Proposed Social Security Disability Changes Could Cut Off Disabled Recipients
By Kate Giammarise Pittsburgh Post-Gazette January 13, 2020
A proposed change to federal disability assistance would result in millions of more case reviews, likely cutting off many disabled recipients, if the changes are enacted.
The federal government is accepting public comments on the proposal until the end of January.
Under the proposal, millions more reviews would be conducted and hundreds of thousands of people would have reviews more frequently.
“We think the real intent of this is just to be a backdoor cut to the program,” said Jen Burdick, a supervising attorney with Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, who assists people applying for disability benefits.
Anyone applying for Social Security Disability Insurance, Supplemental Security Income or both already faces a lengthy and complex application process that can take years to complete. Once approved, recipients are already subject to what’s called continuing disability review.
The proposal would create an additional review category where cases would be reviewed every two years.
Social Security officials declined to comment; the agency does not comment on any proposed rule making or legislation.
Critics say the agency has failed to provide any evidence or data about why it selected who would be subject to the new category, and the additional reviews will be a hardship to disabled individuals. They also fear it will lead to people losing benefits — not because their conditions have improved and they can now work, but because of the administrative and paperwork hurdles it will create.
“While a requirement to complete paperwork and submit documentation at the risk of losing monetary benefits and health care would be challenging for anyone, it is likely more difficult, stressful, and time-consuming for disability beneficiaries, who as a group are older, poorer, and sicker than the general population,” wrote Barbara Silverstone, executive director of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives, which represents attorneys that represent claimants applying for disability benefits.
Those receiving such assistance often have barriers such as “unstable housing situations, intellectual disabilities, limited educations, inability to leave their homes, difficulty reading or writing, or other barriers to receiving, completing, and mailing back… documents.”
Among those who could face more frequent reviews are people like Sonya Schlegel of Westmoreland City. Ms. Schlegel was subject to a continuing disability review, which she won last year with the assistance of an attorney from Laurel Legal Services, but said it was a frustrating, demeaning, and nerve-racking process.
“They don’t make it easy for you at all,” she said.She gets $783/month in SSI, which is her only income.Ms. Schlegel, who suffers from a brain injury and other ailments, said she doesn’t object to the idea of cases being reviewed, but said the ordeal dragged on for nearly two years, and it would have been more efficient if the agency could have just dealt with her doctor instead.
“They really put your mind in a fog. All you do is think about, ‘Are you going to have an income next month?’”
The proposal of the changes, described in the Federal Register, estimates it would amount to a $2.6 billion cut in benefits over ten years, though it would add $1.8 billion in administrative costs.
Those receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) can get a maximum of $783 monthly; Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits range from $800 to $1,800, the average monthly benefit is $1,258.
U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Butler, who sits on the House Ways and Means Committee, which has oversight over Social Security, said he is supportive of the proposal.
“The solvency and integrity of the Social Security program is of the utmost importance for current and future recipients,” he said in a statement.
“Hardworking American taxpayers and businesses who fund the program deserve effective oversight of the money they contribute.The proposal to allow for more regular review of disability claims is the right one, because it will help the Social Security Administration protect against waste, fraud and abuse while ensuring that those in need receive the proper benefits.”
Some legislators have criticized the proposal for potentially making sweeping changes to what is already a complex process where fewer than four in 10 applicants qualify for benefits.
“I have serious concerns about this proposed rule, which appears to be yet another attempt by the Trump Administration to make it more difficult for people with disabilities’ to receive critical benefits,” U.S. Senator Bob Casey, a Democrat, said in a statement.
In December, Mr. Casey, along with other legislators, signed a letter to the Social Security Administration asking for a 45-day extension of the public comment period; that request was denied.
Such reviews have “a long and troubled history,” the letter noted, referring to an effort in the early 1980s when the President Ronald Reagan’s administration made aggressive use of them, leading Congress to intervene.
Trump Administration’s Proposed Disability Benefits Policy Change Will Hurt Thousands of Americans
By Sarah Kim Forbes December 17, 2019
The Trump administration is working on a proposal that would strip disability benefits from hundreds of thousands of Americans. Applying for Social Security benefits is already a convoluted and rigorous procedure, and the new proposed rule change will add to the difficulty, making the application procedure unattainable for many of those who need the benefits.
The proposal was first published in the Federal Register last month but received scarce media attention. Activists are currently working on raising public awareness of the administration’s proposed change. Last week, the Social Security Administration announced an extension on the public comment period by 15 days until January 31, 2020.
If passed, the new regulation would add another category to the qualification list and increase the frequency of continuing disability reviews (CDR), which monitors the recipient’s eligibility required for benefit continuation.
The published document states, “the proposed rules would add a category to the existing medical diary categories that we use to schedule CDRs and revise the criteria for assigning each of the medical diary categories to cases. The proposed rules would also change the frequency with which we perform a CDR for claims with the medical diary category for permanent impairments. The revised changes would ensure that we continue to maintain appropriate stewardship of the disability program and identify medical improvement (MI) at its earliest point.”
Currently, there are three categories that the Social Security Administration uses to determine an applicant’s eligibility for receiving benefits: “medical improvement not expected,” “medical improvement expected” and “medical improvement possible.” The fourth category currently being proposed is “medical improvement likely.”
This new fourth category would affect 4.4 million recipients, many of who are children and so-called Step 5 beneficiaries, an internal Social Security classification for people the ages of 50 to 65 with poor health and no income.
Advocates for recipients say that the “medical improvement likely” category appears to make no sense. In general, medical conditions deteriorate as people age, especially those who have limited resources. Compelling Step 5 recipients through a review every two years will make it even more difficult for them to comply with the review process, putting their benefit eligibility in jeopardy.
Critics of the plan liken it to the administration’s policy proposals to cut food stamps and other entitlement programs with an insufficient explanation behind the reasoning.
Alex Lawson, executive director of the progressive advocacy group Social Security Works, told Common Dreams that the rule change “is the Trump administration’s most brazen attack on Social Security yet.”
As The Philadelphia Inquirer reported last week, “those already receiving disability benefits are subject to so-called continuing disability reviews, which determine whether they are still deserving of compensation for an injury, illness, or other incapacitating problem as their lives progress.”
The proposed Social Security rule will add hostility to the Social Security Act, which takes a holistic view of the individual, such as their age, income, education and experience, not just on their physical or mental conditions.