Aug 4, 2015

Conference Today

      For what it's worth:
Today, the McCrery-Pomeroy SSDI Solutions Initiative will be hosting an all-day solutions conference. 
The conference will feature 12 policy proposals to improve the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program, written for the initiative by authors from a variety of backgrounds and perspectives. The conference will also feature opening remarks by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT), mid-day remarks from Bob Greenstein, president of the Center for Budget and Policy Priories, and a wrap-up panel including Congressmen McCrery and Pomeroy alongside Social Security experts Mark Warshawsky and Alan Cohen. 
We invite you to watch the SSDI Solutions Conference live, today from 8:45 am to 5:00 pm on our livestream. You can find a full agenda on our website. 
Also, in case you missed, it please check out Congressmen McCrery and Pomeroy’s op-ed on SSDI in The Hill. 
 To watch the SSDI Solutions conference live, click here.
     This is sponsored by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which is, at least on this issue, largely a front organization for Pete Peterson's longstanding campaign to cut Social Security. Yes, there are some bipartisan trappings but this is basically a right wing group.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

The best way to improve the Social Security program is to fully fund it and to remove or raise the earnings cap so that those who make a lot of money pay their fair share.

Anonymous said...

Are you suggesting that they will receive their fair share back in benefits or are you just suggesting another wealth redistribution program?? Those who make a lot of money already support a lot who make very little money.

Anonymous said...

And those who make very little make it possible for those with very much to have what they have.

Anonymous said...

What about those who do nothing?

Max Abilify said...

I know it's politically correct to oppose any discussion of reforms to Social Security disability, particularly if any of them are proposed by Republican members of Congress, but some of those proposals actually make sense to me. The idea of a time-limited partial disability program is worth exploring. Ditto with eliminating recon and expanding case development at the initial claim level. I suggest that all readers click on the link and at least read the summaries of the discussion areas not just that the proposals all come from the Koch brothers or some such nonsense.

Anonymous said...

Time limited disability is an idea whose time has come. It would eliminate the CDR process (thereby saving millions), while also ultimately reducing the roles of beneficiaries. We already have time limited unemployment insurance.

There is obviously a caveat for injuries/illness for which there is no known recovery option, but when we know that surgery can repair a broken leg, let's make that a defined period of disability.

Next to go...child "disability."

Anonymous said...

@10:22, so there is no such thing as a disabled child?

Anonymous said...

8:27 PM, those make it possible for Democrats to get elected...

Anonymous said...

@ 8:27 PM who is doing nothing to contribute to this society?

Children? They don't work, but they sure use up a lot of goods and services, which allows others to work and pay their bills and taxes.

Prisoners? If you look at society now, prisoners evidently serve a very useful purpose to provide profits to corporations that lock them up.

Criminals? Even criminals have to eat. They also buy things like cars and guns, which of course lets others live their lives.

The disabled? Even if they don't see doctors, they still live somewhere, eat food, etc. See above.

Perhaps you could elaborate on your definition of doing nothing, because the only person I can think of right now would be the Unabomber when he was in hiding.

Anonymous said...

9:16 and 10:22 - have you heard of a closed period of disability?

Anonymous said...

Time limited benefits are already part of the law, just not enforced because congress and the president have not pushed hard enough. I know the president proposes a higher budge than congress passed. However, this is the first time he has begun to talk about SSA in his entire presidency. He just has not led in this area.

It is called CDR. Mandate CDRs on allowances up to age 62 and even after in some cases, fund SSA to complete accurate CDRs (not Regan CDRs). SSA will still pay 90 - 95% of the cases, but even 5% off the rolls is real savings.

However, suppose congress and the president still do not fund SSA sufficiently. Why can't SSA take the percentage of cases remanded or reversed by the AC, what 15% now, and reduce the AC funding by 70%. Then demand that money/ staffing be directed to CDRs. Far better return. In addition, adjudicators who conduct CDRs must explain decisions, are held to quality review and must report productivity. Something the AC has never done.

Anonymous said...

Time limited disability will save millions? 10:22, you may eliminate CDRs, but SSA will then be swamped with new applications as those who are permanently disabled reapply for benefits and create more cases to come before DDS and ALJs. There would be a constant turn-over of cases in and out of the system. Or, are you proposing that even the most permanently disabled claimant will only get a certain number of years of benefits, then can go and starve to death? Is this idea based on the assumption that people put on disability can usually go back to work? One of the criteria for SSA disability is that the disability be permanent or predicted to be terminal. That is why these 'go back to work' schemes are unsuccessful--most of the beneficiaries are permanently disabled--the system works as it should.

I believe that one of Charles' blogs cited the statistic that within about 5 years of going onto disability status, 1 in 5 males and 1 in 6 females die. While my office does not follow every client for the rest of their lives, in our comparatively small community, the obituaries frequently list former clients.

These schemes to expend so much energy AND MONEY are mostly a waste of resources that could be used to actually help disabled people and not oppress them.

Anonymous said...

The system is already swamped with repeat filers, so I don't think time limited disability is any different than the CDR process. It actually already exists in childhood disability cases because I think most SSI children are ceased at the age 18 CDR. For that reason alone, I suggest removing childhood disability all together. Just give them welfare because that's what it amounts to in the SSI program. Don't tell a kid he's disabled and then miraculously "healed" at age 18 and expected to get a job! Just call it welfare for anyone under 18...plain and simple.