Social Security Disability Running Out of Money? Dont Believe It!

The Associated Press today reports on the potential insolvency of the Social Security Disability program by 2017.  Don’t believe the "sky is falling" rhetoric –  this is just silly political demagoguery by cruel policy wonks who never saw a disabled worker they either liked or respected. 

These ivory tower geeks want to return to the not so distant past when the Social Security Administration’s  "systematic misapplication of the regulations" was "found to be covert as well as illegal", resulting in tens of thousands of legitimately disabled workers to lose their much needed, and often paltry, monthly Social Security disability check.  See Dixon vs. Shalala . 

There are some easy, less draconian, solutions to the Social Security disability insolvency problem. Why doesn’t Congress simply make Social Security’s own "Ticket to Work" program mandatory for anyone who is less than 100% disabled (the majority of SSDI recipients)? Currently, it is a voluntary program and is greatly under utilized.

What is a  " Ticket to Work? ":

The Ticket to Work  is a program run by the Social Security Administration. The SSA issues “tickets” to individuals who are eligible to receive them and who want training or services to help them find a job they can manage. When a worker is assigned a ticket, they then choose to assign the ticket to an Employment Network in order to obtain employment services, vocational rehab or other employment support services. If the Employment Network accepts the ticket, they will then provide the disabled individual with services that will help them find and maintain a full-time job that they can manage.

This Ticket to Work program allows disabled individuals to work on obtaining employment skills and other vocational services that will help them to perform full-time work activity in the future. If an individual who is participating in the program begins full-time employment, benefits are not automatically revoked and a probational period is granted. If, for some reason, your job attempt is unsuccessful and you determine that you are still unable to participate in substantial gainful work activity, you can have your Social Security Disability benefits  reinstated under the SSA’s expedited reinstatement of benefits process.

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