Americans know so little about Social Security in general and about Social Security disability benefit in particular. According to new research, 24% of Americans don’t realize that there is such a thing as Social Security disability benefits. 7% don’t realize that you need to apply in order to be approved for those benefits. Yes, I have clients who have a hard time understanding that they won’t have a chance at being approved for Social Security disability unless they apply.
Nov 5, 2022
They Don’t Know How Much They Don’t Know
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15 comments:
It's a bit amazing that when the 12 month duration is explained to someone that they still want to file and think they will be approved even if they have a simple broken arm or something else that normally resolves within a few weeks. Their optimism is very high.
It seems as if the claimants with the least optimism were frequently the sicker ones that usually were approved.
I think alot of people are not aware that to get social security disability you have to have worked enough to get the credits neccesary also. If not then you may be able to get SSI which is supplemental social security. The thing I am somewhat confused about is working while oon SSI.
I literally have to say "Social Security retirement benefits" or "Social Security disability benefits", no shorthand, when talking to claimants or they get confused.
I can't point fingers. Before I got hired at SSA I couldn't tell you one thing about Social Security beyond the (incorrect) belief it wouldn't be around by the time I got that age.
I don’t know the agency even existed until I applied to work there.
I'm pretty sure that most people don't give disability a second thought until they become disabled.
I'm still amazed that there is this entire system dedicated to it.
Recently I had to tell two relatives to file for disability.
In the first instance his wife said he wasn't disabled, he just couldn't work full time. And BTW, she is receiving SSDI benefits herself, after I told her which attorney to use.
Second one, similar, wife is on SSDI, told her that her husband could file for SSDI. She said, oh, we didn't even think of that. He has stage 4 melanoma.
My mother in law couldn't wrap her head around what I did at SSA despite me explaining it in the simpliest terms. She still wanted to know "but what do you DO ALL DAY?"
Being a claimant, it's taken me almost 20 years to figure out SSA enough to navigate around without running into walls (and there are still plenty enough walls left to run into). Much thanks to this blog, Charles! You help not only other legal service providers, you help us claimants figure out where to go next, or who does what, or the fact all the offices were closed for 2 years. I would not have known that, and many other things without this blog. Another big thanks to you, Charles. You provide a great service.
I wish the concept of a "DLI" could be explained. I know it's confusing, but people who apply with really severe current illnesses, but DLI's years in the past upset me. I try to explain when I can, but I just don't have time to tell everyone.
The general public's lack of knowledge about Social Security is a big part of the reason why politicians think they can get away with ignoring the agency, and the disability program in particular. Hard to justify political attention to a disability program that many Americans do not even know exists. And the politicians themselves lack a basic understanding of the how the SSD case process works, so even if they wanted to intervene, I have a hard time believing it would help.
I was thinking of this the other day; I though back to when I started working at 16 years old and how I had no clue as to what all of the deductions were from my paycheck. No one told me, and I never thought to ask. There should have been a course that you went through for that- "Start working and Start knowing what Social Security is all about".
Fast forward to when I was on Disability at age 37; I had already lost my job because of it and only had unemployment which ran out pretty quickly. Then I was on Food Stamps and my parents tried to help me with money. When on Food Stamps for some time, I was told that I needed to work to continue to get them- volunteer work that they would setup. I told them I could not work due to a disability and gave them a doctor’s note. I figured that was it. Food Stamps and (now) a few hundred a month for the SSI they put me on with the strength of that doctors note- not enough to live on by any means.
But there was more...Eventually I was contacted by the State and told that since I was on SSI, I now had to apply for SSDI. I had no idea what all of these things were! I had a degree and had a senior level IT job before I lost it, and yet nowhere down the line did I ever think or did SS ever think to educate me on what these benefits were all about, not even after decades of taking deductions.
So, I applied for the SSDI and was approved. Had events not unfold the way that they had, I would have no idea of what SSDI was and probably would not be collecting currently and possibly have nothing at all to help support me.
It would help to educate people about SSA benefits if SSA were to resume regularly sending paper copies of individualized Social Security Statements to people age 25 and up.
People won't set up an online account if they don't even know about it. Sending annual paper statements to all is expensive, so sending every 5th birthday as previously proposed would be better than none at all. Not only would the statements inform people of projected retirement and disability benefits, it would help with detection of errors.
Both Social Security retirement and disability are once in a lifetime events. For retirement you might do planning and educate yourself. Most do not. For disability, no one thinks about it so no one educates themselves ahead of time. Most folks do not know it exists.
12:01 I usually explain DLI like car insurance. If you stop paying for car insurance and your policy runs out and then you get in an accident, your car might be damaged but the insurance company isn't going to pay to fix it. If someone stopped paying their disability insurance premiums (FICA contributions) a long time ago, their policy ran out. Even though they later got a disability, the insurer (SSA) isn't going to pay out any benefits.
This explanation isn't going to work for someone who totally doesn't understand insurance or who has cognitive issues or a language barrier or something, but I find that a lot of people get it when you explain it that way.
I have a very hard time believing the findings. In poor areas there are people on benefits, they talk to each other quite a bit. EVERY hospital social worker that is doing release contacts talks about SSA disability filings in our area, and it is even in the discharge paperwork, there are literally dozens of TV commercials for disability advocates, though not as many as when a certain cowboy hatted individual covered every single late night market in the country.
How you ask a question drives the answer.
That’s the way I usually explain it as well and I would say most people are able to understand it.
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