Crime Doesn't Pay, Part Eleventy Million

     From the Worcester, Massachusetts Telegram:

A former Social Security Administration employee from Worcester who pleaded guilty in June to fraudulently disbursing thousands of dollars in government money in return for bribes was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison Friday. 

Julio Klapper, a married father of five who solicited sexual activity from a cooperating government witness while under investigation, told a judge Friday he was ashamed of his conduct and apologized. ... 

On June 10 Mr. Klapper pleaded guilty to a single count of bribery after federal investigators caught him in a 2016 attempt to funnel $8,600 to a claimant in exchange for $2,000. Separately from that offense, the government said, he funneled more than $70,000 to others between 2015 and 2016 in exchange for more than $15,000 in bribes. ...

Why Should Becoming Disabled Lead To Impoverishment?

     Eric Harwood has written a moving piece for the Washington Post about his struggles as he waited for Social Security to act on his disability claim. Here's an excerpt:

... My wife and I began selling our things. We had to sell our car, and I sold my motorcycle, which I had built from the ground up. It wasn’t anything special, nothing fancy; but it was something I put a lot of time and sweat in to. I sold it to cover living expenses for about four months. We sold our furniture, and my wife took her clothes to a secondhand consignment shop in Las Vegas to sell them, too. I had 23 remote-controlled cars that I had accumulated over many years — one of my hobbies. I had to sell the entire collection to make it by. Kitchen appliances and everything else we could think of to put up for sale went, too.

On Feb. 12, 2016, my wife and I officially became homeless. We decided to leave Nevada for Arizona, where we would move in with my wife’s parents. When we left our home, we rented a 17-foot U-Haul truck, and we didn’t even fill half of it. That was all we had left in our world. We also left behind my wife’s brand new business. But the worst part was leaving behind our grown daughter, the most important thing in both of our lives. We waved goodbye to her, and went to Arizona. ...

     By the way, the author and whoever at the Washington Post edited this piece seem to be confused about the difference between Medicare and Medicaid but there's nothing unusual about that.

People Worry

From a recent Harris Poll

From a recent Harris Poll

Social Security Disability Critic Appointed By Trump

     Richard Burkhauser has been appointed to the President's Council of Economic Advisers (CEO). I mention this because Burkhauser  has been a proponent of outlandish ideas for "reforming" Social Security disability benefits, such as forcing employers to pay disability benefits for the first two years and experience rating employers for the disability experience of their workers. These ideas would have devastating effects upon manufacturing,  construction, mining and other fields where there is a high incidence of disability. We need to help U.S. manufacturing, not place unnecessary burdens on it.

     I would not expect Burkhauser's appointment to have any effect upon Social Security. The ideas he has espoused in the past are complete non-starters with both Republicans and Democrats. Even if he had a plan that could conceivably be enacted, the CEO doesn't give him much of a platform for pushing his views on Social Security. It's not likely that the White House chief of staff would want him even trying.

The Struggle To Work As A Schizophrenic

     Erica Crompton has written a moving piece for the New York Times describing her struggle to work as a schizophrenic -- actually now her diagnosis is schizoaffective disorder but that doesn't affect the story.

     In reading this piece, you may want to say "See, that shows you can work even if you're a schizophrenic." However, her work history has been extremely fragmented. Fragmentation is an inevitable part of schizophrenia, affecting both work and private life. It's part of the disease. By the end of the story, Crompton isn't earning enough to support herself. Maybe most important, Crompton is a talented writer. She has had opportunities that are not open to the vast majority of schizophrenics and she still can't support herself.

     I've said it many times. Social Security ought to just go ahead and approve every last disability claim filed by a person suffering from schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Very few people who suffer from either of these conditions are able to maintain regular employment for extended periods of time. Social Security approves a lot of these claims but not all.

Facing A Long Wait In Nashville

     From a television station in Nashville:

Across the nation 1.1 million Americans who are trying to claim their social security benefits are stuck in a backlog with an average wait of two years just for a hearing. In Tennessee that wait is more than a year long. 

Anita Robinson spent 41 years working as a nurse in middle Tennessee. Now she spends a lot of her time sorting through her manifold of medication. 

"Its just kind of lonely , I'm too young," Robinson said with tears in her eyes. 

Several years ago a doctor visit changed her life, turns out the rash on her foot was much more than it seemed. She was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis and other immune disorders as well as lymphocytic colitis.  ...

"In 16 months I'll either be worse or dead," said Robinson. ...

H.R. 2792 Passes House

     From a press release:

On Thursday , September 28 , 2017, the House of Representatives approved by a vote of 224 to 171 an amended version of H.R. 2792 , a bill to cut off Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits entirely for certain people with disabilities, as well as seniors. The proposed cut would bar payment of SSI benefits to people with an outstanding arrest warrant for an alleged felony or for an alleged violation of probation or parole. 

H.R. 2792 would revive an old, failed policy that had catastrophic effects for many people with disabilities and seniors, employing procedures that did not withstand judicial scrutiny. This proposal would not help law enforcement secure arrests. The Social Security Act already prohibits payments to people fleeing from law enforcement to avoid prosecution or imprisonment. ...

Based on prior experience with SSA’s failed former policy, the people who would be affected are those whose cases are inactive and whom law enforcement is not pursuing. Most of the warrants in question are decades old and involve minor infractions, including warrants routinely issued when a person was unable to pay a fine or court fee, or a probation supervision fee. Many people are not even aware that a warrant was issued for them, as warrants are often not served on the individual. Some people will be swept up as a result of mistaken identity, or paperwork errors, which can take months or even years to resolve. ...

Do Medical Marijuana Laws Increase Disability Benefits Claiming?

     From the abstract of The Impact Of State Medical Marijuana Laws On Social Security Disability Insurance And Workers' Compensation Benefit Claiming by Johanna Catherine Maclean, Keshar M. Ghimire and Lauren Hersch Nicholas:

We study the effect of state medical marijuana laws (MMLs) on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Workers' Compensation (WC) claiming. We use data on benefit claiming drawn from the 1990 to 2013 Current Population Survey coupled with a differences-in- differences design. We find that passage of an MML increases SSDI, but not WC, claiming on both the intensive and extensive margins. Post-MML the propensity to claim SSDI increases by 0.27 percentage points (9.9%) and SSDI benefits increase by 2.6%. ...

     A few words of caution in interpreting this:

• The Social Security Act forbids granting disability benefits on the basis of substance abuse disorders, a point which the authors of this study seem not to understand.
• The effect found is small and could have other causes.
• If there is an effect, it may be a little less direct than the authors (who are economists) think. My guess is that if there is an effect, it would be because marijuana lessens the effectiveness of medications given for mental health problems such as bipolar disorder.