NPR: The Rise of Disability

1. Disability laws are in need of a major overhaul. Lawyers don't make money on the people that aren't rejected the first time around. (the people who are truly disabled). This means you will not find an attorney who will help you file for disability if you are really, truly, seriously disabled. And that's wrong.

2. Many of the injuries (talking about the litigated ones now) are of a nature that it is virtually impossible to prove or disprove. (lower back pain, etc.). Pain is subjective. Who really knows if the 40 year old who worked in physical labor for 15 years has back pain that makes it impossible to work?

3. Disability is additionally difficult because, in theory, a worker would move from a physical job to a less physical job. But that theory doesn't always work well with our aforementioned 40 year old who doesn't know any type of work other than physical and doesn't live somewhere where he can apply for a lot of other kinds of work.

4. The more I look at this, I think a substantial increase in the earned income tax credit would solve for a good portion of this. (This point is admittedly tangential to the journalist involved in the story and, if it is too much of a threadjack, I apologize).

 

I think when corporate profits are at an all-time high, the problem causing companies not to hire people isn't regulations.

 

It would have been nice to get a high-ranking official to discuss disability for people whose work options are limited to more physically demanding jobs.

 

I thought it was well-done, though like a lot of trends people are behind on this. I crunched the numbers for Oklahoma a little, and it looks like the numbers went up drastically in 2009 and have been much higher until last year, when they declined somewhat.

I do like that he explored a lot of the problems in the system -- mainly, that people are allowed to stay on it without getting retraining when, in some cases, their education level is what determines that their limitation is a disability and not just something that would keep them from the kind of job they've had most/all of their life.

 

And that he didn't pull punches about the fact that parents are left with a dilemma when their kid is on disability -- you want your kid to do better in school, but in some (many?) cases you don't want said kid to do too well because then you lose his check. I would've liked more information on what level of learning disability constitutes being being disabled in the government's eyes.

 

See, I hesitate to a degree to call it outright abuse because the system is set up in such a screwed up way. People who could be retrained (like the guy who had the heart attack and couldn't go back to the closed mill) are instead encouraged to apply for disability. In their situation, I can see the disincentive there. Something needs to be done to find ways to separate those who are truly disabled and those who simply need new training. Maybe a short-term disability program that allows people to get benefits while they get training in a field where they can work based on their disability.

 

How does a kid get on disability? Do parents just not know about it? I know a few parents with special needs kids who I doubt are getting disability checks.

 

I have no idea. Until it was mentioned in the story, I didn't even realize it was possible.

 

Found this.

http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10026.pdf

 

Hope he didn't get carpal tunnel syndrome or anything from all that hard work. Guess he could file for disability, though.

 

For very young kids, usually it happens when you take them to the doctor for their well visits. The doc asks about their development, and, if they seem behind, gives the parent the number for the county social services. The parent calls the county, they send a caseworker out to do the intake, and they bring in speech, PT, OT and other practicitioners to do assessments. If they deem the child to be behind, he's eligible for early intervention services in the home, which are paid for through the parent's health insurance and/or the county.

They may also tell the parents that their kids may be eligible for disability. Or, the parents may find out through word of mouth with other parents/friends, etc.

 

My mother, a former kindergarten teacher, said those were called "crazy checks." It is a gravy train where parents would try to get their kids certified as learning disabled or with ADHD and collect a nice payment every month. Known as Supplemental Security Income or SSI, it pays parents who are certified by head shrinkers as having various psychological disorders. It's rife with abuse and another reason why our country is imploding as the moochers continue to bankrupt the system.
http://www.boston.com/yourtown/boston/roxbury/articles/2010/12/12/with_ssi_program_a_legacy_of_unintended_side_effects/?page=full