In the past few days, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced that it would be making major changes to the disability benefits program to make more people eligible for the program. Still, many critics see this as an unfair practice. According to the SSA, significant changes were made on Monday that could make it easier for more people to qualify for disability compensation. Changes have been made to the way the program evaluates whether disabled applicants can find another job based on their talents, which could lead to denial of benefits. If you are interested in applying for the disability benefits program, learn more about how the new changes can help you qualify for these monthly benefits.
Major changes in Social Security disability benefits system
Federal agencies use an occupational database to determine whether applicants can perform a job. But some say the database is unfair and flawed because it was last updated in 1977 and includes many outdated occupations. The SSA said those occupations, including train telegrapher, watch repairman and reptile breeder, would be removed from the database. The ruling comes after The Washington Post reported on the case of a disabled man who previously worked as an electrician but whose application was denied after a judge told him he could work in occupations that are essentially obsolete, such as egg processor, nut sorter and dowel inspector.
Many people welcome this move, especially Americans with disabilities who have felt the system has let them down. But as others have pointed out, while this move has the potential to improve access to the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program for millions of people with disabilities, the collateral damage it has caused to the disability community over the years may be harder to undo than the Social Security Administration thinks. For now, we can only hope that the SSA will adopt this change as soon as possible, so that new applicants across the country have a better chance of qualifying for disability benefits.
Do these changes only apply to the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program?
In addition to SSDI benefits, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is also affected. The former provides benefits to individuals who are unable to work due to a medical condition that is predicted to last at least one year or result in death. The latter program targets low-income disabled individuals. Additionally, the Government Accountability Office classified disability programs run by the Social Security Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) as high risk. This designation is given to government programs that are prone to fraud, waste, or abuse, or that need reform to improve their effectiveness.
A GAO investigation released in April found that both programs use outdated standards to determine whether individuals qualify for benefits. Moreover, Mitchell Hamline School of Law law professor Anansi Wilson argued that there is still a lot of work to be done, especially for people of color with disabilities, who are more likely to be denied benefits. We are hopeful that the thousands of people before the courts will soon receive relief.
Social Security to remove over 100 jobs from database
The Social Security Administration announced that it will be removing 114 employment categories from its database of over 12,000 occupations. Social Security examiners will no longer be able to use these employments as examples of work that an applicant can do to support a “not disabled” determination in their case. Some of the occupations that will be removed include:
Canary breeder Impersonator Directory information operator Theatre historian Cinematographer News correspondent Radio operator Herpetologist Clock repairman
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