From Disability Rolls to Payrolls

Abstract

Substantial growth in the Social Security disability programs, and the failure of work incentive legislation to curtail this growth, have demonstrated the need for structural reform. This proposal, based on a functional model of disability, would create four categories of benefits: a permanent disability pension, a temporary disability benefit providing cash payments to the vast majority of beneficiaries for a 3-year period (extendable under certain circumstances), an early retirement disability pension, and provision benefits providing devices and services to enable people with disabilities to function as fully as possible in the workplace. In addition, the proposal would eliminate the waiting period for eligibility, expedite the eligibility determination process, increase and improve the use of case mangement services, develop a new productive relationship between the beneficiary and the Social Security Administration (SSA), and eliminate remaining work disincentives. The objective is to fundamentally alter the expectations of all parties by adopting a realistic presumption of beneficiary employability.