A news report released November 24, 2012 highlighted issues with the Federal government and spending programs for Social Security Disability. Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) programs should not be cut to balance federal budget. As the deficit continues to grow, most agree that spending cuts are mandatory in order to see significant progress toward budget control. Exactly which cuts are made is still being debated. Others believe entitlement programs such as SSDI should be on the shortlist, with other politicians targeting the SSDI program as one of the top contenders of waste and fraud. Many use SSDI to seek medical attention outside of emergency rooms for the first time in years. If any cuts to the SSDI program are approved, people will not have access to the benefits they contributed to while they worked. Cuts would also create a loss of integrity in a system that already struggles to fully educate beneficiaries about the work incentives that are available to them if and when returning to work is possible.
A news report from the Congressional Budget Office, states disability funds are expected to run out by 2016. This has led to a fiery debate among many politicians on how to fix this issue. According to the article, alleviating the financial pressures on the SSDI would require a substantial increase in revenues for the program, a substantial decrease in the program’s costs, or some combination of those two approaches. Options to increase revenues are straightforward but limited: Disability Insurance taxes paid (through the Social Security Payroll tax) by employers or employees must rise, or some other source of funding must be used. In contrast, options for reducing costs are both more complex and more numerous. Policymakers might want to increase spending for the program by providing greater amounts of support to certain disabled workers or their dependents. Policymakers could also alter the program in more fundamental ways. A Disability Insurance system that emphasized workers continuing in their jobs, for example, might lead to a higher rate of employment among those with disabilities than is now the case.
Stabilizing the national budget is a priority, but cannot be attained by turning political backs on the country’s disabled workers and pushing them out on the street and into desolation.
