Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is one of the largest federal programs. SSDI was originally created as a modest safety net aimed to help disabled workers close to retirement age. Over the decades, Congress has expanded benefit levels and eligibility standards. These new eligibility standards are not as strict and allow for additional applications and Insurers. Due to a lack of oversight, federal disability costs have amplified due to fraud and errors within the system processes.
The original Social Security program was created in 1935 however disability insurance was not included until 1956. In 1956, Social Security was amended to create a federal disability insurance program, and Social Security Disability Insurance was introduced. Initially the program was created for individuals between the ages of 50 and 65 who had substantial work history, children who were disabled before the age of 18 and dependents of deceased workers. (DeHaven)
In 1960, age restrictions were removed and benefits were extended to people of all ages. The number of people enrolled in SSDI has increased rapidly in recent years. The Increase can be associated with the loosening of disability requirements, but there is also a significant amount of fraud cases. “The number of SSDI beneficiaries jumped from 4.3 million in 1990 to 6.7. million in
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2000, to 10.9 million in 2012. The ratio of SSDI beneficiaries to all working age people has doubled in the last two decades” (DeHaven). Growth within the SSDI program is understandable given the changes made two decades ago. These changes allow for supplementary people to apply and qualify for benefits under the program, however, policy makers are ignoring ways in which the system spends money and are losing more money than it should. The Social Security Administration approves and pays people who are not disabled and have no right to receive benefits. The inability to sufficiently monitor whether individuals are still entitled to benefits contributes to a large volume of unjustified benefit payments and great deals of fraud and abuse. Because the system is so large, Individuals submit false claims and get away with it. Health care professionals help these Individuals by falsifying to certificates of disability. Making false statements on applications is fraud and affects benefits someone who actually has a disability could be receiving. Once on claim, there is not enough resources to re-evaluate and review claims to see if the individual could return to work and get off SSDI. SSDI procedures provide applicants with “a multitude of avenues for pursuing, contesting, and appealing disability determinations, while providing no avenue for watchdog groups to monitor fraud and abuse” (Taylor) The correct monthly benefit due to the recipient is directly dependent upon Social Security Administration’s ongoing access to accurate and current information regarding the recipient. “Federal spending has increased by 65% from 2001 to 2007, yet the number of full medical reviews has decreased” (Social Security Administration). Not all the blame can be placed on the Insured since it is not their fault a review has not been completed. This is a system process error, however one would hope the individual would be honest. There is a significant loss to the system with Insured’s who have not returned to work when they no longer have any restrictions limiting them from maintaining a job. “Disability insurance has become more like a permanent unemployment insurance or a general welfare program” (DeHaven). People who are capable of working are instead opting out for disability insurance when faced with employment challenges. The program is continuing to award benefits to individuals who could have returned to work. Fault for abuse of the system lies in the hands of the federal agency and their lack of resources to be able to take control of processes and errors. Fraud is a huge expense. Fraud could be reduced, however, when individuals are caught committing fraud, the Social Security Administration does not do a good job of recovering the money lost. “In the Social Security program alone, the White House proposes to spend $4.3 billion over five years to fight fraud associated with disability claims-a problem, officials say, that stems from lack of oversight” (NYTimes). There are actions that can take place to help Social Security Disability take control of the system to reduce fraud and abuse. The first recommendation is to provide additional resources to perform continuous reviews of people receiving benefits. It is sensible to first focus on the Insured’s whose conditions are likely to improve in the near future than those with terminal illness. This would decrease the amount of Individuals taking advantage of the benefits that they do not deserve. The second recommendation is simplify the application and appeals process.
If the initial application process was more thorough, this may reduce the amount of appeals. There are too many chances to appeal. “Individuals with questionable claims of disability have up to five tries at receiving benefits and they just have to succeed once” (DeHaven). The amount of times an individual has to appeal is unreasonable and extremely costly. Individuals should only be allowed to appeal once. Instead of exhausting time and resources into the appeals process, this energy should be applied to ensure greater quality and consistency of initial
decisions. In conclusion, if the system’s process errors were corrected, the amount of fraud and abuse would be reduced. Currently, the people who are truly unable to work are receiving fewer benefits as a result of individual’s taking advantage of the system. The Social Security benefits program is essential for the well-being of millions of Americans and the systems processes and fraud are a serious problem. “SSDI is a classic example of a well-intentioned effort to provide modest support to truly needy people that has exploded into a massive entitlement that is driving up the federal deficit” (DeHaven). If the system does not change, in the future, there will not be funds left for future generations. Bibliography
find ways in which they try to combat disability fraud. I found this by searching
Throughout the 20th century governmental responsibility has made remarkable progress. One major milestone of the widening of the responsibility of the federal government was it’s making an obligation to care for the elderly and retired in the form of social security. In 1935, the Social Security Act was enacted by the federal government to provide financial security to the elderly, retired citizens in America. Although the federal government first took on this responsibility in 1935, it is still affecting our lives today. However, social security would not have advanced this far without many organizations and individual reformers to begin and improve social security throughout history.
Social security is a benefit program that was established in 1935 by Franklin Roosevelt. The program is a system in which workers pool a portion of their wages. These wages are paid to retired people on a monthly basis. The idea of the program is to protect each other and their families against wage loss when they retire. The ideas of social security benefits were intended to supplement pensions, and personal savings for retired people.
Medicare is a social policy many of our seniors look to for their stability when they reach 65
The Social Security Act was enacted in 1935, and since then it has undergone numerous revisions and amendments. Today the act covers a wide range of benefit programs, including Medicare, unemployment compensation, and Supplemental Security Income. The major portion for which the Social Security Act has become known, however, is the Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program, or OASDI. While today the OASDI program is most frequently referred to as “Social Security,” it is only a thread in what has been called the “social safety net.” Therefore, throughout this paper, it should be understood that Social Security will be the term used to refer to all its encompassed programs as a group, as a matter of convenience.
This summation of the state of Social Security was written more than a twenty years ago. Looking back, it seems as though the Social Security system frequently reaches a state of crisis in which predictions of its end arise. Since it was enacted in 1935, Social Security has been amended often, most recently in 1983, when Congress imposed a tax on the benefits of high-income retirees, raised the retirement age, and revised the tax-rate schedule.
Expanding Social Security Spending In recent decades, entitlement programs have constituted a substantial portion of the
In 1972, Congress replaced the State-administered programs with the Federally administered Supplemental Income (SSI) program as an assistance source of last resort for the aged, blind, or disabled whose income and resources are below specified levels. The SSI program went into effect in January 1974, administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA). SSI has been highly successful in helping society's most vulnerable citizens. These individuals rely on SSI benefits in order to purchase the basic necessities of food, clothing and shelter. The program targets those who are the neediest, those who are too limited by their disabilities or too elderly to be expected to provide fully for their own needs.
Before the social security act of 1935 the support of the elderly was a “state matter”, the state held the power to regulate money that was given to the people. The elderly and physically disabled had to rely on their sates to implement programs to help them financially and most states during the great depression didn’t see this problem as a necessity. The Roosevelt administration caught this and created social security on a national level. “The social security act of 1935, an act which sought to provide general welfare by establishing a system of federal old-age benefits, and by enabling the several states to make more adequate provisions” (SSA). The key word in the quote is “federal old age benefits” which means the...
"Disability the facts." New Internationalist Nov. 2013: 20+. Advanced Placement Government and Social Studies Collection. Web. 27 May 2014.
The ADA was passed in an effort to end discrimination and prejudice in American society, and to better accommodate the disabled. While the act gives a clear outline of what rights a disabled person is entitled to; it does not clearly enough define who exactly is allowed these rights or protections, because of the use of vague language, and diagnosis’ being assigned by judges rather than doctors the disabled have seen little change as a result of the ADA.
The first Disability Act went into effect in 1973 and it helped to end discrimination of those that have a disability. The Act was modeled based on laws that previously helped to end discrimination based on race, ethnic origin and sex. . The Disability rights act helped to give those with disabilities a chance to live independently and not have to depend on others to take care of them like in the past. Those with disabilities could no longer be turned down for employment, housing, public accommodations, education, transportation, communication, recreation, institutionalization, health services, voting, and access to public services.
Although there is evidence from many studies that disability rate is declining in the U.S.2, the rapid expansion of the oldest-old age group will continue to pose health care challenges for future generations. Disability prevalence rates are very high in the oldest-old3 and even reached 97% in centenarians4. These high rates of disability will have a tremendous financial impact in the future as people living with disability have much higher health care expenditures5.
Medicare is a national social insurance program, run by the U.S. federal government since 1966 that promises health insurance for Americans aged 65 and older and younger people with disabilities. Being the nation’s single largest health insurance program, covering a large population for a wide range of health services, Medicare's funding is a fundamental part of it sustainability. Medicare is comprised of several different parts, serving different purposes, some of which require separate funding. In general, people at the age of 65 and older who have been legal residents of the United States for at least 5 years are eligible for Medicare. Same is true with people that have disabilities under 65, if they receive Social Security Disability Insurance benefits. Medicare involves four parts: Part A is hospital insurance. Part B is additional medical insurance, that Part A doesn't cover. Part C health plans, also mostly known as Medicare Advantage, are another way for original Medicare beneficiaries to receive their Part A, B and D benefits. Medicare Part D covers many prescription drugs, some of which are covered by Part B. Medicare is a major operation, not only needing adequate administering but the necessary allocated funds to keep this massive system afloat.
Jimmy Carter said any system of economics is bankrupt if it sees either value or virtue in unemployment. The Social Security Act of 1935, also known as the "Old-age program", is the largest social program in the United States to date. The main function of this program is to compensate workers and their family members who are retired or disabled. The Social Security act came at a time of great hardship and uncertainty by the American people. With the Old-age program it was possible for a retired person to have a form of security knowing that they will have a supplemental income which would allow them to live and in return allow the younger generation to work.