There is a hearing today on the Federal Disability Insurance Program, which could become the first government benefits program to run out of money. CBS’s 60 Minutes devoted its first segment last night to the upcoming hearing.  The segment features Administrative Law Judges and Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma. The Administrative Law Judges stated that attorneys represent many more people now than in the past, and implied this is part of the reason that those people are able to “scam” the system. However, what she failed to mention was that for an unrepresented person, it would be extremely difficult to understand what was needed to show disability. These lawyers are helping people with disabilities, which need this Program to survive, receive benefits that are provided to help them under this Program. Noticeably, absent are people who would have benefited under this program.

 
Furthermore, Senator Coburn stated, “If there’s any job in the economy you can perform, you are not eligible for disability.” However, the statute actually states that disability is the “inability to engage in any substantial activity.” There are many situations (especially for those 50 or older) in which the law itself indicates that they are “disabled” even though they can perform certain jobs. A person 50 years old often can perform work of certain types and still be found “disabled,” because it takes into account many factors, including age, education, and work experience. Furthermore, CBS seemed particularly to sneer at a diagnosis of fibromyalgia because there are not any tests. What they fail to say is that there are criteria for diagnosing it. Specifically, there are 18 trigger points, that when pressed can cause excruciating pain in someone with fibromyalgia. To be diagnosed, you must have that pain in 11 of the 18 spots over a 3 month period, and you have to be diagnosed by an acceptable medical source (an M.D., Psy. D., Ph. D., or a D.O.). Additionally, you must prove that you are no longer capable of doing the work that you used to do because of the fibromyalgia.
There is clearly a problem, not that there is fraud in the system, but that there may not be enough money to continue the system. How should we cover the deficiency?

Video of the (three plus hour) hearing, provocatively titled: “Social Security Disability Benefits: Did a Group of Judges, Doctors, and Lawyers Abuse Programs for the Country’s Most Vulnerable?”,can be found here.

For an article criticizing the 60 Minutes segment, see the Los Angeles Times article entitled, “‘60 Minutes’ Shameful Attack on the Disabled.”

For more on the supposed “disability boom,” here is a link to a SLACE Archive post about a This American Life episode titled “Trends with Benefits” and a preview of the episode  from the Planet Money podcast.