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Monday, July 27, 2015

A cut to Social Security disability benefits may be around the corner

People receiving Social Security disability benefits could see a nearly 20 percent cut to payments at the end of next year

The annual check-up for Social Security is in, and one program looks more dire than the rest.

If Congress doesn’t act, people receiving Social Security disability benefits could see a nearly 20 percent cut to payments at the end of next year, according to the latest version of the Social Security trustees report released Wednesday.

The disability trust fund will be depleted by the fourth quarter of 2016, leaving the administration with enough income to pay 81 percent of benefits, according to the report, which is updated annually.

The health of the Social Security program didn’t change by much, and the cut to disability benefits has been expected for years. But now that Congress has still not come up with a compromise for boosting the funding, the shortfall is more imminent. As explained in the report’s summary:


Social Security’s Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Fund now faces an urgent threat of reserve depletion, requiring prompt corrective action by lawmakers if sudden reductions or interruptions in benefit payments are to be avoided.

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11 comments:

Anonymous said...

No worries for welfare checks though...

Anonymous said...

Lets cut the snap and EBT. People have worked for their social security. You get snap and EBT when you don't work. What's wrong with this country. At least in the depression people actually had to leave the house to wait in line for food. Now we just load money on a card. Sickening to us that work our ass off.

Anonymous said...

Considering how many folks filed and were approved for disability recently - and how many of that were probably BS - I'm not surprised!

Meanwhile, why don't they cut welfare and food stamps in half - that's where too much of the money went that was taken from the SS LockBox in the first place!

Anonymous said...

Cut Cut Cut ---So many over 50% are on disability for nepharious reasons... Save our country--get these losers off the system...

Anonymous said...

Welfare and food stamps never seem to have a money shortage.

Anonymous said...

Our personal money is seized by the government and repayment (partial) is classified as an entitlement?

Anonymous said...

In many cases, these are welfare checks. There are many drawing SSDI for such things as 'mental stress' etc etc.

There are tons of AIDS patients on SSDI.

And lots of people who couldn't/wouldn't get a job, so they got a lawyer and a 'disability' to file for. My sister has been drawing it for years, claiming PTSD. She just didn't want to work.

If they just go after the fraud, they could remain solvent for a good while.

Anonymous said...

im heading to play keno and bet on imaginery horses, anybody got any lucky numbers

Anonymous said...

When I signed up for regular SSI the employee asked me if I was disabled.My personal belief is that if I claim to be ill or disabled and I am not,I will eventually become ill or disabled.Call me stupid but I would never take my good health for granted.I told her I was fine.God is always watching.

Anonymous said...

Those of us receiving SS Disability have worked many years and need this in order to live. Some of us have terminal illnesses, severe mental health problems and physical handicaps that stop us from working a job even though we want to work, we can't. Those folks collecting this benefit because of substance ause should be cut off immediately. Unlike many of us who are disabled, they had a choice on whether to use alcohol and/or drugs or not to use. They voluntarily and intentionally put theirselvers in a situation that they know would cause harm and thus they deserve nothing! And there's a lot them out there that are only using their benefit income to purchase alcohol and/or drugs!

Anonymous said...

So then you would say the "overweight" people who have heath problems and draw SS Disability should be cut off immediately also. They voluntarily and intentionally put themselves in situations where they knew they would overeat. They didn't exercise like the doctors told them to do and they didn't change their diet to combat the overall obesity problem which would then help combat the host of other problems they have because they are overweight. Just wondering if you are going to cut them off also.

There are usually more than one element to anyone's story. Some are overweight because of medicines they take. Some are overweight because of food addictions. Some are overweight because they don't realize how much sugar they are consuming. Said sugar then changes their metabolism to where they couldn't lose weight with exercise alone. By now they have "systemic candida" which brings along a whole host of other problems.

Some drug addicts and alcoholics are born that way. Some become that way after an injury where they are prescribed strong pain medicine. Some had issues in their life like child abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse and the altering substance was the only way they could survive. Some just wanted to get high, yes, but you can't paint all people with a big ole brush.

I agree that there are many people who should not be on disability and there are many thieves in the system, including in our leadership. Massive amounts of money have gone missing. Huge payouts to bogus claims. I once saw a documentary on television where a judge received a "benefits claim" for a prostetic (sp) arm. He contacted Medicare to let them know he still had his arms and a few months later received another "benefits claim" for the other arm. This was a judge whose identity was being used. You know what he was told. That the government just doesn't have enough people to police all the claims that come in.

It won't be long before no one will be receiving "entitlements" as they like to call them. The government won't have the money to pay anybody. Its coming. Just like Greece.