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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Why not get a job and work? There are quadriplegics on ventilators who work. There are people with severe multiple sclerosis who don't demand our tax dollar support them. Why can't you work?[/quote]
Because Democrats have so bastardized the disability requirements that merely being a cross-dressing male makes a person eligible for disability. You'd be shocked by the utterly frivolous lifestyle choices that make a person eligible for disability as Democrats have expanded the criteria over and over again.
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I work for SSA and do disability claims for a living. This is a lie. Disability criteria has not changed meaningfully in the last two decades. The biggest change made it harder, not easier to qualify for disability based on mental impairments (12.00 impairments) or musculoskeletal impairments (1.00 impairments). For a mental only disability you generally need schizophrenia, psychosis, very severe bipolar that doesn’t respond to treatment or a very low IQ.

It’s also very,  if you are under 55. Even over 55, it’s unlikely if you’ve done skilled or higher level semi skilled work in the last 5 years.

Also, if active substance abuse contributes to your disability, you don’t qualify.

And yes, a large percent of applicants are vets.

Get your facts right. [/quote]

I do pro bono work helping homeless clients apply for SSDI and this all tracks with the various cases I’ve handled. I have actually yet to get a client approved where the sole disability listing is mental impairment because it is not severe enough to qualify. And of course have seen many issues where drug use led to denial. [/quote]

But the reality is a lawyer well versed in SSI/SSDI knows what to say and what not to say.

I know people who have destroyed their bodies with drugs and alcohol who currently receive SSDI. The lawyer who completed the paperwork for them (same lawyer for both) focused on their mental and physical health issues (noting liver and kidney disease were definitely caused by alcohol abuse which was presumably prompted by underlying anxiety, depression and bipolar). I didn’t actually see the paperwork; I’m relying on what was told to me by the people receiving the benefits. The two I’m thinking of are in their early 50s and haven’t held a job since their 20s.

But they travel. They live a nice life. Their parents largely underwrite their living expenses.

Ftr, I’m all for disability benefits. I just question why these people I know IRL can check out of life and not work like the rest of us. [/quote]

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