This is Part IV of our 4 part series on NPR’s recent article discussing Social Security Disability and Supplemental Security Income recipients, viewed here: http://apps.npr.org/unfit-for-work/.
Let’s start with this fact: Social Security payments come out of the Social Security Trust, paid for by payroll and FICA taxes, and do NOT add to the national debt. If a claimant gets denied benefits, or has their benefits ceased, it will not decrease the national debt, nor decrease Social Security, FICA or Medicare taxes, but simply save the Social Security Trust money.
The fact of the matter is that when a person pays their FICA taxes, they are buying disability insurance from the US Government. If they are found to be disabled as of a period of time when they are insured, they are receiving their insurance payout under the law. For instance, if someone has worked for 25 years at a mill, paid FICA taxes, found to have a disability to have upon or shortly after stopping working at that mill, then they are simply collecting under the policy to which they have paid into.
Supplemental Security Income for children or adults is a different situation than Social Security Disability, despite having the same rules for the medical determination of their disability. Often times these families also need food stamps to fill their refrigerators, need (and often time cannot get) medical assistance from the state or county to help them get treatment. Supplemental Security Income has a maximum of $710/month and receives deductions based on the resources of the entire household (spouse’s income, value of a second motor vehicle, value of almost anything that can be converted to cash), so deductions can be fast and drastic.
Supplemental Security Income is often used as an investment that can help someone get treating, get better and, eventually, get working. This can be a valuable tool to help someone become a productive and taxpaying member of society when they were previously medically unable. While getting better does result in the benefits ceasing under Social Security’s policies, if you ask a vast majority of people who struggle with their disabling conditions whether they would rather work at a job or struggle to live on $710/month, the answer will be work.
A society can be judged on how it treats its disabled population. If you subject to ridicule people who are disabled, and are just trying to find the means to live with dignity, treat and get better, you leave your society to worse judgment down the road than that which you pass on to the disabled population now.
