Asheville Citizen-Times Op Ed Piece

From an op ed piece in the Asheville, NC Citizen-Times:

Americans who become disabled prior to retirement are forced to wait a disgraceful amount of time to receive the benefits they are entitled to. These taxpaying citizens deserve a vastly different and more just system of determining their disability. Most of these people have paid into the system for their entire lives through paycheck deductions to support the system that now betrays their trust.

The current system requires disabled citizens to wait an average of 512 days for a final decision by an administrative law judge as to whether they meet Social Security disability standards. Many others, including a large number of my clients, wait even longer for their day in court, losing homes, declaring bankruptcy and losing trust in the system to decide their case in a fair and timely manner. ...

This vicious and harsh attack on Americans who are least able to defend themselves must stop. The current Congress is finally taking steps to reduce this nightmare for disabled Americans. All of us should support increased funding and measures to make sure that the disabled citizens of our country receive the dignity and justice they deserve in resolving their disability applications. No one should be permitted to be kicked so hard for so long when they are physically and/or mentally unable to work.