Stop me if you’ve heard this argument before: we need to change our Social Security Disability system because too many people are getting overpaid in benefits!
Time and time again, people have tried to make this argument, and they’re always discredited when someone does a truly in-depth study. Why, just this past July there was a brief from the Urban Institute showing that the people who get SSDI not only need the money, but that they’re surviving (barely, in most cases!) on far less than their healthy counterparts who don’t receive benefits.
You’d think that this brief would put an end to these kinds of attacks for a while, but you’d be wrong. In August, less than a month after the Urban Institute brief, a report came out of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) saying that some SSDI payments were “potentially improper” based on their findings. Basically, their report accuses the SSA of overpaying people.
Why the GAO is Wrong
Here’s the problem with the GAO’s report – they completely ignore a number of things that would completely change their findings and show that overpayments are extremely rare. How did they mess up?
- They didn’t account for the SSA’s work rules. The GAO pointed out people who they thought made more than the SSA permits, but didn’t actually look into the circumstances of each beneficiary, which can change things significantly.
- They didn’t deduct “impairment-related work expenses.” If you have to pay for something like a wheelchair in order to continue working, the SSA says that you can deduct these expenses from your income. In short, that money doesn’t count toward your earnings. The GAO counted it.
- They ignored UWAs. UWAs, or unsuccessful work attempts, are when someone with a disability tries to return to work but discovers that they can’t do it at a level that will sustain them. The SSA allows applicants to make this attempt during the 5-month waiting period without it impacting the eligibility for disability, but the GAO claimed some of these people as “overpayments.”
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Believe Facts, Not Hype
To be fair to the GAO, they admit in their own report that their findings may not be accurate because of the above issues. But when the headline is “GAO Finds Disability Overpayments,” those caveats are given no attention. It’s unfortunate, because reports like that unfairly demonize people who need disability benefits to survive and make the job of claimants and Social Security Disability attorneys that much harder.
If you’re thinking about applying for disability and want to make sure that you know that the real story is and how it works, check out our free eBook for an overview and keep reading our blog to stay up-to-date.
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