Over the years this blog has informed readers of how difficult it is to obtain Social Security disability benefits because of the medical rules that more times than not deny disabled individuals benefits. This is not news, but there remains a sector of the population that stands firm that the Social Security disability program is full of beneficiaries who are cheating and scamming the system. Let’s be blunt, these people are ignorant and flat out wrong. In today’s hard-headed society where it is almost more possible to cash in a winning lottery ticket and change someone’s mind about their beliefs, some decide they don’t even want to try because of the toxic exchanges involved in having a differing point of view that is based on facts. So, we will try a different approach. In a facts-based opinion story published by The Dallas Morning News, Tom Margenau, and individual who has spent the better part of five decades maneuvering the Social Security disability program sets the records straight. Below is a portion of the story that makes the points clear.
The Social Security disability program is universally recognized as one of the most difficult programs to qualify for. You simply don’t get benefits if you have a bad back or a bum knee. You must have a severe physical or mental impairment that is expected to keep you out of work for at least 12 months – or a condition that is terminal.
Some people have written to complain about drug addicts and alcoholics getting benefits. Let me clear up that myth. You DO NOT get Social Security disability benefits simply because you are an addict or alcoholic. But you might get benefits if you have problems associated with those addictions. For example, you could qualify for disability if you have severe liver disease, a condition that might have been brought on by excessive drinking. But that’s no different than someone getting benefits who has lung cancer brought on by heavy smoking.
Having explained how truly difficult it is to qualify for Social Security disability benefits, I can tell you from experience that everyone seems to know someone (a brother-in-law, a neighbor, that guy in the handicapped parking space) who they believe is getting such benefits fraudulently.
The Truth
However, I also can tell you from experience that 99% of you who claim to know people who are supposedly cheating the system will not do this. That tells me two things. First, people will believe what they want to believe. They think that government is corrupt and inefficient, so they want to believe there are a bunch of deadbeats who snookered the clueless bureaucrats and are ripping off the Social Security system.
But the second thing the lack of fraud reporting tells me is that, deep down, these folks know it’s not true. They just like to gripe. Some of them like to hassle nice mothers with disabled sons who are parking closer to the front door of the grocery store than they can.
