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The impact of the pandemic on people with disabilities has been devastating. America's disability insurance system (SSDI) provides benefits that put many recipients at or near poverty levels. COVID-19 prevents them from working part time to make up the gap https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/venessawong/disability-system-failing-pandemic
A mother in Colorado who has an immune deficiency disorder collects less than $1,000 a month from disability. She used to work part time in order to get by, but the virus has made it impossible for her safely to leave the house now. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/venessawong/disability-system-failing-pandemic via @BuzzFeedNews
Despite losing her job, she's INELIGIBLE for unemployment benefits because she's on disability. To collect disability, a person must be *unable* to work; to collect unemployment, a person must certify they are *ready and willing* to work. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/venessawong/disability-system-failing-pandemic via @BuzzFeedNews
Her $975/month check isn't enough to cover her and her daughter's living and medical expenses. The $3,000 she had in savings is now entirely gone. And her ex-husband, who pays a “small, but helpful” amount of child support just lost his job. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/venessawong/disability-system-failing-pandemic @BuzzFeedNews
The reason her SSDI benefit is so low is bc it's based on her income prior to getting on disability. For people who become ill at a young age when their earnings are low, the benefit is also low. 44% of younger disability recipients are near/below poverty https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/venessawong/disability-system-failing-pandemic
SSDI “doesn’t provide the kind of protection or opportunities that we would hope....There's no question that there are a mountain of people that...are and could fall through the cracks because of the economic impact of the pandemic," said @SenBobCasey https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/venessawong/disability-system-failing-pandemic
What's clear is our disability system functions more as a short-term safety net until people return to work. Paradoxically, applicants must prove they can't work to get benefits; once they're in, the system tries to get them back to work. Not everyone can. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/venessawong/disability-system-failing-pandemic
Many people in the disability system are very sick: The leading reason recipients exit the program within the first few years of getting their benefits is not that they return to work; it is, sadly, death. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/venessawong/disability-system-failing-pandemic
Those who try to work part-time to supplement their disability benefits run up against obstacles that keep them financially vulnerable. ie Benefits stop if a recipient earns more than $1,260/month from work, and the limit can be lower. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/venessawong/disability-system-failing-pandemic
3/4 of disability applicants are denied. Those who appeal have to await a decision in court that can take years. From 2008-2019, nearly 110,000 people died before receiving a decision about their appeal. From 2014-2019, 48,000 people filed for bankruptcy awaiting a decision.
There's more waiting: After a disability application is approved, there is a 5-month “waiting period” starting from when the SSA determines the disability began, for which a person does not collect any benefits. There is also a 24-month waiting period to get Medicare.
The bitter truth for truth many is they wish they could work for a better living and leave behind the near-poverty payments they receive on disability. But “My body can only do so much, and it will only ever be able to do so much.” https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/venessawong/disability-system-failing-pandemic
