Yesterday the Daily Caller posted an article called, "I used to be drunk, but now I am bipolar." The title of the article is a quote from a man who was applying for Social Security disability insurance. Thursday's Wall Street Journal featured an article about a West Virginia Social Security administration judge who granted benefits to 100 % of the people who appeared before him.
In the 1950's Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) was created to provide benefits to workers who were physically unable to work. That program was expanded in the Nixon administraiton to give benefits to the poor. Over the years the program expanded to cover mental illnesses. In 1984 President Reagan expanded the laws regarding mental illness. To give you an idea of how the program has grown, in 1984 about 64,000 were given SSDI benefits due to mental illnesses. In 1986 it was over 124,000. In 2009 it was over 216,000. The result is that more than 2.4 million people recieve benefits for "mental disorders other than retardation."
Because Social Security Disability cases are brought to judges in the various districts, the decisions of those judges vary. There is no national standard. We are in danger of having the SSDI become nothing more than an extended unemployment compensation program.
It's time to change the SSDI program to be more efficient, more consistent, and more able to meet the needs of the American people. Just standardizing the requirements to collect SSDI would be a step in the right direction. A little Congressional oversight wouldn't hurt either.
Leave a comment