For those of you who missed it, NPR – yes, NPR – released a major report last month entitled “Unfit to Work.” An impressive overview of the unsustainable nature of America’s disability benefit program, the report also ranked each state on the extent to which its working age population is drawing disability payments.
And guess what … it’s another embarrassing status check for South Carolina.
According to the report, 6.3 percent of our state’s working age population is receiving disability payments from the federal government. That’s the eighth-highest percentage in the nation. By comparison, the national average is 4.6 percent.
Surprise, surprise … right?
Of course the point of the story wasn’t to rank the states … it was to show the extent to which this program is being manipulated by individuals who aren’t really disabled.
But the fact this problem is especially pronounced in South Carolina comes as a shock to absolutely no one. In fact it’s part for the course.
Our state is broken, people … and its top “leaders” (S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley, Senate Finance Chairman Hugh Leatherman, House Speaker Bobby Harrell) have absolutely no interest in fixing it.
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48 comments
Dirty Secret, that reveals FITS is either one stupid son of a B*t#h,l or just a LIAR…The residents of counties that sit on the couch, watch Ellen and Jerry Springer, vote Obama-democrat, generation after generation…
Yet FITS calls Voter integrity legislation an effort to ‘supress minority voting.’
When you are troo Stupid to recognize the theives, or too corrupt to admit it…you are like FITS.
You sit around Bashing the wrong people, while the lazy and dis-honest rob you blind..
It’s why Sanford used EIGHT years in the office WE gave him, to chase whores, and abdicate responsibility to his sons…
FITS, and those he supports, ARE the problem. Want more of it..put them in power…
This is not surprising considering the higher proportion of manual labor versus white color work in South Carolina. Slaughtering chickens, assembling cars and pouring foundations take a physical toll on joints and backs over time, meaning 30 years of manual labor doesn’t get you to retirement age before one’s body potentially wears out. Add to that the other chronic illnesses prevalent in S.C. that sideline people — diabetes, high-blood pressure, etc., and you have a workforce that logically outranks other states when it comes it disability claims.
To say these people are simply lazy and looking to feed off the system offends the people who do jobs many of us don’t want to do and who pay a large physical toll in the process.
Spoken like a TRUE Ambulance-Chasinbg Lawyer…
Like Obama. You want to sit on your @$$ and take money other people earned, for those too lazy or too Stupid to EARN it themselves.
You are as big a problem as Sanford-level chrlatan politicians…
I have the utmost respect for people who do manual labor. Often it pays shit and the benefits are terrible, and often it involves some risk to life or limb, but it is damn honest work. And there’s a lot of workers in SC who fit this bill.
Good post, he who has the oxymoron user handle.
There is NO smart Big T(urd).
Dirty Secret, that reveals FITS is either one stupid son of a B*t#h,l or just a LIAR…The residents of counties that sit on the couch, watch Ellen and Jerry Springer, vote Obama-democrat, generation after generation…
Yet FITS calls Voter integrity legislation an effort to ‘supress minority voting.’
When you are troo Stupid to recognize the theives, or too corrupt to admit it…you are like FITS.
You sit around Bashing the wrong people, while the lazy and dis-honest rob you blind..
It’s why Sanford used EIGHT years in the office WE gave him, to chase whores, and abdicate responsibility to his sons…
FITS, and those he supports, ARE the problem. Want more of it..put them in power…
This is not surprising considering the higher proportion of manual labor versus white color work in South Carolina. Slaughtering chickens, assembling cars and pouring foundations take a physical toll on joints and backs over time, meaning 30 years of manual labor doesn’t get you to retirement age before one’s body potentially wears out. Add to that the other chronic illnesses prevalent in S.C. that sideline people — diabetes, high-blood pressure, etc., and you have a workforce that logically outranks other states when it comes it disability claims.
To say these people are simply lazy and looking to feed off the system offends the people who do jobs many of us don’t want to do and who pay a large physical toll in the process.
Spoken like a TRUE Ambulance-Chasinbg Lawyer…
Like Obama. You want to sit on your @$$ and take money other people earned, for those too lazy or too Stupid to EARN it themselves.
You are as big a problem as Sanford-level chrlatan politicians…
I have the utmost respect for people who do manual labor. Often it pays shit and the benefits are terrible, and often it involves some risk to life or limb, but it is damn honest work. And there’s a lot of workers in SC who fit this bill.
Good post, he who has the oxymoron user handle.
There is NO smart Big T(urd).
Unfortunately SC’s high disability rate is directly tied to our poor educational system. People with no or limited education are unemployable and disabled if they can no longer work with their backs due to illness or injury.
No Dumb@$$, people like you have been blaming teachers and lack of money for generations. The PROBLEM is poor, lazy, selfish parents who don’t give a $#!* about their kids’ future (see Sanford)…
As long as the Ignorant, like you, are allowed to erroneously define the problem, it will REMAIN…
Unfortunately SC’s high disability rate is directly tied to our poor educational system. People with no or limited education are unemployable and disabled if they can no longer work with their backs due to illness or injury.
No Dumb@$$, people like you have been blaming teachers and lack of money for generations. The PROBLEM is poor, lazy, selfish parents who don’t give a $#!* about their kids’ future (see Sanford)…
As long as the Ignorant, like you, are allowed to erroneously define the problem, it will REMAIN…
This is a (short) life-long quest for many — get a gummint job, get “injured”, get disability, then live larger as you sit on the couch and eat your cheetos and drink beer.
This is a (short) life-long quest for many — get a gummint job, get “injured”, get disability, then live larger as you sit on the couch and eat your cheetos and drink beer.
Exactly who is it that makes these disability decisions? It ain’t SC. It the the social security system which is a FEDERAL agency. So how are SC Haley, Leatherman, Harrell, et al responsible?
These decisions are issued by federal administrative law judges, some of whom are local, some not. There are 3 offices in SC where hearings are held: Greenville, Cola, and Charleston. There are also a few satellite offices like Greenwood.
SC Vocational Rehabilitation and SC Commission for the Blind (used to) have federally funded workers to compile the records to do the disability determination for SSDI, SSI and ABD Medicaid in this state.
Exactly who is it that makes these disability decisions? It ain’t SC. It the the social security system which is a FEDERAL agency. So how are SC Haley, Leatherman, Harrell, et al responsible?
These decisions are issued by federal administrative law judges, some of whom are local, some not. There are 3 offices in SC where hearings are held: Greenville, Cola, and Charleston. There are also a few satellite offices like Greenwood.
SC Vocational Rehabilitation and SC Commission for the Blind (used to) have federally funded workers to compile the records to do the disability determination for SSDI, SSI and ABD Medicaid in this state.
Well they are mostly. disabled
Well they are mostly. disabled
But on the up side the secret service and FBI are investigating and with any luck they’ll go to jail..
But on the up side the secret service and FBI are investigating and with any luck they’ll go to jail..
Thank God for disability benefits. The economy and the number of people in poverty would be astronomical without it, including the families of children with birth defects, cystic fibrosis, and so on. Disabled kids under 18 get SSI, a type of disability benefit.
There are 2 types of disability: disabled worker, and SSI. You must have worked to get disabled worker benefits. SSI is for kids and adults without strong work backgrounds who are means-tested. You have to be living in poverty to get SSI.
The increase in claims is due to the large number of baby boomers who are getting older/sicker. Social Security runs a formidable screening process. You have to have worked for many years before you can get benefits. Your condition must have last at least 12 months or be expected to last 12 months or be expected to result in death.
The program is designed to target people with serious medical conditions in the context of their social circumstances. To be disabled you have to be unable to perform any substantial gainful activity in the national economy. It is very high standard. A doctor can lose his hands but he can become a radiologist. A machinist who is 57 with less than a HS educations who loses use of his hand is likely to be found disabled because everything he is qualified to work at requires 2 good functioning hands.
Most people cannot help what happens to them–cancer, heart disease, falling off a roof at your job, experiencing a collision with a drunk driver. How can you work after these horrific events? The pain and suffering are very real. We need this safety net.
Disability benefits will also get you Medicaid and Medicare, so there is a valuable insurance component.
Social Security should review more cases to see if people continue to be disabled. Ronald Reagan did this in the early 80s but it politically backfired. Every kid under 18 getting benefits is reviewed at age 18. We can also set an age when people can start to get disability. We can also set time limits on disability. We can also pick what medical conditions we want to pay. But this will take government money and personnel. The system can be tweaked and should be from time to time.
Who would trade their strong back and body, and their good health, for a crummy check every month? Most people would not.
Well said —–
Some people’s motivation to get something for nothing even if they have to lie or steal is amazing. I’ve seen it with my own two eyes and the courts don’t seem to really care about white collar crime. If anyone cares about the truly needy they need to get serious about corruption, or else these programs won’t be possible.
These people do not get something for nothing. Each worker pays for disability benefits through their FICA taxes. You EARNED the right to file for disability.
That is not completely true. Anyone who uses any government benefit for an extended period draws more then they contributed. All of these “Benefits” Are like buying insurance on a $100,000 house. You pay a fraction of what your house is worth but you will get the $100,000 if it burns down. However the insurance company like the government has a finite amount of funds and if every house insured burns down it will have to declare bankruptcy.
Thank God for disability benefits. The economy and the number of people in poverty would be astronomical without it, including the families of children with birth defects, cystic fibrosis, and so on. Disabled kids under 18 get SSI, a type of disability benefit.
There are 2 types of disability: disabled worker, and SSI. You must have worked to get disabled worker benefits. SSI is for kids and adults without strong work backgrounds who are means-tested. You have to be living in poverty to get SSI.
The increase in claims is due to the large number of baby boomers who are getting older/sicker. Social Security runs a formidable screening process. You have to have worked for many years before you can get benefits. Your condition must have last at least 12 months or be expected to last 12 months or be expected to result in death.
The program is designed to target people with serious medical conditions in the context of their social circumstances. To be disabled you have to be unable to perform any substantial gainful activity in the national economy. It is very high standard. A doctor can lose his hands but he can become a radiologist. A machinist who is 57 with less than a HS educations who loses use of his hand is likely to be found disabled because everything he is qualified to work at requires 2 good functioning hands.
Most people cannot help what happens to them–cancer, heart disease, falling off a roof at your job, experiencing a collision with a drunk driver. How can you work after these horrific events? The pain and suffering are very real. We need this safety net.
Disability benefits will also get you Medicaid and Medicare, so there is a valuable insurance component.
Social Security should review more cases to see if people continue to be disabled. Ronald Reagan did this in the early 80s but it politically backfired. Every kid under 18 getting benefits is reviewed at age 18. We can also set an age when people can start to get disability. We can also set time limits on disability. We can also pick what medical conditions we want to pay. But this will take government money and personnel. The system can be tweaked and should be from time to time.
Who would trade their strong back and body, and their good health, for a crummy check every month? Most people would not.
Well said —–
Some people’s motivation to get something for nothing even if they have to lie or steal is amazing. I’ve seen it with my own two eyes and the courts don’t seem to really care about white collar crime. If anyone cares about the truly needy they need to get serious about corruption, or else these programs won’t be possible.
These people do not get something for nothing. Each worker pays for disability benefits through their FICA taxes. You EARNED the right to file for disability.
That is not completely true. Anyone who uses any government benefit for an extended period draws more then they contributed. All of these “Benefits” Are like buying insurance on a $100,000 house. You pay a fraction of what your house is worth but you will get the $100,000 if it burns down. However the insurance company like the government has a finite amount of funds and if every house insured burns down it will have to declare bankruptcy.
Every year the Social Security Administration sends out a form showing how much Social Security one will receive when he/she retires. It then shows the amount of disability payment he/she would get if he/she becomes disabled. THEY NEED TO QUIT DOING THAT SHIT!
Every year the Social Security Administration sends out a form showing how much Social Security one will receive when he/she retires. It then shows the amount of disability payment he/she would get if he/she becomes disabled. THEY NEED TO QUIT DOING THAT SHIT!
The only problem with all of this is that we don’t go after those who defraud the various welfare systems. Instead, proposed legislation usually involves making broad, sweeping cuts that harm everyone on the system, if not outright eliminating the system in its current form altogether and giving everybody the bird, including the genuine disabled people who are forced to leave their career very much against their will. My father-in-law is one such individual, who tried to continue his career after his injury but simply couldn’t physically do it anymore.
Again, though, opponents of such programs don’t care to fix the broken parts because the more broken the system is, the easier it is to advocate ridding the system entirely.
The only problem with all of this is that we don’t go after those who defraud the various welfare systems. Instead, proposed legislation usually involves making broad, sweeping cuts that harm everyone on the system, if not outright eliminating the system in its current form altogether and giving everybody the bird, including the genuine disabled people who are forced to leave their career very much against their will. My father-in-law is one such individual, who tried to continue his career after his injury but simply couldn’t physically do it anymore.
Again, though, opponents of such programs don’t care to fix the broken parts because the more broken the system is, the easier it is to advocate ridding the system entirely.
For an in-depth analysis why the NPR segment was flawed, go here:
http://mediamatters.org/research/2013/03/22/this-american-life-features-error-riddled-story/193215
For an in-depth analysis why the NPR segment was flawed, go here:
http://mediamatters.org/research/2013/03/22/this-american-life-features-error-riddled-story/193215
It’s a credit to the redneck heritage trying to get the 19th century Yankee plunder repatriated.
It’s a credit to the redneck heritage trying to get the 19th century Yankee plunder repatriated.
You’re too young to remember Vietnam,huh? Southerners? Or,are you just a fucking punk?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5CchLz45fw
You’re too young to remember Vietnam,huh? Southerners? Or,are you just a fucking punk?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5CchLz45fw
WaPo Wonkblog has had several pieces on this report. The latest shows that a substantial reason for the increase in disability claims is simple Baby Boom demographics.
But, hey bubba, most of these are R voters.
WaPo Wonkblog has had several pieces on this report. The latest shows that a substantial reason for the increase in disability claims is simple Baby Boom demographics.
But, hey bubba, most of these are R voters.