Disabled And Waiting for Benefits and Assistance

[Wags]

There is an interesting read on CBS News "Disabled And Waiting".
Disabled And Waiting, CBS News Investigation: Backlog In Disability Benefits System Leaves Thousands Of Vulnerable Americans Stranded - CBS News

A paragraph from the article
Overall, two out of every three people who apply for federal disability benefits are rejected by a government agency that critics say is out of date, underfunded, and incapable of serving the exploding number of disabled Americans. Waiting times for a hearing in some cities are more than three years.

As a taxpayer and someone that has contributed to Social Security I find this report disturbing. Let's hope that members of both parties address this problem and assist and get benefits to the disabled in their time of need.

With the problems that OUR TROOPS and OUR VETERANS are having with recieving proper medical care, proper ratings and compensation I guess this should not surprise many Americans. The system is broken and it needs to be fixed.

GOD BLESS

[73ss454]

Lot's of people out there trying to scam the government also. I have numerous friends who are out on SS disability from there jobs. Most of them if not all are getting tax free pensions from the Police, Fire dept's and so on. One of my neighbors in Florida worked for Con Ed in NY and is getting both the tax free pension and SS. He said to me that there's not a thing wrong with him and they just wanted him out. It took him over a year to get SS but it was back dated and got all the money from day one.
Another friend of mine was a NYC police officer and hurt his back playing soft ball one day and waited till he got to work and said he fell down. That was almost 30 years ago and he's been collecting ever since.

So it works both ways.

[SteveR]

DW is one of those on the 520 day waiting list for a hearing on benefits request. She is getting Disability from her previous employer but that will run out in a couple of years. The Disability Insurance company is the one fighting the SS Admin. because it is in their best interest to do so. Once SS says she is disabled (which she is according to their own description of her specific health issues) the Disability Insurance company can then lower their benefit by the amount SS will then pay. It saves them $$$ so they have a whole staff of folks that help with the paperwork and then carry on the legal battle in court.

She has been disabled since June 2006 and applied to SS a year ago. We may run out of DI benefits before SS can make up their minds if they are going to allow something that is clearly already described in their own documentation. It is frustrating but not unexpected. We are lucky we have other sources of income to get us by. I can't imagine her living alone and trying to survive without any income at all once her DI dries up.

My heart goes out to all those folks who have nothing and are waiting for a broken system to heal itself. The truly sad part is the thousands that die waiting for an entitlement that they are due which might make their remaining years not only better but possible.

[Wags]

While it may true that there are some that abuse the system the fact remains that the ones that really need the benefits and medical assistance are NOT receiving it.

CBS News article ""Failing The Disabled"
"Failing The Disabled", Investigation: Disability Benefits System Harbors Culture Of Denying Help To Even The Most Unfit To Work - CBS News

Three ex·cerpts from the article hit on the failure within the SS system.

A two-month CBS News Investigation uncovered a system whose own standards have been called into question - a federal agency reeling from budget cuts and high staff turnover. Doctors making decisions outside their specialties, and inexperienced examiners under pressure to keep costs down.

"We're failing the disabled on a very large scale," said Trisha Cardillo, who worked inside the system for years, reviewing 200 federal disability cases a month in Ohio.

She now fights for those seeking disability benefits.

GOD BLESS

[52andout]

SteveR, I feel for you and your wife. DH had a bout with cancer then a bad injury during his recovery. While he was recovering from the injury he really could not do anything. Even drive. We were lucky, he did recover enough to return to work before a year, but the paperwork maze was awful. Getting letters from the insurance company that asked for documentation they had, never being able to get hold of anyone at the ins company. We just started to navigate the SS system when he finally turned and began to get better. Every day we almost cried with joy that we had no debt and I could make enough money to support us working per diem, as I spent a lot of time caring for him and carting him around and a full time job would have been a nightmare to get the time off. We were fortunate to be able to focus on his health, not survival.

It was awful. Our friends and neighbors were wonderful. I would come home from the MD and the lawn would be cut or the driveway cleared of snow.

Everyone has this attitude that people that are on disability are scammers or liars. There are some of course, but not all. I have heard of people with cancer dying before their claims were settled. Imagine the stress of a dying person leaving your family with little or no money.