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appalachiablue

(41,047 posts)
Mon Dec 16, 2019, 10:31 AM Dec 2019

WH Proposes Social Security Change That Could End Disability Benefits For Thousands

'A National Disgrace': Trump Proposes Social Security Change That Could End Disability Benefits for Hundreds of Thousands. "The Trump administration is attacking another vulnerable population: those who are disabled and receiving Social Security Disability benefits." Common Dreams, Dec. 16, 2019.

Activists are working to raise public awareness and outrage over a little-noticed Trump administration proposal that could strip life-saving disability benefits from hundreds of thousands of people by further complicating the way the Social Security Administration determines who is eligible for payments.

The proposed rule change was first published in the Federal Register last month but has received scarce attention in the national media. Last week, the Social Security Administration extended the public comment period on the proposal until January 31, 2020.

"The Trump administration is attacking another vulnerable population: those who are disabled and receiving Social Security Disability benefits," tweeted patient advocate Peter Morley, who lobbies Congress on healthcare issues. "This is a national disgrace."

"This is not over," said Morley. "We will all need to mobilize."

The process for receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is already notoriously complicated, and the Trump administration is attempting to add yet another layer of complexity that critics say is aimed at slashing people's benefits.

As The Philadelphia Inquirer reported last week, "those already receiving disability benefits are subject to so-called continuing disability reviews, which determine whether they are still deserving of compensation for an injury, illness, or other incapacitating problem as their lives progress."

Currently, beneficiaries are placed in three separate categories based on the severity of their disability: "Medical Improvement Not Expected," "Medical Improvement Expected," and "Medical Improvement Possible." People with more severe medical conditions face less frequent disability reviews.

The Trump administration's proposed rule would another category called "Medical Improvement Likely," which would subject beneficiaries to disability reviews every two years.

According to the Inquirer, "an estimated 4.4 million beneficiaries would be included in that designation, many of them children and so-called Step 5 recipients, an internal Social Security classification."

Step 5 recipients, the Inquirer noted, "are typically 50 to 65 years of age, in poor health, without much education or many job skills [and] often suffer from maladies such as debilitating back pain, depression, a herniated disc, or schizophrenia."

Jennifer Burdick, supervising attorney with Community Legal Services in Philadelphia, said placing Step 5 recipients in the new "Medical Improvement Likely" category and subjecting them to reviews every two years would represent "a radical departure from past practice."

Kate Lang, senior attorney at the non-profit group Justice in Aging, told the Inquirer that the Trump administration is "out to shrink the rolls."

"And they're setting people up to not comply," said Lang.

In addition to lack of coverage from the national media, most members of Congress have also been relatively quiet about the Trump administration's proposal...

More, https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/12/16/national-disgrace-trump-proposes-social-security-change-could-end-disability

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WH Proposes Social Security Change That Could End Disability Benefits For Thousands (Original Post) appalachiablue Dec 2019 OP
more homless people to sweep under the rug. they dont want us seniors . AllaN01Bear Dec 2019 #1
No they don't want the weak or dependent people which appalachiablue Dec 2019 #3
Then they came for the disabled... Bob Loblaw Dec 2019 #12
hey we gotta do something to keep our billionaires content. Voltaire2 Dec 2019 #2
Like Lord Freud the Brit who said disabled people weren't worth appalachiablue Dec 2019 #4
Kick dalton99a Dec 2019 #5
Remove my means of survival I_UndergroundPanther Dec 2019 #6
The worst will be people with mental illness Bayard Dec 2019 #7
I agree CozyMystery Dec 2019 #10
I'm so sorry for what your son and you have to deal with Bayard Dec 2019 #11
I am in Rebl2 Dec 2019 #8
WHAT IN THE BLUE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE ???? Haggis for Breakfast Dec 2019 #9

AllaN01Bear

(17,346 posts)
1. more homless people to sweep under the rug. they dont want us seniors .
Mon Dec 16, 2019, 10:38 AM
Dec 2019

we go thru enough hoops to get this stuff.

appalachiablue

(41,047 posts)
3. No they don't want the weak or dependent people which
Mon Dec 16, 2019, 10:54 AM
Dec 2019

isn't new but tells you where we're at as a society. People forget or don't know history, how the disabled, elderly and most vulnerable had no social supports prior to Social Security thanks to FDR, and Medicare and Medicaid from Johnson. And then later the ADA.

- 'PM ordered Lord Freud to apologise for remarks on disabled people’s pay.' David Cameron told welfare reform minister to say sorry for saying some disabled workers were ‘not worth’ minimum wage. The Guardian, Oct. 15, 2014.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/oct/15/prime-minister-david-cameron-lord-freud-apologise-disabled-people-minimum-wage

Voltaire2

(12,610 posts)
2. hey we gotta do something to keep our billionaires content.
Mon Dec 16, 2019, 10:51 AM
Dec 2019

And who better to pay for their contentment than the disabled?

appalachiablue

(41,047 posts)
4. Like Lord Freud the Brit who said disabled people weren't worth
Mon Dec 16, 2019, 11:05 AM
Dec 2019

what they're paid. #3. These actions tell so much about society, and are unfortunately prevalent.

I_UndergroundPanther

(12,450 posts)
6. Remove my means of survival
Mon Dec 16, 2019, 11:22 AM
Dec 2019

And my medical assistance I will have nothing and I will also have nothing to lose so in this situation
It could get ugly for the greedy pigs seeking my death. Mental illness is tortuous enough . But ignorant rich people are so greedy and narcisstic
Playing deadly games with other people's lives. Fuck you traitor tot and all republicans. Fuck the plantation mentality they want to recreate in this nation. Fuck all who want the South to rise again. And fuck all the selfish stupid people who vote for the criminals that stand for the southern strategy.

Bayard

(21,801 posts)
7. The worst will be people with mental illness
Mon Dec 16, 2019, 01:28 PM
Dec 2019

I'm sure the pea brains will see that as, "not really sick".

This proposal is flying under the radar, and needs to be proclaimed far and wide. Social Security will be next.

CozyMystery

(652 posts)
10. I agree
Tue Dec 17, 2019, 01:33 AM
Dec 2019

My son is on SSI for treatment-resistant depression. He's had this illness for 13 years, tried 20+ drugs (alone and then with 1-3 drugs in combination), had 56 electroconvulsive therapy treatments, and has seen many psychiatrists and therpists on a regular basis.

No improvement in all these years. Well, one big one ... he still has suicidal ideation all the time, but he is not actively suicidal most of the time. When he is, he is admitted to a psych ward for one to three weeks. He has a go-bag packed in case that happens.

He applied for SSI and was immediately approved.

Still, he has received notice that his status is being reviewed after 3 years on it.

The big thing he has in his favor is so many years of documentation of treatments and therapies that have not worked.

With this record of continuously trying everything in his power to get well, there are still people in his life who think he is not really all that sick. Unfortunately, these people include one brother and his father. Both are of the "try harder" persuasion.

He still lives at home with my husband and me, and I can vouch that there is no one who could reasonably fault him for lack of doing every single thing he can to get well enough to work and attend college. He does what he can despite many disappointments due to failed treatments.

If he lost his SSI that would be devastating for him, and for me. I don't have the money to make sure he is okay after I die.

Bayard

(21,801 posts)
11. I'm so sorry for what your son and you have to deal with
Tue Dec 17, 2019, 01:38 AM
Dec 2019

This is one more example of tRump's callousness and cruelty. He's a total sociopath.

Rebl2

(13,301 posts)
8. I am in
Mon Dec 16, 2019, 10:06 PM
Dec 2019

my early 60’s and have had rheumatoid arthritis since I was nine. I worked for several years beginning in my late teens and received disability in my early twenties, but continued to work part time and go to college. I had to quit working in my mid twenties because my arthritis had become much worse. I still receive social security disability because it has become even worse over the years. Losing this before 65 will be devastating to me. I don’t know if I can transition to regular social security at 62 or not.

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