In an editorial written on political news website The Hill, Marc Goldwein, senior policy director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, writes that the Social Security disability system is broken and needs to be fixed. He said within the next five years, the program will no longer be able to fully pay the 12 million people with disability qualifying benefits that currently benefit from receiving benefits.
“The Social Security disability system is broken in many ways,” he said. “Not only is the program financially insolvent, but the system is wrought with fraud, needlessly complex, difficult to navigate, inconsistent and unfair in determining eligibility, inflexible to changes in the structure of the workforce, administratively overburdened, almost completely uncoordinated with other government policies, and unable to help or reward those who are interested in re-entering the workforce.”
To fix the system, Goldwein said the short-term fixes could include limiting retroactive benefits and reductions in duplicative benefits. Long-term, structural fixes are more difficult, but he said questions have to be asked to make the Social Security Administration more financially solvent.
Although there is complexity and uneven justice involved in the Social Security system, the program represents a viable safety net to the disabled. A disability case must be backed up by credible evidence. Legal services are often necessary to prevail. The retroactive benefits due to disability claimants is helpful in allowing them to hire counsel on a contingent fee basis. Counsel is only paid if benefits are secured. The Law Offices of Harold W. Conick and Associates are experts in securing disability benefits for its clients.