What do you think constitutes "disability"?

[tRidiot]

Interesting thing today... I was watching The Five on Fox this afternoon before work. They had a story about Tom Coburn and his latest expose on the .gov's SSI/Disability program. This costs something like $150 billion a year, I think? About 3 times more than Obamacare is supposed to end up costing?

According to a story I saw, about 14 million people now get a disability check. That's about, what 4% of the population? This story I found talks about it a lot... in some places the number is as high as 9% (statewide) and in some communities, 25%! That article claims it is $260 billion a year. And Coburn's report says the fund is going to run out inside of 18 months if applications and approvals and benefits continue as they are! GONE!

So... the funny thing about this is... last night at work (Sunday night) when things slowed down a bit, I sat down and started writing up a lengthy treatise on some fictional cases of people in our society who are on or applying for disability. I wanted to see what you guys thought constituted "real" disability. Well... at the time, I had NO IDEA about Coburn's report actually coming out on 60 minutes. It was a total coincidence that I got my fictional cases half-finished last night and heard about the report today, lol. So tonight I've finished them, and I'm trying to figure out if any of you guys would be interested in reading about them and sharing your thoughts on the "validity" of their disbility.

Currently it's about 4 pages in a wordpad file, under 2,000 words, about 50k in filesize. I may go look for someplace I can host it and let whomever is interested download it and give me their thoughts. I think it's a good thought-provoking exercise. May take most of us 10 or 15 minutes to read through them, though I spent a couple of hours typing it all up. I think it's probably too long to just post here, don't you? I don't think most board members will read all that blather, lol.

Is this just stupid, or is anyone interested? I'm not trying to start any kind of fight here, I am interested what the average person out in the workforce and society might think of these situations... those of us in healthcare likely have a bit of a skewed view. It's all about discussion, sharing of information and views and thought processes.

So... anyone care? Or you think it's just all gonna be a big bashing/bitching fest? I really don't want that... I want a dialogue, honestly, and I want to share ideas with others who have differing viewpoints, starting here.

So... lemme know what ya think.

 

[tRidiot]

Ok, well, I tried to save it here on the forum and upload it as an attachment, but it won't accept rtf (Wordpad) or .docx (Word 2003-2007), and as a .doc (Word 1997-2003) it is too large, about 35k, the limit is under 20ish.

Suggestions?


<edit> Gonna check Amazon Cloud Drive and Google Drive here in a few and try to figure out how others can download it.

 

[RickN]

One thing I do know is that as people's unemployment benefits run out and they still can not find a job because of the crappy economy, many are applying for disability because of depression and getting it.

On the other hand I am a diabetic and my meds do not always work for me. I sometimes have trouble seeing well enough to read, my legs and feet sometimes have trouble to the point it hurts to walk or they cramp when I sit. When I finally did find a job I got to work for one night before my blood sugar spiked, I could barely walk, both big toes turned bright red and I still have blood under both of those toe nails. My wife and sisters say I should apply for disability but screw that. I still do what I can to make a living and I will keep looking for a job I can do.

 

[tRidiot]

Ok, I think I got it uploaded. If anyone wants to check it out, you're welcome to do so.

Here's the link.

Like I said... not looking to fuel an uproar or anything, just looking to spur some discussion.

 

[RickN]

But uproar is what we do best.

 

[tRidiot]

But uproar is what we do best.

Indeed.... lol


<edit> Well.... I can think of some things I might do better. But then, perhaps that might fall under the same category.

 

[saddlebum]

Disability is an injury or disease that prevents a person from being able to work.I have seen a lot of people with a "disability" who are healthier than I am and I work every day.I had to make a career change because I was no longer physically able to do my old job.

And fat is not a disability

 

[Okie4570]

Ok, I think I got it uploaded. If anyone wants to check it out, you're welcome to do so.

Here's the link.

Like I said... not looking to fuel an uproar or anything, just looking to spur some discussion.

I doubt that these stories stray very far from the truth for a lot of people. (ER frequent flyer inspired stories) I may be completely wrong here, but the overall lack of ambition with a lot of the US population, in addition to the sense of "entitlement" the many think their owed, plus the incredible load of disability applications that the gov has to sort through, plus few ways to verify what's on the application.............................it quickly turns into a broken system. Question.......when someone applies for disability, how long before they receive their first check?

 

[tRidiot]

I doubt that these stories stray very far from the truth for a lot of people. (ER frequent flyer inspired stories) I may be completely wrong here, but the overall lack of ambition with a lot of the US population, in addition to the sense of "entitlement" the many think their owed, plus the incredible load of disability applications that the gov has to sort through, plus few ways to verify what's on the application.............................it quickly turns into a broken system. Question.......when someone applies for disability, how long before they receive their first check?

Usually several years, I think, on average. It seems nearly everyone, even those obviously severely disabled end up denied the first, or even second try.

However, once they are approved, it seems most end up with a sizable check because their benefits are back-dated to the time of their application. Not sure if that usually includes all the way back to the first application, but I don't think so. Several thousand dollars for most, I believe.


As a side note, what a lot of people don't understand is that once they are approved for disability, I believe it is two more years before their Medicare benefits for medical kick in, unless they can get special approval in exigent circumstances.

 

[Foghorn]

Well, heres my definition. . If you are physically able to work, your not disabled.
My neighbor is disabled? But breaks/trains horses for a living. Gets paid cash, pays no taxes and gets a check from uncle sam...

Honestly most of the disabled people I meet seem to be more lazy than disabled. But I realize looks can be deceiving, some of them probably really are disabled. But I think the rest need to re-abled!