Dear Editor,
Republicans have long pushed the idea that lots of people on social security disability are “fakers and takers” who don’t deserve those benefits. That push intensified when the number of social security recipients increased significantly after the financial crash in 2008, prompting calls to reduce the number of recipients to save money and to rid the rolls of the undeserving.
But the fact is that disability benefits are not easy to get. Most applications are denied.
Nevertheless, a recently proposed regulation would require that some recipients prove continuing disability more often than they do now. It specifically targets disabled workers between 50 and 65 who were awarded benefits not solely because of their disabilities, but because their disability coupled with being lower-skilled made successful employment unlikely.
Conservatives are offended by benefits for people whose impairments are less severe but who nonetheless have virtually no place in the labor market. But the idea that this rule will save significant money is a farce. Even if the projected savings of $2.8 billion over 10 years is realistic, implementing these extra examinations will cost upwards of $1.8 billion over that period. This is virtually a wash, especially when you take into account that other programs will likely have to make up for lost benefits and the ability to provide for themselves.
Will recipients subject to the new rule have the ability, capacity, and resources to prove their continued eligibility? Potentially, tens of thousands of people could lose their benefits.
Charlie Murphy,
Bennington
