When I think of the disability program, I think of the bum who is collecting a check so he can be an “adult baby” and indulge his fetish of wearing diapers. Though I guess that’s not as bad as the situation in Greece, where you can get a disability payment for being a pedophile.
But this is a much bigger and more serious issue. Earlier this morning, I took part in a joint Brooking Institution/American Enterprise Institute/Secretary’s Innovation Group conference on the disability insurance program.
I only had a minor role, posing question to Mark Duggan of the University of Pennsylvania and Stephen Goss of the Social Security Administration, but it was a very useful exercise because I was exposed to some sobering details about the program.
Let’s review a couple of Professor Duggan’s charts, starting with a look at how the disability rate has exploded in the past 22 years.
And here is some very disturbing data showing that much of the increase is in the areas that are most subject to abuse because of subjective judgements about “bad backs” and “depression.”
Hmmm…, I’m a bit depressed about the ever-rising burden of government. Maybe I should get a check from the government!
Joking aside, I briefly touched on this issue in a recent CNBC interview. Here’s the segment dealing with the disability program and the disturbing rise in dependency.
I’m not overly impressed by the counter-argument from Christian Weller. Does he really want us to believe that the service sector jobs of today are more disabling than the manufacturing jobs of 20-plus years ago?
This is a depressing topic, so let’s close with a couple of cartoons, starting with this gem from Chip Bok.
It’s amusing, but keep in mind that we have an unusually high joblessness rate right now, but it would be even higher if we counted the people who shifted to this other form of unemployment dependency.
And here’s a Chuck Asay cartoon that I really like because he augments my argument in the interview that it hurts the economy when you lure workers out of the job market and make them wards of the state.
Asay takes it one step farther and shows the lifeboat sinking. That’s basically what will happen if we don’t adopt the entitlement reforms that are needed to rein in the welfare state.
P.S. If you want some jokes referencing the disability program, we have the politically correct version of The Little Red Hen, as well as two very similar jokes about Jesus performing miracles and how liberals differ from conservatives and libertarians.
[…] that entitlement programs will be the main factor. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Disability are all fiscal train wrecks today, and the long-run outlook for these programs is […]
[…] tempted to say the numbers will improve if we address some of the ways (subsidized unemployment, lax disability rules, licensing laws, […]
[…] tempted to say the numbers will improve if we address some of the ways (subsidized unemployment, lax disability rules, licensing laws, […]
[…] written about widespread fraud affecting programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, welfare, disability, and the earned income […]
[…] written about widespread fraud affecting programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, welfare, disability, and the earned income […]
[…] that’s largely the fault of government programs – such as unemployment insurance, disability, Obamacare, etc – that make it easier for people to choose to be […]
Dave,
“sorry my life inconveniences you??” Don’t be a jerk. Be grateful for what you get.
Dan did not say that EVERY person on disability perpetrates fraud. But he is absolutely right to say that the sharp increase of people on disability is a strong indicator that fraud is happening. It was too sharp an increase in the trend line to be due to a real increase in maladies.
Ridiculous assumptions about disability. Yes, there are probably some abusing and misusing the system, who should be exposed and put off the rolls. On the other hand, there are people, like myself, who are on disability because of having to go on kidney dialysis, 3 days a week for 3 1/2 hours per, monday, wednesday, and friday. not health eligible for a transplant. and i couldn’t pay for the dialysis treatments on my own if i worked for a fortune 500 company. sorry my life inconveniences you. think before you assume all on disability are frauds.
[…] We already know that disability payments discourage people from working. […]
[…] EITC program. There’s fraud in food stamps. There’s fraud in Medicaid. There’s fraud in the disability program. There’s welfare […]
[…] Disability fraud. […]
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[…] Then Mr. Milbank can start investigating other examples of fraud, starting with Medicaid and the disability program. […]
[…] helped labor supply by pushing recipients to get a job. Disability programs, by contrast, strongly discourage productive behavior, while wage subsidies such as the earned-income credit ostensibly encourage work but also can […]
[…] programs, by contrast, strongly discourage productive behavior, while wage subsidies such as the earned-income credit ostensibly encourage work but also can […]
[…] form of corruption in programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, welfare, job training, food stamps, disability, […]
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[…] There are several possible answers, including the big increase in people scamming the disability system. […]
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[…] Probably the same doctors who participate in the disability scam. […]
[…] they should ask Obama to speak. After all, more people have latched on to the disability system during his presidency than have gotten jobs. Quite an achievement…of […]
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[…] Was it the overall increase in the burden of government? The increase in the minimum wage? The disability scam? Subsidized unemployment? The welfare […]
[…] Was it the overall increase in the burden of government? The increase in the minimum wage? The disability scam? Subsidized unemployment? The welfare […]
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[…] P.S. Don’t forget the other two big entitlements that need reform, Social Security and Medicare. Like Medicaid, Medicare has major challenges with fraud. From what I understand, the retirement portion of Social Security doesn’t have major fraud issues, but the disability program is a huge problem. […]
[…] It goes without saying, of course, that the 2010 projection will be wildly inaccurate. The disability rolls have exploded during the Obama years. […]
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[…] doubt that entitlement programs will be the main factor. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Disability are all fiscal train wrecks today, and the long-run outlook for these programs is […]
[…] doubt that entitlement programs will be the main factor. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Disability are all fiscal train wrecks today, and the long-run outlook for these programs is […]
[…] Plagued by Rising Costs and Vulnerable to Fraud, It’s Time to Focus Attention on the Disability P… […]
I really got frustrated by the end of the interview, the Sequester was Obama Idea.
It is crazy that they do something and then blame other for it if it turns bad and take credit if it turns right.
The government doesn’t do compassion well. Ever.
It should get completely out of the compassion business. But then graft and all that fun stuff wouldn’t work right. The more I read the more it seems like we are living through reconstruction without the civil war bit.
The reforms governments place will crumble then you will find a way to eliminate any if those you find a burden, ridiculus.
Did you see the surprisingly good NPR article about disability? (http://apps.npr.org/unfit-for-work/?wpisrc=nl_wonk) What is so sad is that the program is especially harmful to the very children it tries to help. E.g. “she didn’t want him to get a job because if he did, the family would lose its disability check.” I approached the article with the idea that people are cheating the system; I ended thinking that many of them are victims of a terrible system.
Another example of this problem of failure to solve a problem but grow government and dependency, Never Enough (Voegeli), and fraud is the Workman’s Compensation system. Sounds great to start with but has unintended consequences (including abuse by attorneys) that have no means of self-correction when the government runs them.