Editorial: Disability claims swelling in recession

Certain things can cause someone to become disabled — a chronic illness, for example, or an accident. One thing that should not cause people to be categorized as disabled is a recession.

• OPPOSING VIEW: ‘A vital lifeline for citizens’

But that appears to be happening with Social Security Disability Insurance, the 1950s-era expansion of the program best known for paying retirement benefits. In 2007, 8.9 million people were on disability. Now that number is 10.7 million, a 20% jump in just five years.
While non-economic factors account for part of the increase — including a previous backlog of applicants and an aging population — the linkage between the rising disability rolls and the Great Recession is impossible to ignore.
So, too, is the boom in law firms specializing in getting people disability benefits. The system is so inefficient that applicants commonly have to wait two years for a decision, prompting them to hire lawyers. Those lawyers typically are paid a percentage of the backpay successful applicants get to cover the time between their claim and the decision. This gives the lawyers a potent incentive to drag the process out, to the detriment of everyone but themselves.

 To continue reading, click here.