Two more parting shots from Trump aimed squarely at disabled workers

[left-of-center2012]

In the wake of Joe Biden’s victory, the Trump administration is trying to make it harder for workers with disabilities to collect Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). The Social Security Administration (SSA) is finalizing two new rules that, in the words of Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), “would weaken the promise of Social Security for Americans struggling with a disability.” One rule would replace the administrative law judges (ALJs) who decide disability appeal cases with politically-motivated agency lawyers. ALJ’s are impartial; SSA attorneys may try to deny benefits based on ideology rather than the needs of disabled workers.

The second rule would add a new level of Continuing Disability Reviews (CDRs), imposing an unnecessary burden on disabled beneficiaries to prove that they are still eligible — and may cause some to lose their benefits altogether.

Sen. Wyden, the ranking member of the Senate Finance committee, labeled the administration’s actions as "harassment of people with disabilities." Others have called the new rules just plain “mean.”

The rules are mean because SSDI beneficiaries already receive extremely modest benefits (averaging less than $15,000 per year, barely above the federal poverty line). There is a lingering, insidious myth propagated in conservative circles that SSDI payments to go ‘malingerers’ who do not qualify for benefits, but continue receiving money they do not deserve. This is simply not true. Numerous congressional hearings and investigations have not uncovered widespread abuse of SSDI.

https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/527277-two-more-parting-shots-from-trump-aimed-squarely-at-disabled-workers

[WA-03 Democrat]

1. Evil

Pure evil.

[BainsBane]

6. +1

[Demovictory9]

8. +2

[Ohiogal]

2. Instead of going after a person who gets $15,000 a year on disability

Why don’t we go after millionaires, billionaires, and corporations who pay little to no income taxes.

[BainsBane]

7. well said. nt

[crickets]

9. Agreed. nt

[Trailrider1951]

21. Because right now our govt is owned by the wealthy

but we can change that in January, especially if Warnock and Ossoff are elected to the senate

[Takket]

3. i am happy to see this "on the radar" of Senator Wyden

I was so disgusted by this I wrote letters to both my senators and my house rep (all Dems) to describe what this was and why it was so awful. i was quite afraid with drumpf literally attempting a coup that it would go unnoticed and simply go into effect with no Dems realizing it.

Now that I know the "word is out" on this attempt to kill the disabled (which is ultimately what this is) I will sleep better tonight.

[Doreen]

4. I just got both extremely angry and terrified.

I am on SSDI but do not look disabled and talking to me for a few minutes does not show my disability. I am one of the first type of people they will kick off.

It is so fucking odd that the first Soc-Sec they want to wipe out is the kind you only get if you have worked enough. Soc-Sec for retirees is next.

[IvanMascervesa]

5. I agree, the intent is nothing more than a poorly disguised

attempt to cut Social Security benefits. However I have spent many years lobbying for changes the could assist disabled workers access work incentives and health coverage. The amount of an SSDI payment is calculated exactly the same way Social Security retired payments are calculated, it’s based on the amount someone has paid in while working. The whole archaic system needs to start moving in the opposite direction. Instead of providing people a pittance to survive on, they could be providing opportunities for support services, health care and chances for employment. Perhaps the new administration can demonstrate that helping people out of poverty isn’t the evil socialist plot that half the country is convinced it is.

[58Sunliner]

10. It's a nice thought that support would address the issues the disabled face.

Currently it is a slippery slope for those who are disabled and could only work part time, or sporadically. The danger is you lose your benefits and may have to re-qualify for SSDI. Most people are disabled because they can not work consistently. The other aspect is how to regulate the private sector to support the disabled. The risk is to get off SSDI and find out you need to go back on SSDI. Another aspect is you lose your medical care. Unless you have a well paying job, the expenses associated with employment are overwhelming and they deduct that salary from your payments. We make the disabled walk the plank. Why not just pay them and let them work part time without losing any benefits.

[IvanMascervesa]

15. I'm not arguing, we are on the same team, but...

You don’t lose Medicare if you work your way off SSDI, that’s called Extended Period of Medicare Coverage. You don’t have to worry about getting back on again, that’s called Expedited Reinstatement. There are a lot of work incentives that allow people to work without losing their benefits until they are at a point where they can earn a decent wage, Trial Work Period, Extended Period of Eligibility, and many more. You can even suspend the medical reviews they are trying to increase through the Ticket to Work. Work expenses can even be deducted from your earned income.

The point is the rules are in place to give people a chance if they had the support to access those tools. Most people have to fight so hard just to get their benefits that they never get to point where they can feel there is any other option.

[58Sunliner]

18. The problem with SSDI is both the trust issue and a social justice issue.

People don't trust SSDI bureaucracy and rightly so. What they have to go through to get on disability takes a lot of time, an appeal, a lawyer and a judge. If people thought that they would be treated fairly and that SS would respond quickly to their changing needs, they might explore some sort of work options, if one were able. The system that is designed to deny you benefits, is now supposed to be your advocate? Bad faith, horror stories about denying people benefits are not an urban myth. It's not a risk many disabled people feel they can take. And rightly so. The politics that keep trying to chip away at benefits, the social stigma, etc.. is destructive as well. Then there are the policies that prevent people from finding employment once they have a worker's comp case in their background. Many will not even be considered because of it. We are on the same side. Until we get a system that cares and looks to support our vulnerable, a society that has an inherent value change in how we treat the disabled on the job, at home, in medical treatment, and politically, I'm afraid we won't effectuate real options or real change.

[UTUSN]

11. His sickness is incredible.

Last edited Thu Nov 26, 2020, 04:16 PM - Edit history (3)

[Journeyman]

12. I can't imagine how they can make it harder on the disabled than it is today . . .

My brother experienced a disability more than 30 years ago. It left him permanently disabled on his left side. It has gotten progressively worse each year since. Where originally he could walk somewhat, with difficulty, today he's confined to a wheelchair. And yet, every year since he was first diagnosed, he's had to prove -- over and over again -- that he is disabled, has not improved, and never shall.

It's been just an annual slap in the face, forcing him to face both the intractability of his situation and the deterioration of his condition. He knows his situation; he deals with it hourly. Yet every year, without fail, he has to schedule medical appointments so he can provide a fresh diagnosis attesting to his condition. And every one of those new diagnoses notated, with finality, that his condition is permanent and will never be reversed.

I just cannot imagine what this "new level of Continuing Disability Reviews" may entail, indeed, what harassment it may portend for those who must accede to ever more bizarre demands in a desperate quest to make -- not a living wage, but a small stipend that will help them survive.

[Sugarcoated]

13. I know quite a few Trumper's

collecting disability and have been for years and years

[littlemissmartypants]

14. From the source

The incoming Biden administration could rescind or revise Trump’s rules, which are scheduled to take effect on Dec.16. Unfortunately, the list of rules from the Trump administration that need to be reversed will be quite long.

https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/527277-two-more-parting-shots-from-trump-aimed-squarely-at-disabled-workers

❤lmsp

[58Sunliner]

19. That's what I was hoping for.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

16. I am terrorized

Everytime rethugs take power. Because I know they want me to suffer more. Rethugs hate disabled people . They
Want us to die. If they can't make us die they want to harass and rob us. I hate assholes who make my life harder than it already is. I wish Biden could cut trumps abusive regulations and put in new regulations that keep rethugs in the future from fucking us over.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

17. Thanks for the heads up.

Still fighting for mine. It's taking a long time as it is due to Covid. Glad I got an attorney. They are trying to pull a lot and my legal team is calling them on it.

[58Sunliner]

20. My heart goes out to all disabled people. This is just more abuse.

[WyattKansas]

22. Conservative circles criticize that SSDI payments go to 'malingerers' who do not qualify, because...

Those same conservative circles are the actual ones milking SSDI benefits to have a guaranteed cash flow and medical benefits for little boo boos that normal working people just put up with and go to work to keep surviving. Why? Because even though they don't need it, the conservatives look at it like free money from the government. Even though they do not actually need it as a lifeline to survive in their grifter opulent world that doesn't know what real misery of struggling to remain working despite failing health and disability always making you work harder to keep yourself employable... In spite of not knowing if you will really be okay throughout the day and hiding that from employers and co-workers in our vulture capitalism country.

[Ziggysmom]

23. I'm a former Disability Adjudicator and I've seen plenty of fraud, just sayin 🤨

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/retirement/120516/social-security-fraud-what-it-costing-taxpayers.asp

According to the most recent statistics available, between 2004 and 2017, the Social Security Administration (SSA) admits to improper payments totaling $1.3 trillion. Retirement, survivors, disability insurance, and Supplemental Security Income were all involved. The use of fake or stolen Social Security numbers to obtain fraudulent tax refunds from the IRS also costs taxpayers billions each year, the IRS reports.

Most mental impairments are difficult to prove. I often saw selective symptoms where the claimant was too depressed or anxious to work, but had no trouble going out, taking vacations or having fun. It’s a slippery slope.

[Delmette2.0]

24. My son's friend has never been able to work.

My oldest son, now deceased from his disability, had a friend who has his own disability. Joe has always kept in touch with me and I help out when I can. He is living on $8,000 a year. He has only worked odd jobs paid in cash. He has mowed lawns, cleaned out sheds, garages and what ever.

Now they want to take away the pittance he gets and make him homeless??!!

Fuck Trump sideways with....what ever is handy. I hate that man.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

25. All the Fascist Oligarch eXtremists drool over that pile of SS money.