Disability Benefits Neglected in Social Security Debate

[Guest guest]

From ADA Watch, March 26, 2005

Sen. Tom Harkin was a primary author of the ADA

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From ADA Watch and the National Coalition for Disability Rights:

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Disability Benefits Neglected in Social Security Debate

By Senator Tom Harkin

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/editorial/11232497.htm

Something big has been left out of the great national debate

over privatization of Social Security. Most Americans don't realize

that Social Security is more than a retirement program; it is also an

insurance program for workers who become disabled before they retire.

The privatizers have painted a rosy picture of young Americans

riding a bull market to a bountiful retirement. But what about the

nearly 7 million workers with disabilities and their dependents who

currently rely on Social Security disability benefits, often for 100

percent of their income? And what about the three in 10 now-young

Americans who will become disabled at some point in their life? Under

privatization, will their disability benefits be slashed by the same

30 percent to 50 percent as retirement benefits, pushing them below

the poverty level?

The privatizers are not the only ones dodging these momentous

questions. President Bush's Commission to Strengthen Social Security

devoted just two pages in its 256-page final report to the topic of

disability benefits, despite the fact these payments account for 17

percent of all Social Security expenditures. The commission urged the

president to initiate a " separate policy development process " to

address the disability program, but he opted not to touch this hot potato.

The problem is that all the commission's budget projections

assume that disability benefits will be cut the same as retirement

benefits. In the commission's final report, according to the

Associated Press, " disability benefits get reduced along with retiree

benefits, in some cases up to 46 percent. The cuts were used to make

the plan's finances add up in the report. "

In short, if disability benefits do not get cut, the transition

costs of Social Security privatization - already estimated at $4.5

trillion over 20 years - become even more prohibitive.

Right now, Social Security disability insurance - financed by a

1.8 percent payroll tax - is not just a crucial strand in the safety

net, it is also a terrific deal for American workers. In fact,

disability insurance, at any price, is not widely available in the

private marketplace, especially to blue-collar workers. With Social

Security disability insurance, all are covered. Some experts estimate

that the price of private long-term disability insurance would be at

four to five times higher than the percent of payroll taxes that now

goes to disability insurance.

At a public forum last month, a woman asked President Bush what

would happen to the disability benefits of her 35-year-old daughter.

He replied that her benefits would not be affected, because his

proposal was focused strictly on the retirement component of Social

Security.

I appreciate the president's instinct to reassure an anxious

mother, but I question whether he has fully thought through the

implications of his plan. Currently, the disability and retirement

programs in Social Security are closely linked, and both use the same

formula for calculating benefits. Separating the programs and applying

different formulas creates problems that could break the back of any

privatization plan.

Currently, people receiving Social Security disability benefits

switch over to Social Security retirement benefits when they reach age

67. The switch is seamless because benefits in the two programs are

the same. But what happens when retirement benefits have been cut by

30 percent to 50 percent under privatization? Will people with

disabilities be held harmless? If so, where is the plan to make this

possible?

In his new budget proposal, the president has called for $60

billion in cuts to Medicaid, a vital lifeline to low-income people

with disabilities. If we borrow trillions of dollars to finance Social

Security private accounts, won't this create fierce new pressures to

slash programs such as Medicare and housing vouchers that people with

disabilities rely on?

Cuts in disability benefits would be a catastrophe for millions

of people with disabilities. Before the debate over privatization goes

any further, the president needs to provide concrete details to back

up his verbal commitment to leave the disability program intact, and

to hold its beneficiaries harmless.

[Guest guest]

Wow Alice, thanks for the info, what food for thought! I hope

everyone read this, because if disability cuts are included with the

changes in social security for the future, we will be hurt big time.

Im printing out that artical and im bringing personally to my

counselman, and sending a copy to my senator, and will ask both to see

what they can do to help make that an issue in congess. Jeaze its

enough to give ya nightmares, as if we dont have enough worries with

our medical conditions right now, we sure dont need that kinda worry

in the near future, and if it does include disability will it include

ssi medical benefits getting cut too, God knows most are either on

medicare or medicaid and neither can handle any more cuts in those

programs not now or in the future!! Thanks again, Barb