Commentary
1,600 Down . . . 8,400 to Go
Social Security reform petition for the chronically
disabled gathers momentun
by Bob Guidara
A little more than two months
ago, I initiated a new petition drive designed to change the way social
security works for people with MS and other chronically disabling illnesses.
In addressing the current difficulties in qualifying for permanent
disability benefits, the petition requests that temporary benefits
be granted during times when they’re actually needed.
Along with the Accelerated Cure Project and the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation,
several other organizations and individuals have begun to rally in support of
this important effort. As of May 1, 2007, the petition has been endorsed by more
than 1,600 individuals, including individuals living with chronic illness, physicians,
employees of hospitals and pharmaceutical companies, television actors, chronic
illness advocacy organizations and innumerable concerned citizens.
When you read through
the comments being made daily by those signing the online petition
(see link below), it becomes apparent that there is a common thread:
the desire among those living with MS and other serious chronic disorders
to continue to work and contribute to society as they’re able—while
gaining the recognition of our lawmakers that the unpredictable nature
of chronic illness needs to be more adequately addressed.
Last week, I asked the Social Security Administration to document
disability benefits approval rates comparing MS patients with the entire
applicant population. While the initial allowance rate for MS patients
who applied for SSDI and/or SSI in 2006 was higher than the percentage
for all impairments combined (48.1% and 34.9%, respectively), over
half of the more than 13,000 MS patients were denied upon initial application.
These staggering statistics
have brought this critical issue to the attention of the mainstream
media. On May 1, 2007, the New York Times published an editorial
entitled, “To The Temporarily Able-Bodied.” The
editorial states that our nation’s social security disability
programs are “unacceptable and inhumane.” It goes on to
say... “Processing delays, mounting since 2000, have left more
than one million applicants languishing without help, some for years.”
Here are a few additional excerpts worth noting from that same editorial...
“The most acute bottlenecks are at the appeals level, where
the average processing time is now 515 days—compared with 274
days in 2000. Such delays are especially pernicious because slightly
more than one-quarter of all approved claims are awarded after an appeal
hearing, and nearly two-thirds of people who appeal will ultimately
prevail. Without the benefits they are entitled to, far too many applicants
get sicker and experience severe economic hardship, including foreclosures
and even homelessness. Some applicants die before their appeals are
heard.”
“Disability claims
have risen to 2.5 million in 2006 from 1.3 million in 2000, driven
in part by the aging of the population.”
“When it comes to helping disabled workers – as with so
many other duties of government—recent Congresses have not been
willing to pay for service that is prompt, professional and compassionate.”
Even though the Social
Security Administration recognizes MS as a potentially qualifying
disability, the current guidelines that direct case workers how to
recognize the often-hidden effects of the disease haven’t been
revised in decades. As a result, many individuals who should have
been approved in a timely manner have had to endure lengthy and often-costly
appeals and court hearings before they eventually gain approval,
if at all.
To help overcome these
burdens, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society recently published
an article in their newsletter, InsideMS, entitled “Loosening
the SSDI Knots.” This article summarizes the Society’s
many recent efforts to revise and expedite approval guidelines and
to educate SSA field offices on how to better recognize hidden disabilities.
Anyone who is in the process of, or contemplating, an application for
permanent disability status will find the article quite educational
and useful www.nationalmssociety.org/site/
Yet, streamlining the
process for disability benefits approval represents only part of
the problem, since permanent disability status in its current form
offers inadequate incentives for chronic illness patients who are
in remission to return to the work force and re-contribute to the
ongoing solvency of the program. Many people on permanent disability
would welcome the opportunity to return to work if they knew they wouldn’t
have to go through the several-year approval process all over again
the next time they got seriously ill. While expedited reinstatement
of benefits is available within the first five years of resuming employment,
an individual who suffers a debilitating relapse after the five-year
period must reapply for benefits. For those with totally unpredictable
chronic disorders, such as MS, that five-year limitation is unfairly
restrictive.
To judge the likely impact
of a large number of people reentering the workforce, I am currently
analyzing data provided by the SSA relevant to those on permanent
disability who participate in the Ticket to Work Program. I’m curious if that program, as limited as it may be,
results in a savings of federal expenditures in benefits payouts, and
reduces federally sponsored health care costs. If so, then a strong
case can be made that “temporary” disability benefits are
not only sorely needed, but would result in long-term savings and fiscal
responsibility. And that is the focus of my petition effort.
If the concept of temporary, as-needed disability benefits seems too
much of a radical idea to be considered, consider this. As reported
in the Washington Post on April 17, 2007, the Office of Personnel Management
recently sent proposals to Congress that would authorize federal agencies
to rehire retired employees, and allow them to retain their pension
and draw a full salary. Is it not far more radical that these former
federal employees would be allowed to work up to half as many hours
as they did before they retired without having their pension income
reduced by one cent?
So, while our lawmakers continue to consider and pass legislation
that ensures their own financial well-being and security, we, who have
paid into a social security system that was supposed to be there for
us if and when we needed it, find ourselves forgotten and often abandoned.
The beauty of this country is
that we, as American citizens,have the ability to band together and
effect necessary and positive change.
I’ll end this article with
insight from one of the individuals who signed the petition last
month.
“The measure of any civilization is how it cares for their
needy and infirm; it’s time for Congress to step up to the
plate and reflect the great heart of this country’s people.”
You can read hundreds of moving comments like this, and sign the
petition by visiting the Web site www.accel eratedcure.org/petition.
In advance, thank you for joining
the cause. Please sign the petition today! ![]()
Bob Guidara, the petition author, was diagnosed with RRMS in 2003
at age 45. He can be reached at ddremote@aol.com
