Social Security takes a lambasting from the right wing ideologues on a daily basis, especially when it comes to the agency’s disability programs. These ideologues will suggest that Social Security’s disability programs are rampant with fraud and that too many people who are capable of working don’t want to because they are lazy and can easily qualify for disability on the government’s dime, despite the fact that there are no facts to back this up. The realization is that fraud is miniscule within Social Security’s disability programs and it remains one of the most difficult disability programs to qualify for among all nations. Instead of criticizing a program that keeps millions of people out of poverty every year, lets take a look at how Social Security served the American public in 2014.
- Social Security issued 16 million new and replacement Social Security cards in 2014.
- Social Security completed more than half a million continuing disability medical reviews to determine if those who were collecting disability payments should continue to receive benefits and were not able to go back to work.
- Social Security assisted more than 40 million visitors seeking assistance in one of its field offices and handled more than 37 million phone calls from its national toll free service.
- Social Security assisted applicants with more than 2.8 million initial disability claims and assisted with filing more than 1.4 million appeals of disapproved disability claims.
- Social Security made sure that more than 1.3 million blind or disabled children received much needed Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments and that 88 percent of Americans 65 and older received their Social Security payments.
So the next time you hear the right wing criticize Social Security for fraudulent disability payments or some other unsubstantiated claim, remember, each year Social Security does a service for many Americans who rely on it and have nowhere else to turn.
