This
Month in
History
50 YEARS AGO 1962
age person on disability receives $1,111 a month. But the amount varies based on income. According to the benefit calculator on the Social Securi-
ty website, a 44-year-old making $70,000 a year would earn about $1,900 a month on disability. That compares to the average unemployment benefit in California (unemployment compen- sation varies by state) of about $920 per month. Last year, the cost of Social Security dis-
ability payments was $132 billion. There also is an additional cost of $80 billion to Medicare — after two years, those on disability qualify for Medicare regardless of their age. The budgetary repercussions are obvious. Unemployment benefits eventually run out, but disability does not. Disability tends to be a permanent condition: Less than 1 percent of the disabled ever return to work, according to Bloomberg BusinessWeek.
C
ontributing to the budgetary dilemma is in the shifting definition of “disabled.” When
the Social Security Disability Insurance law passed in July of 1956, disability was narrowly defined as “an impairment of mind or body which continuously renders it impossible for the disabled person to follow any substantial gainful occupation,” and that was likely to last for “the rest of a person’s life.” Those on dis- ability often had debilitating conditions such as cancer or strokes. But over time, the definition has been broad-
ened to include depression, back pain, and other ailments that involve a much more sub- jective diagnosis. Social workers report sharp increases in recent years for claims based on
25 YEARS AGO
Marilyn Monroe found dead of a drug overdose at age 36.
1987 9 M
Dow Jones industrial average closes above 2,700 for the first time.
ailments that don’t show up on an MRI: Depression, bipo- lar disorder, attention-deficit disorder, and chronic fatigue syndrome. As a consequence, an entire industry of attor- neys specializing in disability law has cropped up to guide people through the bureaucratic mazes. And not surprisingly, the disability rolls have steadily increased. From 1960 to 1975, the number of Americans
on disability tripled from 200,000 to 600,000. Today, the number is estimated at 9 million. Of course, many of those cases are legiti-
THE
RANKS SWELL
Over time, the number of those receiving disability has increased immensly. Today, some 9 million people receive benefits.
mate. But with so many workers experiencing long-term unemployment, the recent spike in disability claims has led some observers to dub disability the nation’s “new welfare.” After all, why settle for temporary unemployment ben- efits, when you can claim an ofeat malady and qualify for permanent disability? There have been efforts to trim the nation’s
exposure to disability claims. Many experts thought disability filings would drop when for- mer President H.W. Bush signed the Ameri- cans with Disabilities Act in 1990. The assump- tion was that those battling physical challenges would be more welcome in the workplace, and more likely to stay there. But disability enroll- ment only increased. One of the few congressional champions
urging disability reform is GOP Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma. While many claims are valid, Coburn says
.2 M 1960 1975 2012
.6 M
up to 40 percent of them may be fraudulent. “They are trying to tell us that 1 out of every 18 people are disabled,” Coburn tells Newsmax. “Well, if you open your eyes and look around, you will see that isn’t true.”
Disability Crisis — a Sign of the Times P
rofessor Edward Berkowitz, chairman of George Washington
University’s history department, says that today’s disability crisis parallels what happened during the slow economic growth of the mid-to-late 1970s. “It’s cyclical,” he says. “Every so often the
program looks stressed, as it does today, [and] standards are tightened. That puts it back on a sound path, and kicks some people off the rolls — before Congress starts getting angry calls from voters and loosens it back up. Then the problem starts all over again.”
Berkowitz is optimistic that people
will move back into the labor force as the economy rebounds. He adds that the disability-fund crisis will force Congress to act, but probably not anytime soon. “Don’t expect any solutions in 2012,” he points out. “It’s an election year.” — M.L.
AUGUST 2012 | NEWSMAX 13
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