Disability “on the verge of insolvency,” according to AP, because of the flood of people filing because there are no jobs.
The disability program is also being hit by an aging population — disability rates rise as people get older — as well as a system that encourages people to apply for more generous disability benefits rather than waiting until they qualify for retirement.
What was all that about social costs?
Disability benefits may be more generous than unemployment benefits but they aren’t all that great. (Seriously, Social Security needs to pay higher benefits anyway, I think.) They are typically a bit more than the benefit you get as early retirement they are still less than benefits at full retirement age. You can get Medicare, but you have to wait two years for it. But for someone who can’t find a job and who qualifies, the benefit makes all the difference in being able to live.
In my case, the difference between Social Security and SSDI is about $200 a month. SSDI was also a little bit more than I was making working full time at $8.50 an hour, at least in take-home. It was a big temptation.
I read the article at Yahoo.com yesterday and took exception to its statement that SSDI was the same as benefits at full retirement age. That’s not what was stated in the estimates report the SSA sent me last year. I looked at SSDI as my unemployment continued, but while I have a bunch of small problems, I doubt a case could made for eligibility. Any specific case has its own features, but I didn’t like the article’s statement that SSDI benefits are the same as full retirement.
Plus, the fact that there are a lot of applications, is not tremendously threatening in the short term. Applications take a long time to go through to approval, and most of them are denied after a couple of years in the appeal process. It is a system designed to wear people out and discourage them to the point where they give up. I doubt that any kind of accurate financial predictions could be made when the SSI system can basically control how many people it approves for benefits. We had a judge in our area forced into retirement because of a WSJ article about him approving an abnormally high percentage of applicants. There was no evidence at all that he had approved unqualified people, but just too many of them. This suggests to me that there is some kind of quota involved behind the scenes. And of course there is Mr Obama’s genius move of the FICA tax holiday which serves to undermine Social Security’s solvency right at a time when its enemies are questioning it. One might think sometimes that he is working for the other side.
I think that probably a lot of people who have had trouble keeping a job because of health problems are now desperate enough to put in an application to see if they might be able to get some help. This is a really bad sign because many people (a couple of them that I know) have really resisted applying for SSI because they did not want to be labeled or to think of themselves as “disabled”. It is a confession of their desperation to do this.
I have been noticing for some time that the AP has become the voice of the establishment line, promoting what the great people want the little people to think. Once they decide that they want to push us in a certain direction you begin to see a series of AP headlines going that way, day after day. This is why I have the Yahoo news headlines on my homepage, so that each morning I can see what I am supposed to think.
My spouse has rheumatoid arthritis, and has a job as a nurse. She is in nearly constant pain, but feels the need to keep working in order to maintain use of her limbs. Is it reasonable to apply for SSDI while she is working, and can she continue to work in SOME capacity while collecting, or is she better off keeping working til she no longer is able? Given that her condition seems to be worsening, and the wait for resolution of any given case is two years, what is her best option? Incidentally, I will be applying for SS in four months in anticipation of collecting at 62, mainly because of no work. Thank you.
Dear NormanLake,
What does your wife’s doctor say? I imagine he or she has seen many similar cases and may be familar with the SSDI process.
If I were you, I’d also think about consulting with an attorney who specializes in disability claims. The lawyer can probably tell you how to increase your wife’s chances of being granted SSDI the first time around, and if she is denied (as a large percentage of people are), the lawyer can help with the appeals process. Good Luck!
There are income limits, above which your claim is rejected. $900 a month?
My daughter should have gotten immediate SSI approval, but she had to go through the first appeal. SSDI works in the same way.
Specific conditions must be met for each separate disability. A lawyer is very helpful.
Two-year wait for Medicare with SSDI. That’s a big one.
i’d really like to see an article that suggests the way to shore up ss is to get people working so they can pay into it. just sayin’.