New Rule Modernizes How We Award Disability Benefits
Reading Time: 1 MinuteLast Updated: February 24, 2020
The Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income programs protect some of the most vulnerable people in our society. A successful disability program must evolve and support making the right decision as early in the process as possible. To help us do that, we must modernize the rules and standards we use to evaluate how we determine disability benefits. We are moving forward with a rule change that has been in the works for a number of years and serves to update a more than 40-year-old policy that made the inability to communicate in English a factor in awarding disability benefits. The new rule is effective April 27, 2020.
We are required to consider education to determine if your medical condition prevents work. In 2015, our Inspector General recommended that we evaluate the appropriateness of this policy. Research now shows the inability to communicate in English is no longer a good measure of a person’s education level or the ability to engage in work. The new rule also supports the Administration’s longstanding focus of recognizing that individuals with disabilities can remain in the workforce.
To make the right disability decisions, Social Security disability rules must continue to reflect current medicine and evolution of work. We need to update our rules to keep up with society’s changes.
We owe it to the American public to ensure that our disability programs continue to reflect the realities of the modern workplace. Please share this information with your family and friends.
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About the Author
Andrew Saul, Commissioner, Social Security Administration
Commissioner of Social Security Administration (June 17, 2019 - July 9, 2021)
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Terry
There is people all around us in every state that are teaching there kids at a young age to act like your crazy or have mental issues and you will get a free check, until you identify this on growing problem it will never get fixed .when they cut out welfare the people went to ssi .There not stupid but the politicians are re evaluate alot of these young kids with ssi
Kimby
According to who? Real studies? Or your imagination? Where are these supposed people training from birth to reciieve assistance for an amount below the poverty line?
Kimby
According to the SS admins own website, they have less than 1% rate of fraud.
Judy A.
I am unable to understand how this affects me as I have not gotten disability from SSA
Kimby
These proposals are written with the assumption that ssdi awards go to far more people than they should and that disabled people “aren’t really that sick.” This couldnt be further from the truth. Social Security disability requirements are exceedingly stringent. Most cases are denied right off the bat. To prove disability years of documentation are required. Applicants are required to also be seen by a doctor of social securities choice. And those who are granted disability ARE still reviewed periodically to determine if their situation has changed. The application process itself usually takes years.
What will likely happen under this proposed “reform” is that disabled people will be forced to enter the workforce eliminating their benefits. And when they inevitably fail to keep a job bc of their disability, they will have to start the whole process over. In the meantime, they will be unable to afford food, medicine and housing.
Let me remind us that funding for social security is not In the red. It has such a surplus that it can pay for benefits entirety unaided for a decade.
This is a case of preying on people’s fears that there is a huge number of disabled individuals who are just faking. Which has been proven time and again completely untrue. And people’s fears that social security is broke. Also completely untrue. Its like making a solution for a problem that doesn’t exist.
Doesnt M.
Thank you Kimby. Your comment is spot on. I will never understand why anyone thinks I want this life. I used to be a healthcare professional, had a long career (30yrs) & now it’s all over. To think that there are ppl who believe I’m on disability bc I’m lazy or bc I don’t want to work just breaks my heart. I didn’t go to college for 6years, graduate with honors & multiple job offers to end up like this…many many times I wish I had just died, at least I wouldnt have to face what Ive become. Don’t ppl know I hate this more than they do? Thanks for being one that gets the realities of most disability recipients.
Kimberly R.
I am still waiting for the 2nd hearing date because I was awarded SSDI after hearing in January 2019…then July 2019 I received a letter that it had been rescinded because of a date…I appealed. Here it is end of February 2020 and still no word from SS! I have now gotten my MMJ Certificate and still take 5 prescriptions as well as 3 otc pills…most are taken twice daily. I need answers…I have been fighting this since the 90’s!!!
(Several years off because I had to work to support my children)
Era P.
Hi
I was never approved for disability inc tho i had problems that quilfied me , you would never let me have it.
so i worked for as long as i could even it ment creataing my place off work because i had to work alone!
I filed for SSA at 62 because i needed the income,
As you are aware that i never went to school , so i had no education to help me!
You made my work life a life of hard shipes, i am so gratful now that i cannot work !
So MR you are not always right, not that or times !
Era F
Camille C.
Will I need confirmation from my doctor about my disability.
ROSELINE A.
#2020COLA CHECK IT OUT ON
http://Www.Facebook.com/RoselineAugustine
Jason
Gerry, please quit playing the slave card. None of my ancestry ever owned slaved, you are racially profiling me and this is not the right forum for your racism. English is our language and it’s about time they start cracking down on people receiving SSDI who’s only disability is the magnitude of their laziness, making it more difficult for myself and other deserving people to obtain.
Darlene
As an American citizen and speaks the english language and that has went through this agonizing process to receive disability I can honestly say that this not surprise me. My husband had laser surgery on his back and they burnt his nerve. He had to be taken to UPMC for emergency surgery. All of our savings and his 401k was used up by the time he got disability. We lost our home sold our vehicles and yes I had a job but not one well enough to pay our bills. It took him 5 years to receive disability. And now I read this article. How long did the non English speaking have to wait to get their disability? When my husband finally had his hearing it was really hard because they owed my husband around $100,000.00 but because the attorney made one error on the date he ended up getting $28,000.00. But the fault was ours too we should have checked the paperwork more closely. The judge did give my husband a choice…take this money or refile the paperwork once it corrected and come back. We had to take the money then. This process is a joke. My husband has worked since he was 16 and he is a Veteran but you can come to this Country not speak the english language and get money from hard working Americans.
Informed c.
If your required by law to speak English to become a citizen, then non English speakers do not qualify for any benefits. SSI, SSDI, and welfare were established for citizens not criminals who invaded our country, as you cannot be a citizen and not speak English. All those benefits are for Americans and that should be the main requirement to receive benefits. Illegals/criminals should be mass deported and shot on site at the border, not given money for breaking the law.