According to some accounts of the opioid epidemic, declines in the steel and coal industries led to significant unemployment and despair, especially throughout Appalachia. No doubt the blue collar work took its toll over the years on the physical well being of the people in those jobs. Large portions of these unemployed found their way to the disability rolls. Whether all applications for disability were legitimate I can’t say. And treatment for those in despair and in chronic pain did lead to the early stages of the opioid crisis, according to the accounts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Thank you for posting that. Hopefully it goes viral.

Thank you, someone has to pay for all of these freeloaders. This lady could get a job and get insurance from a job.

You mean Rock Scott? That’s the kind of fraud that’s really happening and for some reason MAGA doesn’t care.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public union disability or military disability is easy

What makes you think that? Do you have specific examples? I have heard that it is difficult, but maybe what I heard was wrong.

Have you looked at the data on retired police, firefighters, transpo workers, parks & rec workers and military?

There are also white collar attorneys who follow suspected disability fraud cases and have loads of photos, evidence of no disability and cases.

You guys are talking about private insurance. Rest assured, those companies have teams of attorneys tracking down any fraud.

Yeah. This thread has been illuminating. So many people saying that there is fraud. But the examples they have are not about SSDI or SSI. The only anecdotes that are relevant are about folks at walter reed signing off on veteran benefits. I mean 2 decades of war does have costs…

Anonymous wrote:I am a physical therapist. I’ve heard many patients, typically of the same union group, advising each other on how to manage the system for a better payout.
There are many who will ask me to dictate certain words in their patient record. They find this information from their lawyer.

On the flipside, I know people with severe injuries and illnesses, including chronic pain, patients, who do anything to get back to a more productive lifestyle.

But that “system” is union provided insurance. It has nothing to do with Medicaid. And/or your tax dollars.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public union disability or military disability is easy

What makes you think that? Do you have specific examples? I have heard that it is difficult, but maybe what I heard was wrong.

Have you looked at the data on retired police, firefighters, transpo workers, parks & rec workers and military?

There are also white collar attorneys who follow suspected disability fraud cases and have loads of photos, evidence of no disability and cases.

You guys are talking about private insurance. Rest assured, those companies have teams of attorneys tracking down any fraud.

War is expensive. The bills don’t stop when the war is over.

Anonymous wrote:I am a physical therapist. I’ve heard many patients, typically of the same union group, advising each other on how to manage the system for a better payout.
There are many who will ask me to dictate certain words in their patient record. They find this information from their lawyer.

On the flipside, I know people with severe injuries and illnesses, including chronic pain, patients, who do anything to get back to a more productive lifestyle.

Well, if the provider screws up the paper work, insurance companies deny coverage. Of course you know that. It is too often up to the patient to try to navigate the stupid insurance codes to make sure they get the coverage they are entitled to. That is an insurance problem, not an injured worker scam.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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?

Sense of entitlement

Plus disability fraud is rampant in public union jobs and with certain doctors. It’s “free money” for unethical and immoral non-disabled people. And politicians like dependency voters tied to the teat.

OP is not talking about employer provided disability insurance like a union worker would have. If there is fraud there, the private insurer can go after it, and you can be sure they do.

If by "on disability" you mean SSDI, you should also know that SSDI is an insurance program that insures people who work and pay into the trust through their working dollars. If you worked long enough and paid into it long enough, you get some benefits from it if you become disabled, much like a regular insurance policy. Less than 2% of the population currently receives payments from this system they paid into.

Even fewer people, about 3.7 million, receive SSI, which is a benefit that did not require a prior work history, and covers disabled people living in poverty, primarily people who were disabled in youth and never able to work and who live in extreme poverty. It also covers elderly in extreme poverty. If you earn $2000 a month from any source, you don't qualify. If you think people are intentionally living in extreme poverty to qualify for this limited benefit, you need to go do some volunteer community service work and meet these folks.

The other public disability benefit is for veterans. Thank them for their sacrifice.

Some people "on disability" are being paid by private insurance companies under policies they or their employer purchased privately.

In all, it's actually not "so many." It is a very small percentage of the population, but their needs are great.

So many people on this thread clearly know nothing about this topic and have never experienced the need or the incredible difficulty in having that need met.

Unbelievably sad thread to read.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost every ex-military gets some sort of disability now. PTSD is common. There was a small scandal about how mamy airlines pilots with military background were collecting VA benefits for mental health issues yet not reporting it to the FAA as required by law. VA wasn’t talking to the FAA so directly.

People can’t afford to retire so apply for benefits. Especially older Americans in their 50’s and 60’s who have trouble finding work or people living in poor areas where jobs are not easily available.

Correct. Just fill out the form and some former practicing doctor at Walter reed approves it via his laptop. More benies for life.

Is this really a thread dissing on vets? I am not pro military. I would like to see the defense budget cut significantly. I would like to see the size of our military shrunk. But snakes alive, who shits on kids who signed up at 18 and worked hard giving up their rights and freedoms for enough years to qualify for benefits to deal with harm done to them in service of the country?

Like everything, there are definitely vets who claim to be disabled when they are not to get paid higher benefits. I’m not sure exactly how to prove who is actually disabled and who is not. I know some very healthy looking retired vets who claim a percentage disability. Maybe we need a better definition of disabled.

This. We also need better ways to find out about side income and side hustles. If you make more on the side than your benefits are worth, you clearly aren’t disabled and shouldn’t be getting the benefits. I also believe parents of disabled minor children should be income-tested. We don’t need to subsidize wealthy disabled children with private health insurance. But we currently do.

What program are you referring to?

Currently SSI (needs based) is the only federal disability program for disabled children (under age 18). If you are above basically the poverty threshold, your child does not qualify for SSI. Medicaid is also largely income-based.

Resources for families of disabled children are actually quite limited. Add in the fact a parent may need to stop working to provide care. Having a disabled child can be financially terrible for most middle and even UMC families with little taxpayer funded support. I’m not sure why anyone would think we’re subsidizing wealthy disabled kids.

The pp doesn't understand that if you are wealthier or middle class and have a disabled child, eventually you will probably be broke.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost every ex-military gets some sort of disability now. PTSD is common. There was a small scandal about how mamy airlines pilots with military background were collecting VA benefits for mental health issues yet not reporting it to the FAA as required by law. VA wasn’t talking to the FAA so directly.

People can’t afford to retire so apply for benefits. Especially older Americans in their 50’s and 60’s who have trouble finding work or people living in poor areas where jobs are not easily available.

Correct. Just fill out the form and some former practicing doctor at Walter reed approves it via his laptop. More benies for life.

Is this really a thread dissing on vets? I am not pro military. I would like to see the defense budget cut significantly. I would like to see the size of our military shrunk. But snakes alive, who shits on kids who signed up at 18 and worked hard giving up their rights and freedoms for enough years to qualify for benefits to deal with harm done to them in service of the country?

Like everything, there are definitely vets who claim to be disabled when they are not to get paid higher benefits. I’m not sure exactly how to prove who is actually disabled and who is not. I know some very healthy looking retired vets who claim a percentage disability. Maybe we need a better definition of disabled.

This. We also need better ways to find out about side income and side hustles. If you make more on the side than your benefits are worth, you clearly aren’t disabled and shouldn’t be getting the benefits. I also believe parents of disabled minor children should be income-tested. We don’t need to subsidize wealthy disabled children with private health insurance. But we currently do.

What program are you referring to?

Currently SSI (needs based) is the only federal disability program for disabled children (under age 18). If you are above basically the poverty threshold, your child does not qualify for SSI. Medicaid is also largely income-based.

Resources for families of disabled children are actually quite limited. Add in the fact a parent may need to stop working to provide care. Having a disabled child can be financially terrible for most middle and even UMC families with little taxpayer funded support. I’m not sure why anyone would think we’re subsidizing wealthy disabled kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost every ex-military gets some sort of disability now. PTSD is common. There was a small scandal about how mamy airlines pilots with military background were collecting VA benefits for mental health issues yet not reporting it to the FAA as required by law. VA wasn’t talking to the FAA so directly.

People can’t afford to retire so apply for benefits. Especially older Americans in their 50’s and 60’s who have trouble finding work or people living in poor areas where jobs are not easily available.

Correct. Just fill out the form and some former practicing doctor at Walter reed approves it via his laptop. More benies for life.

Is this really a thread dissing on vets? I am not pro military. I would like to see the defense budget cut significantly. I would like to see the size of our military shrunk. But snakes alive, who shits on kids who signed up at 18 and worked hard giving up their rights and freedoms for enough years to qualify for benefits to deal with harm done to them in service of the country?

Like everything, there are definitely vets who claim to be disabled when they are not to get paid higher benefits. I’m not sure exactly how to prove who is actually disabled and who is not. I know some very healthy looking retired vets who claim a percentage disability. Maybe we need a better definition of disabled.

This. We also need better ways to find out about side income and side hustles. If you make more on the side than your benefits are worth, you clearly aren’t disabled and shouldn’t be getting the benefits. I also believe parents of disabled minor children should be income-tested. We don’t need to subsidize wealthy disabled children with private health insurance. But we currently do.

Integrity is definitely a case-by-case thing
Sad