You have probably heard that the Social Security disability trust fund will run out of money in 2016 and that all beneficiaries will face an across the board cut if Congress does not act. There are a number of relatively painless accounting moves Congress can make to shore up the system and the inability of our elected representatives to take action arises more from political grandstanding than concern about the numbers or concern about the truly interested parties – disabled people who have worked and paid money into the system but who are now unable to work.

One thing that everyone can agree upon is that the system needs help.

• Social Security recently announced that the $300 million computer system they purchased to run its massive bureaucracy does not work so that will have to be redone.
• The disability system uses a labor market analysis resource called the Dictionary of Occupational Titles to help judges understand if you have the capacity to function in the working world. Unfortunately the D.O.T. was last updated in 1991 and includes such occupations as typewriter repairperson, telegram messenger and horse-and-wagon driver.
• The approval rate among judges within the same hearing office can vary wildly. For example in the Atlanta downtown hearing office, there is one judge who approves 3% of cases assigned to him while another judge two doors over approves 66% of his cases. How would you like to see Judge 3% on your hearing notice?

Unfortunately with all the political grandstanding, the academics are coming out of the woodwork with their observations and solutions. This past week Professor Mark Warshawsky and economics grad student Ross Marchand published an editorial in the Wall Street Journal basically asserting that disability claimants can easily game a fraud riddled system.

While The Warshawsky/Marchand piece fits a certain narrative it is so riddle with factual errors that one questions what research standards now apply in academia. Continue reading →