The term permanently disabled doesn’t apply to the Social Security disability program. Some Americans may believe that once Social Security considers someone disabled that they are permanently disabled, but this is not the case. That doesn’t mean that there are not some people who are found disabled by Social Security who never end up working again and collect Social Security benefits for the rest of their lives, because there are, but for most Social Security is really a temporary disability program.
Each year Social Security does many Continuing Disability Reviews (CDRs). These are medical reviews done by the agency to determine if someone receiving Social Security disability benefits is still disabled. Last year Social Security did more than 1.9 million of these reviews. The total number of reviews done is a bit misleading as a portion of these reviews consisted of claimants receiving a form to complete, but of the more than 767,000 full medical reviews done, a total of 201,217 claimants were actually determined to be no longer disabled and cutoff from benefits, the majority (65 percent) of which were children. These numbers seem to indicate that Social Security is focusing on children who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. Although there are certainly instances where someone who receives Social Security disability benefits improves medically and no longer qualifies for benefits, but most people who are approved for Social Security benefits continue to be disabled for years to come.
The rules of the program only provide benefits to someone if they have been or are expected to be disabled at least for one year in order to receive benefits. It’s a difficult program to qualify for benefits for and does not lend itself well to quick medical turnarounds. Of all the people receiving Social Security disability benefits it’s a wonder why Social Security is focusing on kicking children off benefits. To learn more click here.
