are taxable.
Golden disability? My SSDI payments are less than a third of what I had been earning when I'd been able to work, and that is considered generous by SSDI standards. More like rust than golden.
The phrase "job slackers" is also inaccurate. You don't even qualify for SSDI benefits unless you have enough credits; for the most part, that means you have to have worked at least five of the past 10 years in a situation where you're paying into Social Security to get a penny out of its disability program. A true slacker would be SOL.
Now, onto the article itself. What on earth does a corporate compensation package have to do with disability? It's not like a CEO gets severance or any special consideration when they become too ill or injured to work; they are subject to the same financial limitation imposed on all who apply for SSDI.
In fact, a CEO would be far LESS likely to be approved for SSDI than a low-income manual laborer. The federal government considers whether an applicant has skills that are transferable to another type of work or whether they are educated enough to learn to do something less demanding. A CEO with a master's degree might be able to re-train to a simpler job, while a heavy-equipment operator with a fifth-grade education might not be able learn how to do sedentary work at a computer.
The example the article gives of the coach who blows out his knee and collects disability is ridiculous. Social Security would probably deny this person, claiming he can coach on the sideline without running, or can do another type of sedentary job. It is obvious the author of this article did no research on SSDI at all.
Since when did the disabled become undeserving? Most of them worked hard for as long as they could, applying for benefits only after they exhausted every job option. Cut them some slack; is it really fair to describe a person dying of cancer as undeserving of some financial consideration??
The story of the Newport News pipefitting apprentice who was granted disability for a wrist injury is the exception rather than the rule. It is entirely possibly that when this woman is up for review, her SSDI benefits will be terminated and she will be expected to go into another line of work not using that wrist. The author of the article fails to mention whether the woman had any sort of mental impairment that prevented her from re-training, which could also be a factor.
According to the author, SSDI's guidebook walks people to the disability pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Has the author ever tried to live on $900 a month? If she had, she would realize that, basically, the government requires you to be unable to earn more than poverty level before you can even apply for disability benefits.
The author presents a very misleading picture of Social Security's Blue Book. Yes, there are a lot of impairments listed because many ailments or injuries can be disabling. But just having one of the named conditions does not guarantee approval of benefits.
The quote from the Blue Book about musculoskeletal conditions, “inability to walk on the heels or toes, to squat, or to arise from a squatting position may be considered evidence of significant motor loss” is only PART of the requirement for disability for that condition. The applicant must meet the criteria in Listing Level Severity for the type of condition described as well as a very specific set of limitations outlined as Residual Functional Capacity to be considered. The diagnosis must be made by an appropriate medical specialist and must be substantiated by appropriate tests such as x-rays, blood work, biopsies, MRI, etc in order to meet most of the Blue Book criteria.
The form of dermatitis described in Social Security's Blue Book is NOT dishpan hands. It is wheals, papules and blistering extensive enough to limit function of the area involved (as in hands that cannot withstand any pressure applied to the skin), AND it must not be responsive to prescribed treatment. Up to 20 percent of these cases have an associated digestive disorder.
The author also demonstrates an astonishing amount of ignorance regarding mental illness as a disability. A person with severe bi-polar disorder or schizophrenia may appear to the uninformed as a jerk, but they can be just as unable to function at a job as a person with a physical malady or injury. Again, the Blue Book has very specific Listing Level Severity and Residual Functional Capacity requirements.
When evaluating an applicant's “concentration, persistence or pace,” at their job, Social Security compares it to the level of functioning the applicant had PRIOR to the onset of their illness or injury. It must be markedly different, not merely a bit slower than the applicant's co-workers. This might be documented by an increase in work-related errors in a worker whose record was exemplary until they became ill or injured.
The backlog of 1.3 million claims is NOT indicative of bogus claims. Anyone who had done their homework would know that Social Security has a severe shortage of personnel with which to handle claims. The other big reason for the backlog is that Social Security routinely denies up to 80 percent of LEGITIMATE initial claims, thus ensuring that these claims remain in the system for reconsideration, judge hearings or whatever it takes get them approved as they should have been in the first place.
The author lists only three potentially disabling conditions: MS, Down's Syndrome and blindness. There are upwards of 80 autoimmune diseases besides MS, many of which are potentially disabling and even fatal. And any uneducated person knows that cancer has that potential as well, so the 1.3 million disability applications is actually not artifically high at all.
The so-called extra expense to taxpayers of an award of backpay is ludicrous. An SSDI applicant usually has ZERO income during the entire time they wait to be approved for benefits, a wait that can last years. Backpay is simply giving them the benefits they were due, minus a five months' benefits for a waiting period, minus 25 percent for legal fees if necessary, and does NOT include interest for the period these benefits were withheld from the applicant.
What sort of expertise does Melanie Scarborough have? There were no quotes from medical professionals, legal professionals or actual disability claims examiners. I think it is she who is doing the scamming.
There are other factors she doesn't consider in her criticism of disability benefits recipients and applicants. One is that a reputable medical professional is unlikely to write up bogus documentation so a patient can defraud the government. Social Security will not approve benefits without adequate medical records, no matter how sick the applicant is.
Ms. Scarborough also conveniently ignores the fact that a person who qualifies for SSDI benefits may have astronomical medical expenses that eat up most or even all of their "windfall". An SSDI recipient must wait TWO YEARS before he or she is eligible for Medicare. And then payment for Medicare comes out of the SSDI benefits, eating further into that "jackpot".
This article is an insult to everyone who calls himself a journalist.
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