Social Security Must Enable Disabled Program
Professor David Demko, PhD
AgeVenture News Service (07-02-02)
When it comes to Social Security, nothing changes but the changes. First, came the indexing of Social Security Pensions to the cost-of-living (COLA). Next came the expansion of Medicare coverage, followed by the debate over age of eligibility (life-expectancy increases resulted in too many beneficiaries). What came next was the penalty for working in retirement, then the amendment of the work-penalty. Of course, all these changes were common-sense responses to changing demographics and inflationary economies. Now days, to no one's surprise, there's a call for fundamental changes in Social Security's disability program. What follows is a description of those proposed changes, as well as, the forces driving them.
For more than 50 years, the Social Security Administration's (SSA) disability programs have provided a financial safety net for Americans unable to work due to disabling conditions. However, an unexpected surge in the beneficiary rolls have seriously strained the agency's staff and resources, causing backlogs in the processing of claims and appeals, and contributing to inconsistencies in eligibility decisions. That's the GOOD news.
The BAD news is the situation will only worsen as baby boomers reach ages at which disabilities are more likely. As a result, in the mid-1990s the Social Security Administration (SSA) attempted a major effort to re-engineer the claims system. This time, the changes in the program would include redesigning the eligibility determination process and estimating the extent of both current and future needs.
If SSA is to continue to adequately serve the ever-growing rolls of beneficiaries, it desperately needs to fundamentally rethink its systems and services, says a new report from the National Academies' Institute of Medicine (NAIM) and National Research Council. The SSA should create a long-term research program, says NAIM, to explore what is needed to address increasing demands, improve the disability determination process, and initiate an on-going survey that monitors trends.
The new NAIM report, "The Dynamics of Disability" presents a review of SSA's plan for redesigning the eligibility determination process and developing a national survey of disability. The report recommends that SSA
- develop a full understanding of work disability.
- study social and physical factors that affect ability to work.
- evaluate how age, experience, and education influence work ability.
- evaluate how the above factors affect coping skills of the disabled.
- test models offering benefits plus rehabilitation for return to work.
Without the infusion of new resources such as dollars and qualified researchers, the SSA will be no where near providing a program that meets even the minimum standards of logic, efficiency, and common sense.
Print copies will be available for purchase later this summer from the National
Academy Press: 1-800-624-6242.
In the meantime, reade "The Dynamics Of Disability" on the Internet at www.nap.edu
See related articles in the AgeVenture Headline archives.
Securing Insecurity of Social Security Reform
U.S. Trails Many Nations in Social Security Reform
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Read more articles on Aging and Retirement in America.
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