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8,830,026: Americans on Disability Hits New Record for 192nd Straight Month

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posted on Feb, 6 2013 @ 11:13 AM
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How is this possible... 192 months of breaking records.... ??

We have not seen a decrease since 1997


The number of American workers collecting federal disability payments climbed to yet another record high of 8,830,026 in January, up from 8,827,795 in December, according to newly released data from the Social Security Administration.

This is the 192nd straight month that the number of American workers collecting federal disability payments has increased. The last time the number of Americans collecting disability decreased was in January 1997. That month the number of workers taking disability dropped by 249 people—from 4,385,623 in December 1996 to 4,385,374 in January 1997


The ratio of beneficiaries to full time workers needed to pay for it is way out of whack...


In January 2013, with a record 8,830,026 Americans collecting disability and 115,918,000 working fulltime, there were only 13 Americans working full-time for each person collecting disability.


In 1968 the ratio was 51:1, 1997 24:1 now we are 13:1 and slipping with the passing of each month...

cnsnews.com...

I've seen some of these people collecting disability and heard their stories.... we've got a problem


What say you? I know the population is aging but that can be projected,, what about the increasing claims made those who are far from retirement and afflicted with a variety of ailments of the day...??



posted on Feb, 6 2013 @ 11:35 AM
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Once they decided that depression was genuinely a disability everyone that didn't want to work ran down to their local Social security office and applied. I know people who did exactly that - perfectly capable of working but decided they'd prefer to live the good life on the taxpayer dime. Talk about unsustainable.



posted on Feb, 6 2013 @ 11:38 AM
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No mystery at all. When you want war without end against an enemy that has no real definition, and that war has no stated objectives or end in sight? You end up with a lot of disabled veterans you buy into supporting.

A simply call to your local SS office will verify that they are backlogged currently due to returning vets.

~Heff



posted on Feb, 6 2013 @ 11:39 AM
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OP your source's grasp of statistics and data is truly underwhelming.

Every month that fewer people on disability DIE than are added to the disability rolls will be a record month.

That's the figure your are quoting: the aggregate sum of persons receiving disability payments - the only way to get off that list is to DIE. Disabilities don't go away, that's the way the benefits system works - there's no such thing as a temporary disability when it comes to receiving government benefits.

Not saying there aren't scammers in the system, but you should be aware that not all disabilities are immediately apparent to the casual observer.

ganjoa
edit on 6-2-2013 by ganjoa because: blamed the OP not the source - corrected my bad



posted on Feb, 6 2013 @ 11:42 AM
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Baby boomers working later in life.

Must it be more difficult to comprehend?



posted on Feb, 6 2013 @ 11:42 AM
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reply to post by Hefficide
 


Sorry Heff, we usually agree on many issues, just not this one. For returning vets, the Veterans Administration determines disability benefits primarily, not the SSA. One would need to be rejected by the VA before seeking SSA benefits. Yes, there's a huge backlog, but it's not due primarily to returning vets.

ganjoa



posted on Feb, 6 2013 @ 11:42 AM
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I just found out, that a friends brother, is on disability, because he is angry and cannot work with other people.
He doesn't like being told what to do.

Could someone please explain to me, how this is acceptable?
The numbers you are posting OP, don't surprise me at all. Until they tighten up the reigns on what qualifies as disabled, it is going to get worse.



posted on Feb, 6 2013 @ 11:43 AM
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reply to post by jibeho
 


For every system there are those that will take advantage of it and there will be those who critically need it. It’s a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” kind of scenario.

You would have to make the qualifications for said services stricter, but then you risk equality/prejudicial issues, which always have a high price tag.

At this point it becomes what is more cost effect, Enforce stricter qualification for these services and pay legal fee’s/campaigns defending the position or just pay for everyone that currently qualifies and hope you a serving the majority of people that need said service.

Cost effectiveness is that name of the game in my opinion.



posted on Feb, 6 2013 @ 11:46 AM
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reply to post by jibeho
 
I think a lot of the problem is that people who physically and mentally are able to work will sit on their behinds and draw a disability check just because they can. It's the whole "entitlement" mindset. Just because you qualify for a particular program doesn't mean you should apply if you are able to take care of yourself without it. Both of my grown children qualify for disability payments, and have qualified their whole lives. Do they sit on their butts and wait for a government check? No! They both go out and work their butts off every day! Why? Because we raised them to be self-sufficient and not sit around waiting for a hand out when there are those who truly need the help. They were raised that they can do anything anybody else can do and that there would be no "pity parties" for them. That's a huge part of the problem- people being raised to play the victim and wait for someone else (govt.) to take care of them.

I don't have any problem with people who really need disability to survive; I have a problem with people who have the ability to do just fine without it but won't even try because they are "entitled" to it!



posted on Feb, 6 2013 @ 11:48 AM
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reply to post by chiefsmom
 


Based on my experience and others I've assisted in the process, your friend's brother must have had an extensive psychiatric profile and/or arrest history documented to obtain disability benefits from the SSA on the basis of anger management issues. Also, he must have put in months of paperwork and likely gone through the appellate process to convince the adminstrative law judge of his disability.

ganjoa



posted on Feb, 6 2013 @ 11:57 AM
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The average disability check is $1100 a month multiply that by 8,830,036 works out to be $ around $9.2 billion dollars every month multiply that by 12 months $116 billion dollas a year.

That is a big problem depression, and anexity qualifiers for disability? MEH


Anyone able to work should be there are those who simply can't someone sitting there telling me near 10 million a people are on disability there is something rotten in denmark.

Same way when people tell me 40 million are on welfare.



posted on Feb, 6 2013 @ 12:01 PM
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reply to post by MDDoxs
 


Your assessment is spot on. There is a whole industry of law firms and quasi-legal-admin firms that assist in obtaining SSA benefits. None of them can be engaged unless and until a claimant is rejected by the SSA. Unless a claimant has AIDS, Lou Gherig's disease and a number of similar immediately life threatenting and debiliting conditions, better than 95% of all initial claims are denied. There is a process in place, it is fairly rigorous and these firms all work for $5700 paid out of a claimant's "back pay" when/if they receive benefits.

For the ALJ that determines if a claimant receives benefits, it comes down to whether a specific disability is "on the list" AND whether the claimant's combinations of maladies prevents them from working. Based on prior case law, a major factor is whether there is ANY job the claimant can perform and there's a employment specialist that testifies as to whether any of these jobs exist in the national economy - if not, chances are you'll get your benefits.

ganjoa



posted on Feb, 6 2013 @ 12:11 PM
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reply to post by ganjoa
 


straight from the source as reported out of the DI trust fund...

www.socialsecurity.gov...

I believe that temporary/short term disability also exists. Does it not?

ETA

The whole point of disability benefits is to get people back to work and healthy who be came disabled while working. It was never intended to be a lifetime disbursement for the majority who collect it. Yes there are exceptions. I just saw a report by the GAO indicating that 6 people over the age of 100 are still collecting disability in addition to their other benefits. 400 plus over the age of 80. etc etc
edit on 6-2-2013 by jibeho because: (no reason given)



posted on Feb, 6 2013 @ 12:16 PM
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Originally posted by neo96
That is a big problem depression, and anexity qualifiers for disability? MEH


Anyone able to work should be there are those who simply can't someone sitting there telling me near 10 million a people are on disability there is something rotten in denmark.


I know that there are people who game the system. Given my own experience trying to get disability though, it has been next to impossible. I am aware that even mentioning that I am attempting to get disability will gain the ire of many posters, regardless of the medical issue, but it is what it is.

It is extremely frustrating to me that people are even considered for disability with things like anxiety and depression, much less accepted!

I have many medical issues, but the main issue is very, very severe osteoporosis. My back/spine has been broken for nearly 18 months now, as well as my hip. They will not heal due to the osteoporosis, and if you have ever broken a bone, you can imagine that this is debilitating. It basically feels like the moment you broke that bone, but it never improves and the pain never stops. It is a constant state of severe pain. I have to make sure I sneeze and cough in a certain way because I am in danger of breaking my neck...

And yet, I am told by SSD that I am perfectly fine to work 40 hours a week, and there are plenty of jobs I can do. They even said that one of those jobs was shipping/stocking as well as construction!

Then they give it to people who have something like depression? While my medical bills continue to stack up due to continuing treatment and I go further into debt to literally save my life, it is determined that someone who is depressed is more worthy of assistance?

It is truly and deeply insulting. I am currently on my third appeal.
edit on 6-2-2013 by Serdgiam because: (no reason given)



posted on Feb, 6 2013 @ 12:22 PM
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reply to post by ganjoa
 


Aually a returning vet can get three disabilities. DoD, VA, and SSD. I'm not saying they can or will get all three, only that it is possible.



posted on Feb, 6 2013 @ 12:26 PM
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reply to post by Serdgiam
 



I know that there are people who game the system. Given my own experience trying to get disability though, it has been next to impossible. I am aware that even mentioning that I am attempting to get disability will gain the ire of many posters, regardless of the medical issue, but it is what it is.

It is extremely frustrating to me that people are even considered for disability with things like anxiety and depression, much less accepted!


Sounds like a sure fire recipe for being depressed to me. (HINT HINT HINT)


I no longer have a major beef with folks who are gaming the system. I hope these number reach not just an unsustainable level, but a critical level, in fact. The faster the government accounts are driven to total insolvency, the fast we are forced to start over, and the brighter the future becomes.



posted on Feb, 6 2013 @ 12:33 PM
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reply to post by burdman30ott6
 


A brighter future indeed, but can you imagine the darkness before that state is reached?

People with actual disabilities will have nothing and will become victimized on a grand scale.

People with no disabilities (but claiming benefits) will have nothing and will victimize anyone they are able to.

The population as a whole will come under assault to support those who have lived their entire lives off the government teat.

It's an ugly road to reach a beautiful goal.



posted on Feb, 6 2013 @ 12:40 PM
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Originally posted by 200Plus
It's an ugly road to reach a beautiful goal.


At times that's the definition of life, though.



posted on Feb, 6 2013 @ 12:47 PM
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Meh. I know at least a dozen people personally who are on Disability and have literally nothing wrong with them. Generally they did have something wrong, back spasms, herniated disks, something minor - and they got pushed through the system and the problems ceased, and they continue.

Not only do many of them collect disability, but many of them work on top of that under the table doing jobs they are "disabled" from doing. I know an entire family who is on disability for no real reasons whatsoever - things like elevated heart rate and back pain.

The government needs the healthy people to be dependent, because it is the healthy ones that can cause the most trouble. Screw the ones that actually NEED the benefits. Disability has become just like every other dependency program. It is now nothing more than a big dangling teet for the public to suckle on and forget out to survive on their own.



posted on Feb, 6 2013 @ 02:28 PM
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Originally posted by jibeho
reply to post by ganjoa
 


The whole point of disability benefits is to get people back to work and healthy who be came disabled while working. It was never intended to be a lifetime disbursement for the majority who collect it. Yes there are exceptions.


That is NOT the way the current SSDI system works - in order to collect disability benefits, you have to be permanently disabled according to their (SSA) criteria. There are some supplementary subsistence benefits (SSI) that may be temporary, but the qualifications and situations are completely different than "disability benefits". There aren't any real "programs" to help you get back to work once you've gone through the process to receive SSDI benefits - they have a "work credit" program that let's you make a bit of money without affecting your benefits, but it is insubstantial at best.

ganjoa



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