Agency says outdated rules keep disabled out of work force

November 29, 2005, Tuesday

HEADLINE: Agency says outdated rules keep disabled out of work force

BYLINE: By ANDREW BRIDGES, Associated Press Writer

DATELINE: WASHINGTON

BODY:
Federal rules used to determine who's disabled are nearly 50 years old and need to be updated to reflect economic, medical and technological advances, a government panel says.

Many Americans with disabilities are willing and able to work but remain thwarted from seeking jobs by Social Security Administration guidelines that discourage economic independence, according to the National Council on Disability report being released Wednesday.

Applicants for disability insurance must prove a complete inability to engage in "substantial gainful activity," according to rules adopted in 1956. About 6.5 million people received disability benefits in 2002, according to the latest available data.

"Our nations current disability benefit programs are based on a policy principle that assumes that the presence of a significant disability and lack of substantial earnings equate with a complete inability to work," council chairman Lex Frieden wrote President Bush in submitting the report, which assesses efforts to promote employment among the disabled.

Also, federal efforts to make it easier for the disabled to work have had little effect since few people are aware of the incentives and how they affect access to benefits and health care, the report found. And the months and years it can take beneficiaries to convince Social Security that they are disabled and cannot work can leave them leery of enrolling in any employment or training program that might jeopardize their benefits, including Medicaid or Medicare, it said.

"We will be looking carefully at the recommendations," Social Security Administration spokesman Mark Lassiter said.

Congress and the agency have made it easier for Americans who collect disability to make more while retaining their benefits, according to the council. However, less than half of one percent of those receiving either supplemental security income or disability insurance ever leave the rolls to seek work, the council said, citing Social Security and General Accounting Office reports.

"The bottom line, from my perspective, is the biggest programs that serve people with disabilities are from an era when expectations were not as great as they are today," said Andrew Imparato, president of the American Association of People with Disabilities. There was no expectation that the disabled would ever want to buy a home, have a career or start a family, Imparato said.

"We still more significant reforms of some of these big programs," he added.

When the Eisenhower administration created the disability insurance program, the government presumed that the disabled, once classified as such, would never return to work, the National Council on Disability said in the report. Changes since then make that presumption outdated and incorrect, it added.

"The current eligibility criteria ignore the incredible advances in medicine and technology that enable many individuals with severe disabilities to lead independent and economically self-sufficient lives," the report said.

A 2005 GAO report found federal disability programs were "neither well aligned with 21st century realities nor are they positioned to provide meaningful and timely support for Americans with disabilities."

The National Council on Disability is an independent federal agency made up of 15 members appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. It advises both the president and Congress.

On the Net:

National Council on Disability: http://www.ncd.gov/

American Association of People with Disabilities: http://www.aapd-dc.org/