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Related Reading:
Trump Executive Order Will Hurt Social Security Disability Claimants.
Those politically-appointed judges could reject valid disability claims simply because the administration doesn’t support the program. The president’s 2019 budget would slash SSDI by $64 billion over ten years. His budget director, Mick Mulvaney, famously said last year that he doesn’t consider SSDI to be part of Social Security even though “Social Security” is part of its name.
Myths about Mental Illness and Social Security Disability Insurance Debunked.
In order to justify its $64 billion in cuts to Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), the Trump administration and its allies have had to propagate several myths. The most insidious one is that many SSDI recipients are not truly worthy of benefits. They have suggested that mental illness is among the more dubious qualifications for SSDI.
President Trump released an FY 2019 budget today proposing deep spending reductions for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), and myriad other federal programs that help older Americans, the poor, and people with disabilities.
Here are some of the highlights (or lowlights) of the President’s proposed FY 2019 budget that impact society’s most vulnerable:
- Some $500 billion in Medicare spending reductions over ten years, most of which would affect providers and suppliers, but could potentially impact beneficiaries, too.
- $1.4 trillion in cuts to Medicaid (which covers long-term care for millions of seniors) through restructuring the program.
- Some $700 billion in spending reductions from “repealing and replacing Obamacare.”
- $64 million in cuts to Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI).
- Reduces the Social Security Administration’s request for administrative funding by $90 million from FY 2017 levels, which would further exacerbate SSA’s customer service issues.
- Defunds the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which helps low income seniors pay their heating bills.
Read more about President Trump’s
budget by clicking here.
I read a recent article on Social Security Disability with great interest. My brother is among one of those dying while the Social Security Administration drags its feet, ignoring his desperate cry for help…
…It has been more than a year since he filed his Social Security claim and has to go through the process of appeal. He has had to get a lawyer. Because he was in the Navy, he has to use the Veteran’s Administration medical assistance, which is 35 miles from his home. He often does not have the gas money it takes to get there because he has been made so poor by all of this.
via Quad City Times.
Related Reading:
- Social Security’s 82nd anniversary — why doesn’t this agency still have an adequate budget?
- Today, Social Security provides basic financial security for some 61 million Americans. Two out of three seniors rely on Social Security for most of their income, and one-third of seniors depend on it for at least 90 percent of their income. It is one of the most efficient federal programs. Less than 1 percent of Social Security’s revenue goes to administrative costs — the rest, to beneficiaries.
- In fact, the SSA’s core operating budget has shrunk by 10 percent since 2010…
- These cuts resulted in an SSA hiring freeze, the closure of more than 60 field offices across the country, and lengthy delays in processing Disability Insurance (DI) applications appeals. (Some 1 million applicants are awaiting much-delayed hearings.)
People who have applied for Social Security Disability Insurance and been turned down twice are having to wait a record number of days to get a hearing in front of a judge and receive a decision.
The average wait time is 596 days or 19½ months, up from 545 days in September and only 353 days in 2012. The backlog of cases pending a hearing stands at about 1.1 million, up from 700,000 in 2010.
Those who ultimately win their case can get federal disability benefits, known as SSDI, dating back to five months after the date of their original claim. (Some can get benefits retroactive to their original claim, if they can prove they were disabled before they filed it.)
Related Reading:
- Social Security’s 82nd anniversary — why doesn’t this agency still have an adequate budget?
- Today, Social Security provides basic financial security for some 61 million Americans. Two out of three seniors rely on Social Security for most of their income, and one-third of seniors depend on it for at least 90 percent of their income. It is one of the most efficient federal programs. Less than 1 percent of Social Security’s revenue goes to administrative costs — the rest, to beneficiaries.
- In fact, the SSA’s core operating budget has shrunk by 10 percent since 2010…
- These cuts resulted in an SSA hiring freeze, the closure of more than 60 field offices across the country, and lengthy delays in processing Disability Insurance (DI) applications appeals. (Some 1 million applicants are awaiting much-delayed hearings.)
I think any budget that we pass out of the House must include entitlement reform
Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), chairman of the House Freedom Caucus.
Related Reading:
New Poll Shows Majorities Do Not Support GOP Proposals for Social Security and Medicare.
Sign Our Petition:
President Donald Trump’s new budget proposal would cut Social Security payouts by $84 billion over the next decade while providing fewer resources to explain the changes to recipients.
The cuts come from a variety of changes to how the program’s disability insurance component functions. Though Trump has previously made repeated promises to shield Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits from the budget ax, his administration asserts that cuts to Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) do not constitute cuts to the Social Security program writ large.
The budget plan projects $47.5 billion in additional cuts to SSDI from unspecified “new approaches to increase labor force participation.” A further $10 billion in cuts would be generated by reducing the amount of retroactive payment a disabled person can receive for time out of the work force prior to their decision to seek coverage.
The budget tables list a series of other changes to the disability insurance system that each generate smaller cuts, with a total of $84.09 billion in savings over the decade.
via Think Progress.
Related Reading:
Trump 2020 Budget Shortchanges Seniors.
Among other things, the White House budget cuts $25 billion from Social Security Disability Insurance, $845 billion from Medicare – and $1.5 trillion from Medicaid. This is from a President who promised “not to touch” older Americans’ earned benefits.
Asked Monday if the Trump administration would address “entitlement reform,” White House chief economic advisor Larry Kudlow said it will “probably” look at “larger entitlements” next year. Entitlement reform generally refers to changes or cuts to large government social programs such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid or food stamps.
via CNBC.
Related Reading:
Trump Advisor Re-Affirms Commitment to Cutting Social Security & Medicare.
- This aligns with comments from National Republican Congressional Committee chair, Rep. Steve Stivers, House Speaker Paul Ryan, and several other key GOP members about the need to pay for last year’s tax cuts by ‘reforming’ Social Security and Medicare. ‘Reforming,’ of course, means cutting and privatizing.
Yesterday at a rally, President Trump claimed Republicans were going to “protect” your Social Security. Well, we did a little research and found they haven’t proposed a bill yet to help the program.
We also found that President Trump’s budget CUTS Social Security disability.
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via twitter.
Related Reading:
Trump 2019 Budget Shortchanges Seniors, Poor, Disabled.
- President Trump released an FY 2019 budget today proposing deep spending reductions for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), and myriad other federal programs that help older Americans, the poor, and people with disabilities.
Even so, eligibility standards are stringent. Only about 40% of SSDI applications are approved. Claimants who are denied benefits can request a hearing before an administrative law judge. Because Congress chronically underfunded SSA operations from 2010-2017, wait times for disability hearings escalated – up to two years in some cases. Thousands of claimants have died waiting for hearings.