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Castro unveils sweeping disability plan

Zack Budryk

Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro on Wednesday issued a comprehensive disability plan that his campaign called “the most ambitious and intersectional agenda this cycle” to advance disabled people’s rights and opportunities.

The plan would make major investments in special education and infrastructure to ensure schools are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

It would also expand affordable housing to ensure access for disabled people, adding at least 450,000 accessible units, and developing disability-inclusive natural disaster evacuation plans.

via The Hill.

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We have added this story to our Election 2020 timeline.

You can view the whole timeline by clicking here.

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via twitter.

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Read the full endorsement letter by clicking here.

Under current law, a disabled individual’s benefits do not start immediately. Instead, all disabled individuals must wait fully five months after the onset of that individual’s disability before benefits can begin. Given that many of those who apply for disability have waited for years for a decision on their claim, it is an especially galling hardship that the start of their benefits is delayed by this five-month waiting period.

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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.

via On Social Security’s Anniversary, Lawmakers Defend SSDI Claims Process.

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via twitter.

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“The ‘Social Security 2100 Act’ can make a world of difference for Nettie , a Nat'l Committee member. A 2% across the board increase equaling about $300 annually for the average retiree, and a fairer cost of living index would give Nettie a modest boost to her monthly Social Security income.” -Max Richtman 

(Today at ‘Social Security 2100 Act’ hearing)

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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.

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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. 

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nyti.ms

On Disability and on Facebook? Uncle Sam Wants to Watch What You Post

If you’re on federal disability payments and on social media, be careful what you post. Uncle Sam wants to watch.

The Trump administration has been quietly working on a proposal to use social media like Facebook and Twitter to help identify people who claim Social Security disability benefits without actually being disabled. If, for example, a person claimed benefits because of a back injury but was shown playing golf in a photograph posted on Facebook, that could be used as evidence that the injury was not disabling.

via New York Times.

We are keeping an eye on this issue and you can too by signing up for our free newsletter, Your Morning Read, by clicking here.

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via twitter.

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The Trump administration has sent a grim message to America’s seniors.

President Trump’s 2020 budget proposal shortchanges seniors by:

• Slashing $845 billion from Medicare.
• Cutting $25 billion from Social Security Disability Insurance.
• Gutting Medicaid by 1.5 trillion.
• Cutting the Social Security Administration’s operating budget by 3.5%.
  

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Another Throwback Thursday – Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney once bragged about trying to convince President Trump that Social Security disability insurance was welfare.

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Turned down for federal disability payments, thousands die waiting for appeals to be heard

It isn’t easy to be patient when you can’t work and you’re in pain, as Christine Morgan knows all too well.

Her chronic pain comes from fibromyalgia. Morgan, 60, also has spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spaces within the spine that pinches the nerves, most often in the lower back and neck. To top it off, she is diabetic, has kidney disease, high blood pressure and depression.

Yet Morgan has been turned down for Social Security Disability Insurance –  twice. “They sent me a letter that said I wasn’t disabled,” she said.

Morgan appealed her most recent denial in August 2017. Her appeal wasn’t heard until more than a year later, on Nov. 7, and she still hasn’t received a ruling. She is among more than 800,000 Americans waiting for their appeals to be decided. Each year thousands die waiting for an answer.

In fiscal year 2016, 8,699 Americans died on the disability insurance waiting list. That number rose to 10,002 in 2017.

via Washington Post.

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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.

Fast Facts about Social Security Disability.

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The budgets Mulvaney submitted to Congress on behalf of the Trump administration called for some $500 billion in cuts to Medicare and $64 billion to Social Security Disability Insurance.

via New Acting White House Chief of Staff No Friend to Seniors.

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via twitter.

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.