Disability Benefit Claims Pushing SS Disability Program into Collapse

August 22, 2011

Washington - The flood of benefit claims filed by laid-off workers and baby boomers has pushed the federal disability program into near collapse, a report by the Washington Post said.

According to the report, the large number of claims has resulted in the growing backlog of cases which took years to be resolved and has contributed to the worsening problem of the program which has been financially strapped over the years.

The US Congress has estimated that the Social Security disability trust fund will run out of money by 2917 and would unable to pay full benefits to claimants, which is similar in case to its retirement program. A congressional report estimated that the combined fund would run out of money in 2038.

Because of this, Congress has made it tougher to qualify in the disability program during the 70s but reversed its decision and loosened the criteria in the 80’s until it got into trouble with the recent recession.

One of the solutions Congress is targeting is overpayments. According to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office, Social Security has paid nearly $1.4 billion in overpayment to disability beneficiaries.