Interesting article and selected comments I wanted to preserve. If you have time I encourage reading all comment but here are the best with page links.
some disabled not disabled
Here in our small town I know several ( one is a relitive, I hate to admit) who are in thier 30, 40, and 50's who are on ssi. The reason is not due to a cripling deasease or anything serious that keeps them from working. They were all on welfare ( one for generations) and then got involved with drugs. When welfare changed ruling they got ssi due to disability of the drug problems. Some call it polar disorder or "mind" problems. I beleive these people are abusing and draining the ssi. They also get medical that pays for gym and a person to come in and clean. Some even have pd personal attendants.
We all know one or two who are stealing from the system.
deemn1 Many if not all of us know people who are on SSI and should not be. Those turning 62 or 65 are not the drain on the system, it is the others, those who have not paid in, or those on off shoots of the original program which will cause its demise. These individuals, some husband and wives, live a good life, major expenses covered or subsidized by taxpayers, and SSI is just spending money. Many living a better life than those of us who have worked 40 years and prepared for ultimate retirement. There should be a finders fee placed on exposing these individuals and eliminating the payments.
I Want To See All These People On SSI Re-certified!
I see - every week - at least half a dozen people come through our hospital claiming that they're depressed, they have OCD, their kid has ADHD or traumatic brain injuries, or Asperger's Syndrome - look up these conditions - while there are certainly people who DO qualify for SSI because of their conditions, I'd say 80% of those who are expoliting the system by faking their way through the exam and telling their kids to lie and act out so they can get diagnosed, then mom can apply for SSI through the kids, and now she never has to get a job. It's been going on since about 1996 when the welfare limits were put into place - almost by magic, everyone suddenly became stricken with TBI, ADHD, Aspergers, you name it - to me, this is the ultimate in child neglect and in many cases this needs to result in permanent removal of the kids from the home. First the parent is using the kid for their own financial gain because this unfit parent won't get a job, then the kid is developing under the falsehood that there is a disability present when the only problem is a crooked parent who should have had her tubes tied. Just like addicts will doctor shop for prescriptions, some will doctor or therapist shop for someone to believe these lies so that they can 'get it in writing' and present it to the SSA because usually one must apply two or three times to get approved for SSI/Social Security. These people are what's killing our Social Security - not an increasing baby boomer elderly population. This is criminal. Not only are these people having as many kids as possible, their children are also their meal tickets - of cousre they're not going to practice birth control! That kid = free housing, free bus passes, free clothes, free meals, what do these women do by the time they're 42-45 and can no longer get pregnant? There needs to be a way of wiping everyone out of this system and setting up a whole new set of guidelines. The same way that it will be harder to get painkillers (even though those who really need them will suffer for a while), there needs to be an overhaul for SSI in order to make it painfully clear that welfare parasites will not only be caught, but also sentenced to the work farms to work off the money they've stolen - even if it takes 10-20 years to do so. The 5 year limit that was imposed for welfare in '96 was not strong enough. This needs to happen to end this belief that having as many kids as you want is a right rather than a privilege and that your kids can and will be taken away if you are not fit enough to do the job, or refuse to get a job.
Is everyone aware that almost all refugee immigrants over age 50 are put on Social Security disabilty without every paying a cent into the program?
This is another "welfare" drain on the SSI system that will be felt by people who worked their entire lives and contributed to the system but will likely face greatly reduced future benefits.
