US -- SSDI may be cut by 20% unless US House votes otherwise

[Hope123]

If you have concerns about this, consider writing your House member which can be found in the link below. Even if they oppose the cut, send them a short note why SSDI is important to you and thank them for your support.

Your note can be as short as "Please vote so that SSDI will not be cut. SSDI is important to me because....."

Other links go to reporting on the situation. Interestingly, I believe AARP -- one of the biggest senior lobbying groups -- opposes the cut even though the funding would come out partly of the usual (e.g. non-disabled) Social Security fund; this is because their membership include many 50-64 yr. olds on SSDI due to illness/ disability.

How to find your member of Congress: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

http://www.latimes.com/business/hil...ttack-on-social-security-20150106-column.html

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/...WILL-be-cut-20-in-2016-are-you-okay-with-that

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...s-would-be-cut-by-a-fifth-without-new-action/

 

[minkeygirl]

This is very scary. Too bad my rep is such a douchebag. Last time I emailed him I got slammed with a ton of BS emails.

 

[Denise]

Thanks for this info Hope123!
I have done as you suggested and contacted my representative.
I hope this bill gets NO traction!

 

[Ema]

Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

 

[jimells]

A truly disturbing thought is that I could be better off with a smaller check.

When I received disability my monthly food stamp ration went from $200 to $15. The LIHEAP benefit, which paid for heating oil, was cut in half. Even worse, I was kicked off full Medicaid, which is more complete than Medicare (it covers dental pain, etc).

The worse cut was the loss of my case manager. She helped me fight with doctors and lawyers, get to medical appointments, and even the grocery store. Plus she was a friend. And they are in short supply.

 

[Ema]

I copied part of my message from here:

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/warren-the-gop-inventing-social-security-crisis

Please feel free to copy my message as well.

Message Subject: Prevent SSDI Benefit Cuts.
Message Text:
As a recipient of SSDI, I ask for your support in opposing cuts to the Social Security program.

Over the course of the last several decades, when the disability-insurance program runs short on funds, Congress transfers money from elsewhere in the Social Security system to prevent benefit cuts. It’s never been especially controversial – in fact, it’s been done 11 times over the last seven decades.

This time should be no different.

Please show your support for the sickest and weakest members of the district you represent by opposing these cuts and ensure that SSDI remains intact for those who need it most.

We won't stop being sick just because we can no longer afford to eat.

Sincerely, E

 

[alex3619]

A truly disturbing thought is that I could be better off with a smaller check

This tells you the system is broken. It needs a complete overhaul, not a budget slash. In fact it might benefit the US to pay more if its properly targeted. Slashing budgets does not necessarily save a country money, as other costs go up including hidden and unmonitored costs.

 

[WillowJ]

I liked the quote in the Washington Post article saying only 0.4% of payments to beneficiaries were estimated to be due to fraud.

I've seen an article showing figures from an actual investigation showing a similar amount or an order of magnitude less, and saying it cost more to investigate than was saved by removing the beneficiaries determined to be getting benefits inappropriately.

 

[jimells]

Slashing budgets does not necessarily save a country money,

It's not about saving money. It's about controlling disgruntled populations by generating fear of economic insecurity.

I don't know how it is in other countries, but in the US the population is afraid of everything all the time. Fearful populations are compliant: "Please Dear Leader, tell us what to do so we'll be safe!" Look how easy it is for US Dear Leaders to start wars and destroy societies on a whim. Our Dear Leaders brag about torturing "some folks" and the public's reaction is, "Will I still have a roof over my head next month?"

 

[jimells]

I've seen an article showing figures from an actual investigation showing a similar amount or an order of magnitude less, and saying it cost more to investigate than was saved by removing the beneficiaries determined to be getting benefits inappropriately.

And yet if one asks Joe Sixpack, he will ignore the actual facts and angrily repeat the endless propaganda message that "Everybody on Welfare is a Bum!" (except for Joe's mother on Social Security, of course) This is an important message for the propaganda machine to drive home. The machine will not survive if working people were ever to really organize themselves, so it's vital to keep us divided and hating each other instead of uniting and fighting our true enemies.

I witnessed this dynamic up close when I worked in South Boston Massachusetts 40 years ago. Mandatory busing was used to desegregate the public schools. White South Boston was so incensed that "those horrible black kids" from Roxbury were infiltrating their precious schools that police snipers were perched on the roofs of the run-down housing projects to guard the school buses. Their anger and fear, whipped to a frenzy by the usual suspects, prevented them from seeing that *all* the public schools were falling apart.

As with any crisis, there are always opportunists ready to profit from the turmoil. In this case, white flight to lily-white small-town New Hampshire (where I grew up) dramatically increased, which naturally drove up real estate prices to the point that people like me could no longer afford to live in the town they were born in.

 

[minkeygirl]

How do we bump this up?

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/23/us/disability-benefits-face-cuts-in-2016-trustees-say.html?_r=0

 

[Wayne]

This is very scary

Just a mention, I consider myself to be a fairly astute observer of politics. My own best take from what I've been hearing is that there's currently a pretty strong consensus that a political fix for this DI shortfall will be found.

Though I depend heavily on my own SSDI, I'm not concerned about having those benefits reduced. If my perspective changes for some reason, I'll post back with a re-evaluation.

From the NYTimes Article:

Though often considered together, the trust funds for retirees and disabled workers are “distinct legal entities that operate independently,” the trustees said. Officials cannot divert money from one to the other unless Congress explicitly authorizes such a shift, as it has done several times in the past.​

 

[pogoman]

Back around 2004 the laws were changed to where military veterans automatically qualified for SSDI based on their VA disability rating.
VA disability payments along with military pension do not count as income and hence do not count toward SSDI income offsets, someone getting all three is commonly known as "triple dipping".
The VA considers having sleep apnea a 50% disabled rating.
*edit
and I forgot to add why this is relevant to this thread.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/report-60000-veterans-got-triple-benefits-last-year-legally/

this article was from last year, a part of it-
"Some lawmakers say the report shows the need for better coordination among government programs that are facing severe financial constraints. The Social Security Disability Insurance trust fund could run out of money in as soon as two years, government officials say."