Executive
Waste of the Day: Bigtime Disability Payouts May Stop People from Working, Report Finds
Social Security might pay more for disability than a recipient might earn at work, and return-to-work rules are too complex.
![Early American Eagle quarter reverse](https://cnav.news/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/USA-unknown-agency-logo.jpg)
Topline: Some disabled Americans on Social Security aren’t out of work solely because of their medical condition. Social Security payments themselves may “also contribute to disability beneficiaries’ reluctance to work,” according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.
Are disability payments higher than one could earn as wages and salary?
Key facts: Social Security paid $170 billion in disability benefits to 11 million people last year.
The GAO identified three issues with those payments that they say “disincentivize” beneficiaries from finding jobs.
The first reason is perhaps the most obvious: by returning to work, disability beneficiaries can lose some or all of their Social Security benefits and may end up with less income than if they were unemployed. They could also lose their Medicare or Medicaid coverage.
Social Security pays only for total disability — there are no benefits for partial disability or short-term disability.
If a person claims to be disabled and is working and earning more than $1,550 per month, they are not eligible for disability insurance payments. The Social Security Advisory Board has called this a “tax on work” that discourages employment.
Disabled Americans may also be hesitant to find work because potential benefit overpayments can leave them in debt, according to the GAO.
Between 70 and 80 percent of disabled individuals who return to work end up receiving too much money from Social Security because administrators often take too long to adjust benefit amounts.
Social Security then demands repayment once the mistakes are found, but sometimes the money has already been spent and the beneficiary struggles to refund it.
Complex rules for returning to work
The rules for returning to work are also so complicated that some Americans don’t understand them and never bother looking for a job.
One disability advocate cited in the GAO report said the laws in the 60-page rulebook are “so numerous and complex” that even most Social Security employees can’t grasp them.
Search all federal, state and local government salaries and vendor spending with the AI search bot, Benjamin, at OpenTheBooks.com.
Background: Disabled Americans can be eligible for both Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income.
OpenTheBooks found that from 2021 to 2022, the Supplemental Security Income fund mistakenly sent out $10.6 billion in “improper payments” to the wrong person or for the wrong amount.
Disability Insurance, together with Survivors and Old-Age Insurance, lost $5 billion to improper payments.
Only about 20% of improper Social Security payments were recaptured.
Summary: Congress has previously acknowledged the dangers of the so-called “benefits cliff” in Social Security. Changes are needed to encourage recipients to find work without penalizing them for doing so.
The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.
This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.
Adam Andrzejewski (say: Angie-eff-ski) was the CEO/founder of OpenTheBooks.com. Before dedicating his life to public service, Adam co-founded HomePages Directories, a $20 million publishing company (1997-2007). His works have been featured on the BBC, Good Morning America, ABC World News Tonight, C-SPAN, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, FOX News, CNN, National Public Radio (NPR), Forbes, Newsweek, and many other national media.
Today, OpenTheBooks.com is the largest private repository of U.S. public-sector spending. Mission: post "every dime, online, in real time." In 2022, OpenTheBooks.com captured nearly all public expenditures in the country, including nearly all disclosed federal government spending; 50 of 50 state checkbooks; and 25 million public employee salary and pension records from 50,000 public bodies across America.
The group's aggressive transparency and forensic auditing of government spending has led to the assembly of grand juries, indictments, and successful prosecutions; congressional briefings, hearings, and subpoenas; Government Accountability Office (GAO) audits; Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports; federal legislation; and much more.
Our Honorary Chairman - In Memoriam is U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, MD.
Andrzejewski's federal oversight work was included in the President's Budget To Congress FY2021. The budget cited his organization by name, bullet-pointed their findings, and footnoted/hyperlinked to their report.
Posted on YouTube, Andrzejewski's presentation, The Depth of the Swamp, at the Hillsdale College National Leadership Seminar 2020 in Naples, Florida received 3.8 million views.
Andrzejewski has spoken at the Columbia School of Journalism, Harvard Law School and the law schools at Georgetown and George Washington regarding big data journalism. As a senior policy contributor at Forbes, Adam had nearly 20 million pageviews on 206 published investigations. In 2022, investigative fact-finding on Dr. Fauci's finances led to his cancellation at Forbes.
In 2022, Andrzejewski did 473 live television and radio interviews across broadcast, major cable platforms, and radio shows. Andrzejewski is the author of The Waste of the Day column at Real Clear Policy. The column is syndicated by Sinclair Broadcast Group, owners of nearly 200 ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX affiliates across USA.
Andrzejewski passed away in his sleep at his home in in Hinsdale, Illinois, on August 18, 2024. He is survived by his wife Kerry and three daughters. He also served as a lector at St. Isaac Jogues Catholic Church and finished the Chicago Marathon eight times (PR 3:58.49 in 2022).
Waste of the Day articles published after August 18, 2024 are considered posthumous publications.
-
Civilization4 days ago
Kamala Harris on pure defense
-
Executive2 days ago
Trump, his enemies, and our enemies
-
Education4 days ago
U.S. Public School Enrollment Has Peaked
-
Constitution4 days ago
Jonathan Turley: The Struggle for and Promise of Free Speech
-
Education4 days ago
‘Diversity’ Doesn’t Include Disabled Veterans Like Me
-
Executive3 days ago
Waste of the Day: Colorado DNA Tester Didn’t Follow Procedures
-
Civilization3 days ago
Has Kamala Harris given up?
-
Civilization4 days ago
“We Will Fight the Taliban Again”