“Why don’t they just quit complaining and look for work like the rest of us?” As an attorney practicing exclusively in Social Security disability law, I hear these kind of misguided and misinformed assumptions about my clients all the time: “people on SSDI are lazy whiners trying to milk the system,” “drug-addicts,” “scam artists” … and so on, and so forth. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
The vast majority of the people I represent have decades-long work histories, each year of which they’ve been making mandatory contributions into the Social Security system. When my clients apply for SSDI, they aren’t trying to “scam” the system – they are asking to access the insurance policy they’ve been paying into since the first day they started working, just like every other tax-paying employee working in America. Essentially, my clients are asking to claim money that they’ve earned, and that they’re entitled to based upon their work history and earnings record. Even still, most of my clients would much rather be working than seeking support from SSDI, and would return to work in a heartbeat if their medical conditions would allow it.
I’m reminded of a woman I met last week who’d worked as a receptionist for over 40 years and who had finally landed her dream job when a series of medical tragedies – cancer, followed by more cancer, followed by complications including near total hearing loss – created barriers that made it impossible for her to do the work she’d done for her entire life. I’m reminded, too, of my younger clients who started strenuous, demanding, physical careers in construction or manufacturing right out of high school, who suffered from devastating work injuries that cost them not only their physical health but their jobs, their health insurance, their pride, and their sense of self-worth. SSDI payments, for these younger workers, will often only be temporary – once they have recovered from their physical trauma and are able to return to work, the SSDI payments will stop. These are not “lazy” people.
If you have a medical impairment that interferes with your ability to work, we want to hear your story. Contact Greeman Toomey at (612) 332-3252 or (877) 332-3253 for a free consultation with a Social Security Disability attorney.
