ABC's Nightline ran a report either Thursday or Friday night on the work that Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG) does in pursuing those who lie to obtain or to continue receiving Social Security disability benefits. No grand schemes are revealed, just the sort of behavior that's inevitable whenever money is involved.
I do have a couple of complaints about the written version of the story. First, the number of disability claims being filed is going down, not up as the story claims. Second and probably more important in this kind of story, there's nothing illegal about working while trying to go on Social Security disability benefits or trying to stay on those benefits. You get in trouble when you fail to reveal that work. They want disabled people to try to work. There are complex rules about work activity and Social Security disability benefits. Many people legitimately receive Social Security disability benefits while working. No one should assume that there is something illegal going on when a person receiving Social Security disability benefits is working. There's nothing illegal going on in most cases.
simply failing to report earnings or work activity to SSA is illegal. So I question your statement that "There's nothing illegal going on in most cases".
ReplyDeleteYou continually criticize unsupported conclusions, yet jump to one quickly yourself.
Nice phrase, Charles: "just the sort of behavior that's inevitable whenever money is involved." What sort of behavior should be inevitable when reporting responsibilities are ignored? What sort of behavior should be inevitable when laws are broken? What sort of behavior should be inevitable when enforcement is ignored? It seems that excuses are easier to accept than accountability.
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