It is time for another version of People Who Don’t Know Speak. Every now and then we like to checkout Social Security’s blog that deals with different topics and programs Social Security offers. One feature these blogs offer is a place to comment about the content of the blog. Typically, if you read most stories on the internet that offer a place to comment you will get some nasty comments about politics, but also some really misinformed comments. The Social Security blog is no different.
A recent blog from Doug Walker, Social Security’s deputy commissioner of communications provided some important facts about the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program, but many of the comments people left related to the blog, although interesting, were riddled with misinformation.
Purchasing A Restaurant
A woman named Jackie offered the comment “my neighbors made enough money while on disability that they bought a restaurant.”
This might have been one of the more comical comments we have seen. In Walker’s blog he informed that the average monthly benefit for someone receiving SSDI is $1,167. Even if there are two people in the household earning the average benefit that would equal a total of $2,324 per month or an annual total of $27,888. Even if Jackie’s neighbors earned the maximum SSDI benefit amounts per month of $2,639, a couple earning the maximum amount would make less than $63,336. I am not sure how a couple making that kind of money can purchase a restaurant, let alone on less than $30,000 a year, but maybe Jackie can answer that question.
Scamming The System
Another commenter by the name of Grif posted “I am not heartless, I think people in need deserve [disability benefits], but what about people scamming an already bankrupt system?”
We recently covered this topic and have done so plenty of times. Sure there are incidents where people have received disability benefits that they do not deserve, but it happens rarely, less than 1 percent of the time. A study shows Social Security issues improper payments less than 1 percent of the time. Secondly, the Social Security system is not bankrupt, although there are future funding concerns, Social Security will remain solvent for more than the next 10 years without any changes.
Not Disabled
Commenter PJ asked if there was a hotline to report fraud within the system because PJ is sure he knows “someone collecting [Disability Insurance] who only appears disabled when she needs to be. It is a disgrace to know that this very capable person could be earning a paycheck like the rest of us.”
This is not the first time we’ve heard something like this. We have clients who are frustrated after being turned down for benefits when they know someone who “is not disabled who was approved right away.”
The fact is proving that someone is disabled under Social Security’s rules is extremely difficult. In fact, there have been studies that suggest qualifying for Social Security disability benefits is more difficult. than qualifying for pretty much any other first world country’s disability program. Social Security does not take someone’s word for it that they are disabled. Being successful in receiving disability benefits requires detailed medical evidence and medical opinions that document limitations in maintaining gainful employment.
There is no doubt we will have another installment of People Who Don’t Know Speak because there is never any shortage of misinformation that goes around in discussing the Social Security disability program.
