The large numbers of the Social Security programs are sometimes incomprehensible. Most people simply do not have experience working with such large numbers. The average household in Ohio earns $48,071 per year, a number most people can understand. By contrast, Tiger...
Social Security Disability
Mixing Social Security disability and survivor benefits
The Social Security system can be extremely confusing. Regardless, many people in Franklin, Ohio need to understand it because they have been injured on the job and deemed disabled. This system is a way for them to continue surviving in a world based on money. Without...
Is SSDI a victim of its own success?
Social Security disability insurance (SSDI) is a program that provides benefits for workers who have developed a disease or suffered an injury that has left them unable to work. The program has a fairly rigorous application process, with over 70 percent of applicants...
Incomplete or missing information in SSDI applications slows the process
Many applications for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits are denied by the Social Security Administration (SSA). Statistics support this, with roughly 70 percent of initial applications failing to be approved by claims adjudicators. In 2010, SSA...
SSDI is not the only benefits program that carries long-term costs
When we talk about long-term costs of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), we often think about 10-, 20- or maybe 50-year time frames. Sometimes, as when chief actuary for the Social Security Administration, discussed the state of the SSDI program in the year...
Should employers bear some of the costs of SSDI?
In testimony before the House Ways and Means Social Security subcommittee., Joyce Manchester, an analyst at the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), suggested that one way to improve the economic health of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) would be to reduce...
Injuries from tornado lead to SSDI
As a growing chorus of voices continues to decry the growth of the Social Security disability insurance (SSDI) program, it is easy to get lost in the numbers. Yes, the program has grown and yes, the trust fund has been exhausted. Too often, underlying the outrage is...
The complexities of disability and retirement
When an injury leaves a person in need of recovery, there is the possibility that she or he will not be able to return to work. Millions of people throughout the U.S. deal with this situation; some have been injured at home and others while on the job. There is also...
Backlog for SSDI likely to grow after sequestration
The long feared and much publicized sequestration appears to be on track to begin on March 1, as Congress appears incapable of meaningful action. Fortunately, for people receiving old age and SSDI benefits, those benefits will not be affected, as the now mandatory...
International Rare Disease Day is February 28
Many diseases are common and strike tens of millions of people; the common cold and the flu are among the most prevalent. At the other end of the spectrum are rare diseases, a disease so unusual that if you suffer from one of them and you are asked what is wrong,...