A Letter to America RE: Disability

I wanted to provide you with some feedback on one of your programs that you provide, that is supposed to help people in my situation.

First and foremost, the program I am referring to, Social Security Disability Insurance, is not an entitlement program. We can discuss the reasons why you created entitlement programs separately as it is a complex issue related to economics. But as result of our observations of the economy and our social situation during the Great Depression in the 1930s, you decided it would be a good idea if we, as a society, provided a mechanism whereby an injured worker could be provided with income and medical care to either help them through the condition which left them unable to work, or take care of them should their disability be permanent.

As a reminder, you decided the Social Security Disability program was a good idea for good reasons. First, you didn't like to see those who were injured and thus unable to work through no fault of their own in poverty, starving, and maybe dying because they couldn't take care of themselves. We are a polite society after all, and you came together and decided it was worth providing a universal insurance policy for all workers so they could be taken care of should the unfortunate accident or disease take away their ability to work. Second, you realized that it was cost-effective to take care of people through this disability insurance program because those who cannot take care of themselves end up costing the rest of us even more to take care of because health problems tend to snowball if not taken care of. Third, you decided that it was in the best interest of all Americans that we take care of our sick so that they can heal and return to work so that they could continue to contribute to our mutual benefit.

Unfortunately, I have to be the one to advise you that this system has been messed around with to the point that it no longer functions they way it should. How this happened is irrelevant. All you need to be made aware of is that the system is broken, how it is broken, what it means to you that its broken, and how to fix it.

That the system is broken is undeniable. The basic failure is that those who become disabled bear the legal responsibility of proving that they cannot work. While this may seem, on the surface, to not be a problem; please allow me to explain how it is a huge problem. Imagine you find yourself suddenly unable to work. It could be for a number of reasons, but what's important is that you can't work. Since you can't work, you don't have an income. And without a job or income, you eventually lose your health insurance. Yes, I know we should plan ahead, but let's face it, that's not as easy as it used to be what with all the competition in the labor market and companies pushing down salaries. And some people just have bad luck, and otherwise, some people just don't have enough time to save up for that rainy day when they become disabled. Pretend that's the case for you: you had previously lost your job and that nest egg went to surviving. Then, just after you find another job and start saving money, bam! Disability. You can't work. You can barely take care of yourself or your family. You don't have money to hire an attorney, and you don't have health insurance to get a medical diagnosis of your disabling condition. Now, in order to get medical care and money to survive from the insurance program we all decided was a good idea; the way the system works now, you have to legally prove, under something called a standard of proof based on a preponderance of evidence, that you have a disabling condition and that it prevents you from something called gainful employement. Maybe you're lucky and you happen to be a lawyer and can understand what these terms mean. But most people don't. And even if you happen to be an attorney, that still doesn't help either the millions of people who aren't attorneys, nor does it help you or anyone else because you can't get the medical evidence because you don't have insurance, and you can't afford to pay a doctor to provide sufficient medical documentation to serve as evidence of your disability because you have none left.

What it means to you that it the Disability system is broken should be pretty obvious by now: in order to get resources to diagnose your condition (since Disability provides money and medical insurance) you have to prove your condition. But you can't prove your condition without a diagnosis. And since most people aren't attorneys, they'll have to hire one. But since you don't have money, you can't afford to hire one. And while the Social Security Administration provides a mechanism by which you have a chance of getting an attorney; that attorney is compensated up to a maximum of $5300, or 25% of your back pay, whichever is less. Because this is so relatively little compensation, most attorneys won't do this kind of work. Those who do, do so with little zeal. So you essentially don't have an attorney, yet you are saddled with the legal burden of proving your case, which of course you can't because you don't have access to a doctor or a lawyer.

How to fix this problem is quite easy. But this fix requires a little faith in each other, and in capitalism. It also means not getting caught up in hysteria about someone trying to get something they don't deserve. Let me assure you here that while this can happen, it is on a VERY limited basis, and there isn't much motivation to "mooch" off the disability system. If someone wants to be lazy and stop working, and manages to get a disability claim through; if they haven't worked much, the most they'll get is about $700/month. That's about $8,000 a year. If they have worked and are young, they won't get much more, if any. And even a person who has worked for a while and earned a great deal is significantly limited in how much they can receive in disability payments each month because it is based on how much money they put into the system. So, the only people who can truly take advantage of and mooch off of the system are people who have never worked. We decided, when we first created the disability system, that it was definitely worth the risk to let a few mooches through than to shut out many people who need and deserve a payout from this insurance program. But when it broke, we did exactly that - shut the door on people who became disabled by forcing them to prove their disability.

So, fixing the problem then is a simple matter of shifting the burden of proof to the Disability program. If someone makes a claim for disability insurance benefits; why not assume they are disabled, and send them to a doctor if there are any doubts? That makes it really easy. Sure, a few people are going to slip through, but their reward will be a whopping $700/month. Hey, its cheaper than jailing them, right?

There are other problems with the way we do things that will help you understand why this really needs to be fixed. Think back to our example of you being disabled and unable to prove it. You apply for Disability, but are rejected. Well, that took almost 6 months, maybe a year. So, you appeal. Another year. You appeal again, another year. Then you have a hearing. You lose the hearing because you couldn't prove your case. Now you have to find an attorney and sue the Disability program and hope that you can prove your case in court. In the mean time, you're disabled and not getting any better, you're broke and not working and thus not eating well, not sleeping well, and not able to take care of yourself because you don't have health insurance. Isn't it highly likely that you will get worse? All that stress isn't good for you either. So, let's be generous and assume you finally get disability by some miracle (it is, as a matter of fact, easier to prove your case in court than with Disability since they are highly motivated to deny you benefits). Well, its been nearly 5 years. Your disabling condition is worse, and you haven't been working for 5 years. Now the care you are going to need is going to cost 10s of times more than when you first became disabled. And there is a strong possibility that if you were only temporarily disabled, that now you are permanently disabled. So the cost to society is now much higher. Now imagine that this is the case, as it is, with thousands of people each year. Multiply those costs which increased as a result of trying to keep a few people from taking $700/month. Logic dictates that shutting people out through requiring them to prove their disabilities has cost us as a society more.

Doesn't it make sense to fix this problem?

I recently wrote to Senator Mike Crapo (R - Idaho) with a formal proposal for my suggestions on how to fix this woefully broken system. I am hopeful that Senator Crapo will do something. I've been applying for 8 years now, and still have nothing to show for my efforts save a few boxes of paperwork. In the meantime, my disability is permanent, and I have a slew of additional health problems which have developed as a result of a combination of lack of access to decent health care, and a whole lot of stress.

Thank you for listening to me.

Yours sincerely,

Michael Wolf
Former programmer billing out at $125/hour