The American Association for Disability Policy Reform
— rehabilitation first —
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Help for the Disabled
Those who apply for disability benefits range from those who are extremely disabled to those who have few impairments and really could return to work. Our current national policy encourages all of them to look useless and submits all to the disability lottery (details). Those who win get less than $1,000 a month. The losers get nothing. Because of the poor current support for vocational rehabilitation, those who want to return to work often can't.
Consider how we could be supporting those who are completely disabled with no hope of returning to work: (The names below are fictitious.)
- We could provide much better benefits, with the benefits tailored to the needs of the individual. Consider Sue, who had a brain tumor removed, making her unable to do even simple unskilled work. She is able to live with her husband at home but she needs about $1,400 each month in medical care. The $800 she gets each month doesn't cover her medical expenses, let alone her living expenses. Sue needs benefits that are appropriate for her actual needs.
- Those who are extremely disabled sometimes need constant care. An example is Jim, who flew off his motorcycle at a high speed and sustained a major head injury but lived. He'll spend the rest of his short life in a nursing home, needing to be spoon-fed. The $700 he gets from the Supplemental Security Income each month will cover about 10% of his needs. Fortunately, only a small portion of disability applicants are as disabled as Jim. They generally don't live long. We should not leave their support to chance and, with the $446 billion we're spending each year for disability benefits, we could do much better for people like Jim. They need benefits that are tailored to fit their actual needs.
- Those who would be able to return to work with the help of comprehensive vocational rehabilitation should get just that. This includes diagnosis and treatment, vocational placement, education, financial support for a limited time during the transition back to work, and help to the employer in adapting the workplace to the employee. Their needs are very different than the needs of the others. We should give them the help they need (details).
With the $555 billion we are spending each year on disability benefits, we could do much better. Surely reform is needed.
Last updated on 1/17/2020.