Among the most neglected poor are the mentally ill who are typically automatically denied disability coverage by Social Security and do not have the resources or knowledge to file an appeal using an attorney. Disability is normally only provided by Social Security upon attorney appeal, despite the obvious disability of the applicant. This verges on criminal abuse by a federal government agency.
I was an administrative law judge in the 1980s and 1990s. I also have been on the boards on a couple of legal services programs and at one time represented the insurer for another program. I was also an officer of the ABA, president and/or chair of ALJ organizations and was a liaison member to ACUS, the Administrative Conference of the United States. I was the first NOSSCR member to become an ALJ.
(S)he who represents himself or herself has a fool for a client and an idiot for a lawyer. As a judge, I majored in schizophrenia and monored in major depression. I heard cases mostly in California and Florida but also in other states, principally Georgia and Mississippi.
Most of the time, our policy in my region, was to have a medical advisor in hearing where mental illness was an issue. Many times, we had to collect medical records, school records, etc. that had not been furnished at the initial, state agency level.
When I was in Fresno, the judges in my office collected Hmong language and eventually had the MMPI translated into the Hmong language. The California state agency originally did not want to pay for these tests, and didn't want to pay for other medical examinations. When I was in Miami, many of the claimants held themselves out to have been political prisoners in Cuba (or other countries) but had actually been in a mental institution. We didn't have diplomatic relations at the time.
The rate of denial varies on a state by state basis. I hate to always pick on Mississippi, but at the state level they turned down these people at a higher rate than anyplace else. The reason that we call them a state agency is that at that level the claims are reviewed by the states.
SSA doesn't appoint lawyers. Gideon doesn't apply in civil cases. However some states have legal services and other programs that provide free lawyers. We put that fact on every notice of hearing. Of course, if a person was illiterate, that notice wasn't much help.
If claimants don't appeal to the administrative law judge level, the first level SSA actually gets to evaluate the case, then administrativ3e law judges can't "reverse" the state agency decision.
Thank you for this Daniel. I had several clients who applied for SSI. Their initial application was routinely denied by SSA. Fortunately, we had an attorney who specialized in disability. She would assure that all medical records, supportive data were provided. After the hearing our clients usually were approved. At that time, it took up to two years to get approval on SSI claims and there was a large back pay premium from which the Attorney was able to collect their fees, also the Counties were reimbursed for benefits paid while waiting for approval. Then, sometime in the 2010's (not sure of the exact date) SSA decided the Attorneys could no longer take their fees from this back pay. Apparently, the disability Attorneys were too successful in getting claims approved.
Counties in California should hire full time lawyers to represent impoverished people who would otherwise collect from the county. Includes Medicare/Medicaid appeals, HUD appeals, etc. The future value would be enormous. Same with vocational rehabilitation.
I agree Daniel, but not all Counties are liberal Progressives, like the State. (Kern County is home to Kevin McCarthy) The County for which I worked was very conservative, [aside: they labeled me their token liberal (:-)] so assigning an attorney to assist welfare clients is out of the question, I live in Sacramento County which I rank as progressive, but not liberal. The Bay area, and LA are far more liberal progressive, but too many people and not enough greenery for me.
I figured you'd know Kern County. I dreaded going there. I agree having an attorney representing SSI recipients makes the County money, but places like ElDorado, Alpine, Calveras, are too dumb to listen to that They latched on to Reagan's Welfare Queen and never let go. I did the State and internal reports when I first went to work there, and even showing the tax benefits of getting people decent jobs didn't influence the County Board of Supervisors. I was on the Union Board of Directors and I always dreaded having to address the
Yeah, getting an attorney to represent you in getting SSDI is everything.
I have long-term disability insurance (private) that I guess in-housed a law firm to represent anyone whose LTD claim lasts more than a year. That firm has a 95% success rate, so I expect my claim will be approved.
This is despite living in Texas. This is the Rolls-Royce, red carpet SSDI process, which makes me want to scream until my nose bleeds because it should not be. This is how it should work for everyone.
Nobody *wants* to be on SSDI, and ADA / ADAAA has done basically nothing to fix this perception.
Then again, I'm autistic, not "mentally ill" - born disabled. However - the demonization of "mental illness" has been so effective in this godforsaken armpit of a nation, because Americans love nothing more than identifying someone to blame, so they have someone to punish. It's amazingly stupid, too: literally nobody wakes up in the morning and says to themselves, "You know what? I don't have enough problems in my life, I think I'll start manifesting symptoms of schizophrenia."
I certainly agree with you, Leah. Unfortunately, way too many people regard mental health the same way the people (including doctors) up to somewhere in the mid 19th century viewed mental illness - as being "possessed by the devil" . The lack of knowledge and understanding back them makes me slightly sympathetic toward them, BUT that was 175 years ago, We have way more knowledge now and even some treatments. As a scientist I try to keep up with the latest findings, We still know so little about the functioning of the brain in mammals but we are making progress, This is one field where artificial intelligence may truly be a miracle worker. Autism is not one of the 'mental illnesses' but it is still a malfunctioning of the central nervous system that includes our brain. I hope they find ways to help you within your life span.
So, idk if you can imagine how profoundly offensive this comment was.
I'm sure you didn't intend it to be, but it is. I wonder why you feel the need to 'splain any of this to me, considering it's my lived experience and all. I often have to explain to neurotypicals that autism is a disability, not a mental illness, and then I have to explain the difference, which is that a disability can't be cured; an illness is a pathology that can be cured. A missing limb - from amputation or a birth defect - is a disability. Being blind is a disability. Being deaf is a disability. Having cancer or HIV is considered a disability because, once acquired, these are considered incurable. Being autistic is considered a disability because of the universal, reflexive, subconscious intolerance all neurotypicals evince for all non-neurotypical neurotypes - and NTs can identify non-NTs in under 60 seconds 100% of the time, and universally subcosciously reject autistic people with a hostility that, unique to NTs with autistic people, only increases with subsequent exposure.
I am disabled. You would say, "Despite this," but I know better; because of this, I program in 13 languages, have a patent on eight inventions for a drone that stops bullets, am a guest lecturer at five universities on AI, ML, robotics, sensor fusion, and practical applications of AR/VR, and have published white papers in the IEEE and IEEE journals. The UN has picked up some of my best tech solutions to wicked problems, like novel ways of overcoming funding-based friction to tech adoption by government agencies. I've been tapped to advise FEMA, the FAA, and built cooperative partnerships with Black Lives Matter and the Fraternal Order of Police; I sat in with the World Bank.
Despite this, I'm chronically, cyclically homeless as a consequence of socioeconomic exclusion - the single most common manifestation of neurotypical intolerance of autistic difference. I've never known stability in my entire adult life as a consequence of this discrimination. I can manage literally all the other symptoms autism comes with.
It's the things I can't manage - entrenched, dedicated, and determined neurotypical intolerance - that has given me c-PTSD and anxiety so severe that I live on the brink of a hypertensive crisis and can't take the medication that manages my ADHD lest I give myself a stroke. This is caused by NT treatment of me, their terrifying attacks and hostility and the severity of cortisol poisoning from RSD their behavior causes for me physically, the damage this inflicts on my kidneys and heart. Oh, and then there's the ever-looming threat of economic consequences hanging over my head like the sword of Damocles.
As an engineer, I have to understand a problem before I can presume to try to solve it. A lot of people would benefit from adopting this perspective. Solving neurotypical intolerance of autistic people would fix probably 80% of "what's wrong" with us - it's actually not us. It's you. No, really. ;)
Try to hear this exactly how you said it to me: "I hope they find ways to help you within my lifetime."
My sincere apology Leah, the last thing I would want to do is offend you. I do agree that the 'system' seems to be stacked against person with disabilities and more so if these disabilities are deemed 'uncurable'.
I am sorry I brought up attorneys at all. It was just to show that getting disability was sometimes a lengthy process which is even more overwhelming for someone who is dealing with disabilities. You have missed my point, which is people don’t get on disability and then live well. Compared to what they need and cannot provide for themselves it is a drop in the bucket. It is a stark existence for those who have no family or friends to give them the things that such to improve the quality of life. Some group homes do provide some of this. But I just can’t tolerate people that envy the stipend the government provides. In my mind it is common decency and not at all extravagant. To say “they have SSI” is to me insinuating they are well provided for to the people who don’t know otherwise. The whole discussion that followed was about attorneys and not about the disabled. And even today, in my opinion the treatments for mental illness are inadequate and there are not enough providers or facilities to handle their needs. We talk about the need mental health care and do nothing.
I don’t remember what you said. But, yes, I worked in Psychiatric Services for over twenty years. And social security disability is not a whole lot nor is the amount people get from the state. Anyone who begrudges the pittance that they get is highly uninformed.
Very, very true Betty. Back when I was an Eligibility worker in the late 1990's SSI in California was around $700/ month wich included a stipend from the State. SSR (retirement) was around $1650 and that would not support an elderly single person, they had to have retirement and some other form of income for more than subsistence living.
You're also right that we (and our better legislators "talk" about mental health. Here in California there have been some small improvements. But for most of of us mental health treatments cost a fortune. I was fortunate to have some savings se aside to get some treatments for my daughter ($70,000) but she was never cured and accidentally drowned at age 51 as a result of clinical depression and bipolar disorder.
To *envy* SSI blows my mind. Whee, *almost* a thousand dollars a month. "Health insurance" that literally nobody accepts. And let's not forget, you get automatically ejected from it if you amass more than $2K in the bank.
SSI is what you get when you're too disabled to hobble your way across the SSDI finish line, but the federal government is forced to acknowledge how shameful it is that you're being hung out to dry in this Kafka-esque manner.
I'm currently working on the structure of my memoir covering 36 years of struggling to survive in this dysfunctional for-profit employment-based healthcare mess as an RN and a patient denied care due to not having health insurance. I worked nearly the entire time at about 30 different jobs due to being terminated each time I became eligible for benefits, and eventually had two graduate degrees. A problem I haven't heard discussed here is that you can't get health insurance without a job, and you can't get a condition diagnosed and treated without good health insurance. The worker's compensation system needs to go. Medicare for all is the solution along with OSHA being funded enough to do their job. Although illegal according to the ADA employment regulations, employers always hire and fire according to their perceived employee health insurance and worker's compensation expenses. In anonymous responses to my graduate research survey, some employers admitted they must do this to remain competitive. The only place I have seen this issue honestly discussed is in Reich's classes and on the Simpson's television show. Society threw me away at age 50 although it should have been the most productive time of my life. I couldn't even get hired at Walmart or McDonalds, let alone in healthcare. Insurers, therefore employers, know more about you than you know about yourself. We're at their mercy.
Some lawyers take employment discrimination cases that, depending on the state, would have given you potentially 30 cases. The other variation is age discrimination. At age 45 you would have been in a protected status.
Workers' comp varies tremendously by state. I heard Longshore and Harborworkers' Act cases with extensions like the Defense Base Act, and War Hazards Act that are workers' comp like statutes. Also 22 kinds of whistleblower retaliation cases.
I spoke with regulators in D.C. for research on my thesis. I was told the chance of winning such a case is the same as winning the lottery. It is an unfunded, unmonitored, unenforced mandate. You have no idea the way this country really works. It's bread and circus with less bread and more circus every election cycle.
The problem is that there aren't many lawyers who concentrate on areas that are speculative. If a plaintiff has good evidence, there are good odds.
There really isn't a good national system. A person in the industrialized states has a far better chance than a person in states that do not have good social laws.
Some of the statutes in my cases had shifting attorneys fees provisions that made them more attractive to lawyers. The average practitioner does not know these laws exist. The main problem in age discrimination is that lawyers have trouble getting paid. At one time, the most a lawyer could get in a VA case was $10 by statute.
Most of the "regulators" at SSA wanted to kill the program. Goes back to 1973, when SSA incorporated state disability programs, SSI, and our primary antagonist was the late Jim Bunning, once chair of the House SSA committee., later in the Senate. His former staffers are still around today.
I would hope that you spent most of your research time with legal services lawyers, because as a group they are paid to practice poverty law on a full time basis. There are some lawyers in private practice who do "alchemy law". They turn "shit" into money.
Yeah, you have no idea how this country actually works.
The fact that *I* could not prevail absolutely proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that it really is exactly as random and likely as winning the lottery.
I learned a lot from the actuarial library in Chicago. They wouldn't let me copy anything or check out books. I clearly remember from 1997 that graphs of insurance health expenses showed a hockey stick configuration at age 50. Jack Smith thinks by prosecuting Trump that he is demonstrating that we don't have a two-tiered justice system in this country. Working people and those in poverty know better and won't be convinced otherwise, even if Trump goes to prison for the rest of his life. With caps on medical malpractice suits and because judges can greatly reduce jury awards, it's not worth it for lawyers to do more than work for the client until the client's money runs out. I'm surprised the corporate owned media and the government clowns have managed to string US citizens along until 2023. What tricks do they still have up their sleeves to drag on the appearance of a government by the people for another election cycle. It will be more promises like, "hope and change."
Oh, yeah, so you can be among the 3% the EEOC even fucking notices.
Yay. I'm one of the unicorns that contingency disability discrimination attorneys will even represent in Texas - because my disability is so well-documented (in 1994, I was the subject of a case study that proved that girls can be autistic), the pretext is always glaringly obvious (I had one place fire me for being late even though I was carpooling with another employee who was not disciplined in any way for attendance), and I make enough money that any settlement or award *should* be worth it.
The EEOC never gives a fuck, and somehow, I can't ever seem to locate the attorneys who actually seek to sue. I can't even seem to find the employment attorneys who you retain properly (instead of contingency) who represent employees, not employers. You'd think there's be... any. If there are, I can't find them.
19% of adults with autism are employed full-time. This number rises to 23% when you count autistic adults with at least a 4-year degree.
The most common occupations neurotypicals believe autistic people are suitable to do? Janitor and engineer.
I've been wrongfully terminated for being autistic my entire working life, and somehow, the EEOC never seems to think it counts.
In civilized countries, "culture fit" is understood to be code for "we're don't tolerate autistic differences in speech cadence, facial expression, body language and tone, so even though it'll be next to impossible to replace you and it'll cost us a fortune if we even survive without you, lol - hit the bricks, freak."
This is pretty well documented and understood by the autistic community, and this is all despite the EEOC presumably putting a priority on enforcing the rights of neurodiverse employees.
"(S)he who represents himself or herself has a fool for a client and an idiot for a lawyer."
One of the most common characteristics of autism is an inability to tolerate injustice, regardless of whether or not the autistic individual is personally affected. Congratulations, sir, you have singlehandedly driven my blood pressure to the point of a hypertensive crisis with this. Because I'm deep in the throes of autistic burnout I can't even articulate just exactly what I think of this, or you - not in a manner that wouldn't result in my arrest, despite the commonality of the autistic individual to invoke hyperbole in a desperate effort to pound understanding through the rock-hard, foot-thick heads of neurotypicals. (See?)
I'm just curious, I guess. Does it feel good to have had an active hand in all of this? Do you feel like yours was a successful career? Do you think you did anything good for society with your participation?
Where I worked, and I think I made it clear I was only speaking of the clinic where I worked, the patients hired local attorneys, the ones who didn’t hire them had the same percentage of successful appeals with or without the attorneys and we did all the work. Sounds like you made a good living My point was that to say that the disabled have SSI makes it sound like a snap of the fingers and all is well after that. It is not a life anyone should want to live. I was working with our patients as a receptionist treated every patient the way I would want my family treated. I saw first hand how they lived for over 25 years. It wasn’t an existence anyone would choose. It sounds like you made a good living. And you know a lot about a lot, but you no nothing about t. He situation I was talking about. And shame on you for dispensing with their needs with they have SSI. And let them eat cake. I loved helping our patients but now with social security and my little pension I have lived at the poverty level since 2015 and have just now given up and received Medicare and $40.00 a month toward food. I am homeless living in a room. Let me eat cake. As well. Sorry if your ego was wounded.
Also, if a person is mentally ill or unable to work for whatever reason, they can't get Social Security unless they've worked full-time for 10 years. For some, this is impossible. It's even more difficult these days as employers don't want to hire full-time workers and hire contractual workers.
Can get SSI. Does not require an enabling earnings record. You are correct that disability per se, based on an earnings record, requires that a wage earner is fully and currently insured.
Some beneficiaries are dependents of the wage earner.
Some mental beneficiaries work in a "sheltered work" setting. Companies get tax breaks to hire disabled people.
Canada tried out a minimum income strategy in 1975 in my hometown of Dauphin Manitoba. It lasted 4 years until a government change and it was shut down. It reduced poverty, unemployment, and improved health in the population of about 9500 people. It was seen as too socialist at the time, but the analysis of the data indicates only positive results in the overall cost of social services.
We all get public assistance. I remember when my 3rd daughter said she got all she had done by herself. I reminded her of the room, bed, house, food, support she got from us but also the public schools, roads, activities, and such. When a businesswoman or businessman say they did it all they used roads, flew safely, received subsidies, and more. So when we talk of assistance to the poor it is a small slice of the pie. They need help especially the working poor. The rich get subsidies already through all the government provides, tax breaks the republicans provide, and courts that rule in their favor. They get more than I do! Don’t begrudge the support as a safety net for the poor. The rich still get mire but with all their crying you would not think so.
During my time as an Administrative Assistant or secretary there were times I did the same job as the men. However many years ago women were not paid a living wage therefore they, in their old age,get less social security which in today's world is not a living wage.
How can we have the kind of society we want when we have 800 military bases abroad and a huge military budget, Democrats have failed to see the connection between social well at home and our military build-up overseas. Let's bring a sane foreign policy back into the discussion
They know. They're just too terrified of calling for cuts and having Republicans tar them as unpatriotic, Communist haters of liberty. They also probably have constituents that benefit from defense largesse, which makes it even harder to have a spine.
Loved this class, thank you. I want to add some comments to the 'welfare' section. After I retired from teaching science I worked for a California County Department of Social Services from 1989 until 2003. I experienced the transition from AFDC to TANF. There were multiple problems. First the public concept of 'welfare' recipients as given by Ronald Reagan are both false and incomplete. TANF did not take this disparity into consideration . As you so aptly pointed out, Professor Reich, the majority of recipients are white. This is especially so in more rural areas as opposed to urban areas such as Los Angeles County. A few recipients have had a recent negative major change in their lives, such as death of one of the parents, or divorce or desertion. Next, to receive either AFDC or TANF there must be at least one child under the age of 18 in the family. Most families on assistance have two children, In my personal caseload I had a few with one child, most with two, three or four and one with 16 children. Those with better educations were on assistance no more than 2 years, usually less, they just needed help to get over a major change, get some assistance in finding a job and then became self supporting. I had two cases where the only parent was a father, most were households headed by a mother and a handful had two parents. Another problem not recognized is several of the parents were handicapped. Some were so intellectually deficient, as to be unemployable. Some had severe illnesses - cancer, multiple sclerosis, loss of one or more limbs.
With the advent of TANF, only 10% of our total Department caseload could be excused from the five year lifetime limit. In our County we had two DSS offices, several miles apart, Between the two offices, closer to 20% of the entire caseload were unemployable.
Next, the work requirement. As I said I had been a teacher for several years and had taught career training during that time. In smaller Counties, the majority of Eligibility Workers had only high school education. Employment and Training Workers were promoted from this base. (including me) So, when they moved to Employment and Training, they received higher salaries and smaller caseloads,. But their idea was to get the recipients off welfare and into a job as quickly as possible. They pushed their clients into fast food part time work. Are you aware that your tax dollars subsidize the fast food industry? Well they do. Minimum wage is insufficient in itself, and more so if the employee works less than 32 hours per week, which is routine in fast food industry. A mother with two young children cannot even pay their rent on that amount of money. Result: they make too much money for TANF, but still qualify for Supplemental Nutrition Allowance Program (SNAP) which replaced food stamps. And they also qualify for Medicaid. [MediCal in California] Hence YOU are subsidizing fast food, Amazon, Walmart, and all retail industries that pay minimum wage and reduced hours (less than 32 per week) 32 is the magic number of hours where employers are not required to pay any benefits - no sick leave, no vacation, no health insurance.
The child income tax credit eliminated childhood poverty. IMHO would have transformed "poverty" programs. But our Republican friends would not support renewal of the program.
And the same socio/economic sub-section of our populace, being the ones who rail against the notion of assisting those most in need, happen to be the ones hip deep in the fresh wave of Bible thumping hypocrites infecting our nation as of late. To paraphrase, " Lo as you do to the least of my brethren, so do you do unto me ." Like I said, HYPOCRITES. JC is said to hate hypocrites.
Teachers often do not get the disability insurance because it is too expensive. Or if they have it, md,'s will not back person up until they are off it.
Robert, this is a difficult issue to conquer. As many factors are involved with it. Issues like Unemployment, Physical Disabilities, Mental Illness, Immigration, Drug Addiction, Bankruptcy, Obesity, to name some, specifically. Who decides who should address these social calamities & where should the resources come from, directly? Should the Federal Government, Local, State, or Municipalities, or an independent entity manage these processes? It's should NOT be taken from the Middle Class!! Must be taken directly from those that have an overabundance of wealth. Those that manipulate their wealth with greed for their own benefit. Corporations, Banks, Wall Street, top 1% class! Who have the necessary resources to bankroll lobbyists in Washington to do their glutton bidding. It's these entities that regularly pillage for their own benefit and always want more. This must stop, Inequality has crippled the Middle Class. While those listed entities continue to prosper but are never satisfied nor willing to share.
We have a national program for most people who are needy and can't work -- SSI. The standards for need are based on income and resources of a claimant.
I hate snappy answers. I worked where people with disabling psychiatric illnesses applied for SSIDI. When I was there, the first application was denied. Unfortunately the patients would then hire lawyers. I am presuming they were paid by a portion of their SSI, but don’t know for sure. The documentation was provided by the social workers. Same result with or without the attorney. The social workers filled out the paperwork on their own time, free of charge. They had heavy workloads and wanted to help their patients. The secretaries collected the medical records to support the claim. The attorneys did nothing except keep calling and demanding the paperwork immediately. With or without harassment the social workers got the paperwork done ASAP. We were an out patient mental health clinic for people on Medicare and or Medicaid.
Some people with physical disabilities get a percent disabled. Presumably they could work a little and collect a little. I never figured that one out. I know one that did just that. Luckily he was able to find someone to hire him. At least short term. The SSI social workers were also overworked and claims took time to be processed. SSDI eligibility had to be redetermined every year.
SSI is a separate program for low income people including seniors and children with disabilities or blindness. The MAXIMUM monthly SSI payment for 2023 is $914.00 a month. You can’t rent an apartment for that. At least not where I would feel safe and secure. And unfortunately there is a dearth of affordable and subsidized housing right now. If these people have no other income they will need health insurance, Medicaid or Medicare and Medicaid.
Most SSDI recipients have to wait 2 years after getting their disability before they can apply for medicare. They will Medicaid, need a way to pay for food, utilities, bus fare, etc. and that is just to survive. Envy that, if you can. And remember no guarantees that YOU will not end up on these benefits. An accident, illness, medical bills leading to bankruptcy, etc. can make you the next lucky candidate for these benefits.
"Unfortunately the patients would then hire lawyers." "Same result with or without the attorney."
Statistics show otherwise.
Most SSI claimants are entitled to free lawyers through legal services. Social workers are paid by their agencies. Many of the claimants make poor witnesses, and social workers can make the case if they know the patient and testify. I find that most of the witnesses and that includes medical providers do not know the standards, and in mental cases that means the listings of impairment.
The reason for denials usually is because there is some work that can be performed, given the medical profile. For adults, at the 5th step of the sequential evaluation" the govern must prove that there are a significant number of jobs that can be performed.
Many claimants are paid state administered TANF or other state disability benefits while cases are pending that have to be repaid from back benefits if they prevail.
Some people have fee generating cases and are referred to lawyers who only charge if they win.
I worked for years as a Visiting Nurse and saw first-hand how people at the edge lived. Elderly people who had to choose between filling a prescription for their heart medicine or keeping their heat on. Single moms who strung together two and sometimes three jobs, yet lacked health insurance for themselves. Children who were parentified to care for younger siblings so Mom could work; their childhoods stolen.
Many times we nurses passed an envelope around the office to help prevent a patient from falling through the cracks. There were always more cracks than nurses could fill.
Besides being a lawyer who took SSID and SSI cases, my brother was president of visiting nurse association in my home town.
Life is tough.
I've said previously that 20% of the population can not fend for themselves. We do not live in a perfect world. Most people do not have the medical or legal expertise to navigate by themselves.
What is "poor"? In time, space, being? David Graeber suggested we ask the wrong questions. Marianna Mazzucato wrote a book with a title that poses "The Value of Everything". Oxford economist Kate Raworth spends her time with "Donut Economics", Jason Hickel on degrowth econ, Thomas Piketty on "Socialism Now" after years like Elizabeth Warren as a capitalist. My current favorites for "poor" are Clara Mattei "How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the Way to Fascism" and Gary Gerstle "William Clinton, the Fabulous Failure" and then there is Bill McKibben on Obama's Oral History that he never felt the president thought deeply. Paul Krugman has said the exact same thing about Bernie Sanders. Is David Graber on what is "poor"? I live on ~$1487/mo. Since I literally cannot rent anywhere my family, I set out in 2009 on the heels of a debilitating infectious disease to write about the gravity of climate change in an effort to wake up my dear country. Backpacking from the Canyon to Alaska, lecturing on law and science in Beijing's finest universities, spending several years in France and UK national libraries. Not even close to success. And probably must end in a few months. Am I "poor"? No American and I mean no American will hire a civil rights environmental lawyer in the Golden Era of Neoliberalism. I might sue them. Am I "poor"? Heavens no. I have had purpose. As for those without housing, food, healthcare it is disgraceful for the country.
One thing I never see discussed is how aid to the poor actually subsidizes major corporations by allowing them to pay less than living wages to their employees who must then depend on the aid programs.
I knew poor, but was not on assistance. However my best friend growing up, his mom was. My buddy and his sister did not choose their situation but what help they got in the 50s 60s helped keep a home and food for them.
Among the most neglected poor are the mentally ill who are typically automatically denied disability coverage by Social Security and do not have the resources or knowledge to file an appeal using an attorney. Disability is normally only provided by Social Security upon attorney appeal, despite the obvious disability of the applicant. This verges on criminal abuse by a federal government agency.
It's true that at one time SSA had a policy to force administrative law judges to turn down claimants, mostly under Reagan and GHWBush. But, for the most part judges followed the law, despite agency "nonacquiesence" to opinions from the US Circuit courts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonacquiescence#:~:text=In%20the%20United%20States%2C%20federal,Service%20openly%20declare%20such%20conduct.
I was an administrative law judge in the 1980s and 1990s. I also have been on the boards on a couple of legal services programs and at one time represented the insurer for another program. I was also an officer of the ABA, president and/or chair of ALJ organizations and was a liaison member to ACUS, the Administrative Conference of the United States. I was the first NOSSCR member to become an ALJ.
(S)he who represents himself or herself has a fool for a client and an idiot for a lawyer. As a judge, I majored in schizophrenia and monored in major depression. I heard cases mostly in California and Florida but also in other states, principally Georgia and Mississippi.
Most of the time, our policy in my region, was to have a medical advisor in hearing where mental illness was an issue. Many times, we had to collect medical records, school records, etc. that had not been furnished at the initial, state agency level.
When I was in Fresno, the judges in my office collected Hmong language and eventually had the MMPI translated into the Hmong language. The California state agency originally did not want to pay for these tests, and didn't want to pay for other medical examinations. When I was in Miami, many of the claimants held themselves out to have been political prisoners in Cuba (or other countries) but had actually been in a mental institution. We didn't have diplomatic relations at the time.
The rate of denial varies on a state by state basis. I hate to always pick on Mississippi, but at the state level they turned down these people at a higher rate than anyplace else. The reason that we call them a state agency is that at that level the claims are reviewed by the states.
SSA doesn't appoint lawyers. Gideon doesn't apply in civil cases. However some states have legal services and other programs that provide free lawyers. We put that fact on every notice of hearing. Of course, if a person was illiterate, that notice wasn't much help.
If claimants don't appeal to the administrative law judge level, the first level SSA actually gets to evaluate the case, then administrativ3e law judges can't "reverse" the state agency decision.
Thank you for this Daniel. I had several clients who applied for SSI. Their initial application was routinely denied by SSA. Fortunately, we had an attorney who specialized in disability. She would assure that all medical records, supportive data were provided. After the hearing our clients usually were approved. At that time, it took up to two years to get approval on SSI claims and there was a large back pay premium from which the Attorney was able to collect their fees, also the Counties were reimbursed for benefits paid while waiting for approval. Then, sometime in the 2010's (not sure of the exact date) SSA decided the Attorneys could no longer take their fees from this back pay. Apparently, the disability Attorneys were too successful in getting claims approved.
Counties in California should hire full time lawyers to represent impoverished people who would otherwise collect from the county. Includes Medicare/Medicaid appeals, HUD appeals, etc. The future value would be enormous. Same with vocational rehabilitation.
I agree Daniel, but not all Counties are liberal Progressives, like the State. (Kern County is home to Kevin McCarthy) The County for which I worked was very conservative, [aside: they labeled me their token liberal (:-)] so assigning an attorney to assist welfare clients is out of the question, I live in Sacramento County which I rank as progressive, but not liberal. The Bay area, and LA are far more liberal progressive, but too many people and not enough greenery for me.
It MAKES the county MONEY!!!!!
BTW I know Kern County, and even the red neck poet laureate Merle Haggard had an epiphany late in life. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Going_Where_the_Lonely_Go
I figured you'd know Kern County. I dreaded going there. I agree having an attorney representing SSI recipients makes the County money, but places like ElDorado, Alpine, Calveras, are too dumb to listen to that They latched on to Reagan's Welfare Queen and never let go. I did the State and internal reports when I first went to work there, and even showing the tax benefits of getting people decent jobs didn't influence the County Board of Supervisors. I was on the Union Board of Directors and I always dreaded having to address the
BOS, they understood nothing.
escaped from Kern County in 1998. Moved to Santa Barbara. Much happier there even in a tiny studio apartment
Not all counties [give a flying fuck about the human rights of people with disabilities, and in fact think it's funny when the disabled suffer.]
Fixed it for you :)
Yeah, getting an attorney to represent you in getting SSDI is everything.
I have long-term disability insurance (private) that I guess in-housed a law firm to represent anyone whose LTD claim lasts more than a year. That firm has a 95% success rate, so I expect my claim will be approved.
This is despite living in Texas. This is the Rolls-Royce, red carpet SSDI process, which makes me want to scream until my nose bleeds because it should not be. This is how it should work for everyone.
Nobody *wants* to be on SSDI, and ADA / ADAAA has done basically nothing to fix this perception.
Then again, I'm autistic, not "mentally ill" - born disabled. However - the demonization of "mental illness" has been so effective in this godforsaken armpit of a nation, because Americans love nothing more than identifying someone to blame, so they have someone to punish. It's amazingly stupid, too: literally nobody wakes up in the morning and says to themselves, "You know what? I don't have enough problems in my life, I think I'll start manifesting symptoms of schizophrenia."
I certainly agree with you, Leah. Unfortunately, way too many people regard mental health the same way the people (including doctors) up to somewhere in the mid 19th century viewed mental illness - as being "possessed by the devil" . The lack of knowledge and understanding back them makes me slightly sympathetic toward them, BUT that was 175 years ago, We have way more knowledge now and even some treatments. As a scientist I try to keep up with the latest findings, We still know so little about the functioning of the brain in mammals but we are making progress, This is one field where artificial intelligence may truly be a miracle worker. Autism is not one of the 'mental illnesses' but it is still a malfunctioning of the central nervous system that includes our brain. I hope they find ways to help you within your life span.
So, idk if you can imagine how profoundly offensive this comment was.
I'm sure you didn't intend it to be, but it is. I wonder why you feel the need to 'splain any of this to me, considering it's my lived experience and all. I often have to explain to neurotypicals that autism is a disability, not a mental illness, and then I have to explain the difference, which is that a disability can't be cured; an illness is a pathology that can be cured. A missing limb - from amputation or a birth defect - is a disability. Being blind is a disability. Being deaf is a disability. Having cancer or HIV is considered a disability because, once acquired, these are considered incurable. Being autistic is considered a disability because of the universal, reflexive, subconscious intolerance all neurotypicals evince for all non-neurotypical neurotypes - and NTs can identify non-NTs in under 60 seconds 100% of the time, and universally subcosciously reject autistic people with a hostility that, unique to NTs with autistic people, only increases with subsequent exposure.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5286449/
I am disabled. You would say, "Despite this," but I know better; because of this, I program in 13 languages, have a patent on eight inventions for a drone that stops bullets, am a guest lecturer at five universities on AI, ML, robotics, sensor fusion, and practical applications of AR/VR, and have published white papers in the IEEE and IEEE journals. The UN has picked up some of my best tech solutions to wicked problems, like novel ways of overcoming funding-based friction to tech adoption by government agencies. I've been tapped to advise FEMA, the FAA, and built cooperative partnerships with Black Lives Matter and the Fraternal Order of Police; I sat in with the World Bank.
Despite this, I'm chronically, cyclically homeless as a consequence of socioeconomic exclusion - the single most common manifestation of neurotypical intolerance of autistic difference. I've never known stability in my entire adult life as a consequence of this discrimination. I can manage literally all the other symptoms autism comes with.
It's the things I can't manage - entrenched, dedicated, and determined neurotypical intolerance - that has given me c-PTSD and anxiety so severe that I live on the brink of a hypertensive crisis and can't take the medication that manages my ADHD lest I give myself a stroke. This is caused by NT treatment of me, their terrifying attacks and hostility and the severity of cortisol poisoning from RSD their behavior causes for me physically, the damage this inflicts on my kidneys and heart. Oh, and then there's the ever-looming threat of economic consequences hanging over my head like the sword of Damocles.
As an engineer, I have to understand a problem before I can presume to try to solve it. A lot of people would benefit from adopting this perspective. Solving neurotypical intolerance of autistic people would fix probably 80% of "what's wrong" with us - it's actually not us. It's you. No, really. ;)
Try to hear this exactly how you said it to me: "I hope they find ways to help you within my lifetime."
My sincere apology Leah, the last thing I would want to do is offend you. I do agree that the 'system' seems to be stacked against person with disabilities and more so if these disabilities are deemed 'uncurable'.
I am sorry I brought up attorneys at all. It was just to show that getting disability was sometimes a lengthy process which is even more overwhelming for someone who is dealing with disabilities. You have missed my point, which is people don’t get on disability and then live well. Compared to what they need and cannot provide for themselves it is a drop in the bucket. It is a stark existence for those who have no family or friends to give them the things that such to improve the quality of life. Some group homes do provide some of this. But I just can’t tolerate people that envy the stipend the government provides. In my mind it is common decency and not at all extravagant. To say “they have SSI” is to me insinuating they are well provided for to the people who don’t know otherwise. The whole discussion that followed was about attorneys and not about the disabled. And even today, in my opinion the treatments for mental illness are inadequate and there are not enough providers or facilities to handle their needs. We talk about the need mental health care and do nothing.
I don’t remember what you said. But, yes, I worked in Psychiatric Services for over twenty years. And social security disability is not a whole lot nor is the amount people get from the state. Anyone who begrudges the pittance that they get is highly uninformed.
Very, very true Betty. Back when I was an Eligibility worker in the late 1990's SSI in California was around $700/ month wich included a stipend from the State. SSR (retirement) was around $1650 and that would not support an elderly single person, they had to have retirement and some other form of income for more than subsistence living.
You're also right that we (and our better legislators "talk" about mental health. Here in California there have been some small improvements. But for most of of us mental health treatments cost a fortune. I was fortunate to have some savings se aside to get some treatments for my daughter ($70,000) but she was never cured and accidentally drowned at age 51 as a result of clinical depression and bipolar disorder.
I am so sorry for your heartaches. The treatments for mental illness are mere bandaids, at best.
To *envy* SSI blows my mind. Whee, *almost* a thousand dollars a month. "Health insurance" that literally nobody accepts. And let's not forget, you get automatically ejected from it if you amass more than $2K in the bank.
SSI is what you get when you're too disabled to hobble your way across the SSDI finish line, but the federal government is forced to acknowledge how shameful it is that you're being hung out to dry in this Kafka-esque manner.
I'm currently working on the structure of my memoir covering 36 years of struggling to survive in this dysfunctional for-profit employment-based healthcare mess as an RN and a patient denied care due to not having health insurance. I worked nearly the entire time at about 30 different jobs due to being terminated each time I became eligible for benefits, and eventually had two graduate degrees. A problem I haven't heard discussed here is that you can't get health insurance without a job, and you can't get a condition diagnosed and treated without good health insurance. The worker's compensation system needs to go. Medicare for all is the solution along with OSHA being funded enough to do their job. Although illegal according to the ADA employment regulations, employers always hire and fire according to their perceived employee health insurance and worker's compensation expenses. In anonymous responses to my graduate research survey, some employers admitted they must do this to remain competitive. The only place I have seen this issue honestly discussed is in Reich's classes and on the Simpson's television show. Society threw me away at age 50 although it should have been the most productive time of my life. I couldn't even get hired at Walmart or McDonalds, let alone in healthcare. Insurers, therefore employers, know more about you than you know about yourself. We're at their mercy.
Some lawyers take employment discrimination cases that, depending on the state, would have given you potentially 30 cases. The other variation is age discrimination. At age 45 you would have been in a protected status.
Workers' comp varies tremendously by state. I heard Longshore and Harborworkers' Act cases with extensions like the Defense Base Act, and War Hazards Act that are workers' comp like statutes. Also 22 kinds of whistleblower retaliation cases.
I spoke with regulators in D.C. for research on my thesis. I was told the chance of winning such a case is the same as winning the lottery. It is an unfunded, unmonitored, unenforced mandate. You have no idea the way this country really works. It's bread and circus with less bread and more circus every election cycle.
I was a judge for 30 years, where the rubber meets the road.
https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/naalj/vol36/iss1/4/
The problem is that there aren't many lawyers who concentrate on areas that are speculative. If a plaintiff has good evidence, there are good odds.
There really isn't a good national system. A person in the industrialized states has a far better chance than a person in states that do not have good social laws.
Some of the statutes in my cases had shifting attorneys fees provisions that made them more attractive to lawyers. The average practitioner does not know these laws exist. The main problem in age discrimination is that lawyers have trouble getting paid. At one time, the most a lawyer could get in a VA case was $10 by statute.
Most of the "regulators" at SSA wanted to kill the program. Goes back to 1973, when SSA incorporated state disability programs, SSI, and our primary antagonist was the late Jim Bunning, once chair of the House SSA committee., later in the Senate. His former staffers are still around today.
I would hope that you spent most of your research time with legal services lawyers, because as a group they are paid to practice poverty law on a full time basis. There are some lawyers in private practice who do "alchemy law". They turn "shit" into money.
Yeah, you have no idea how this country actually works.
The fact that *I* could not prevail absolutely proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that it really is exactly as random and likely as winning the lottery.
I learned a lot from the actuarial library in Chicago. They wouldn't let me copy anything or check out books. I clearly remember from 1997 that graphs of insurance health expenses showed a hockey stick configuration at age 50. Jack Smith thinks by prosecuting Trump that he is demonstrating that we don't have a two-tiered justice system in this country. Working people and those in poverty know better and won't be convinced otherwise, even if Trump goes to prison for the rest of his life. With caps on medical malpractice suits and because judges can greatly reduce jury awards, it's not worth it for lawyers to do more than work for the client until the client's money runs out. I'm surprised the corporate owned media and the government clowns have managed to string US citizens along until 2023. What tricks do they still have up their sleeves to drag on the appearance of a government by the people for another election cycle. It will be more promises like, "hope and change."
Oh, yeah, so you can be among the 3% the EEOC even fucking notices.
Yay. I'm one of the unicorns that contingency disability discrimination attorneys will even represent in Texas - because my disability is so well-documented (in 1994, I was the subject of a case study that proved that girls can be autistic), the pretext is always glaringly obvious (I had one place fire me for being late even though I was carpooling with another employee who was not disciplined in any way for attendance), and I make enough money that any settlement or award *should* be worth it.
The EEOC never gives a fuck, and somehow, I can't ever seem to locate the attorneys who actually seek to sue. I can't even seem to find the employment attorneys who you retain properly (instead of contingency) who represent employees, not employers. You'd think there's be... any. If there are, I can't find them.
19% of adults with autism are employed full-time. This number rises to 23% when you count autistic adults with at least a 4-year degree.
The most common occupations neurotypicals believe autistic people are suitable to do? Janitor and engineer.
I've been wrongfully terminated for being autistic my entire working life, and somehow, the EEOC never seems to think it counts.
In civilized countries, "culture fit" is understood to be code for "we're don't tolerate autistic differences in speech cadence, facial expression, body language and tone, so even though it'll be next to impossible to replace you and it'll cost us a fortune if we even survive without you, lol - hit the bricks, freak."
This is pretty well documented and understood by the autistic community, and this is all despite the EEOC presumably putting a priority on enforcing the rights of neurodiverse employees.
"(S)he who represents himself or herself has a fool for a client and an idiot for a lawyer."
One of the most common characteristics of autism is an inability to tolerate injustice, regardless of whether or not the autistic individual is personally affected. Congratulations, sir, you have singlehandedly driven my blood pressure to the point of a hypertensive crisis with this. Because I'm deep in the throes of autistic burnout I can't even articulate just exactly what I think of this, or you - not in a manner that wouldn't result in my arrest, despite the commonality of the autistic individual to invoke hyperbole in a desperate effort to pound understanding through the rock-hard, foot-thick heads of neurotypicals. (See?)
I'm just curious, I guess. Does it feel good to have had an active hand in all of this? Do you feel like yours was a successful career? Do you think you did anything good for society with your participation?
Where I worked, and I think I made it clear I was only speaking of the clinic where I worked, the patients hired local attorneys, the ones who didn’t hire them had the same percentage of successful appeals with or without the attorneys and we did all the work. Sounds like you made a good living My point was that to say that the disabled have SSI makes it sound like a snap of the fingers and all is well after that. It is not a life anyone should want to live. I was working with our patients as a receptionist treated every patient the way I would want my family treated. I saw first hand how they lived for over 25 years. It wasn’t an existence anyone would choose. It sounds like you made a good living. And you know a lot about a lot, but you no nothing about t. He situation I was talking about. And shame on you for dispensing with their needs with they have SSI. And let them eat cake. I loved helping our patients but now with social security and my little pension I have lived at the poverty level since 2015 and have just now given up and received Medicare and $40.00 a month toward food. I am homeless living in a room. Let me eat cake. As well. Sorry if your ego was wounded.
Sounds like you need help.
Sounds like she needs meaningful financial help.
Amen . Reason being that it is by far the easiest to take advantage of those most in need .
Also, if a person is mentally ill or unable to work for whatever reason, they can't get Social Security unless they've worked full-time for 10 years. For some, this is impossible. It's even more difficult these days as employers don't want to hire full-time workers and hire contractual workers.
Can get SSI. Does not require an enabling earnings record. You are correct that disability per se, based on an earnings record, requires that a wage earner is fully and currently insured.
Some beneficiaries are dependents of the wage earner.
Some mental beneficiaries work in a "sheltered work" setting. Companies get tax breaks to hire disabled people.
Canada tried out a minimum income strategy in 1975 in my hometown of Dauphin Manitoba. It lasted 4 years until a government change and it was shut down. It reduced poverty, unemployment, and improved health in the population of about 9500 people. It was seen as too socialist at the time, but the analysis of the data indicates only positive results in the overall cost of social services.
More on that. https://www.huffpost.com/archive/ca/entry/a-canadian-city-once-eliminated-poverty-and-nearly-everyone-forg_n_6335682 sigh.
We all get public assistance. I remember when my 3rd daughter said she got all she had done by herself. I reminded her of the room, bed, house, food, support she got from us but also the public schools, roads, activities, and such. When a businesswoman or businessman say they did it all they used roads, flew safely, received subsidies, and more. So when we talk of assistance to the poor it is a small slice of the pie. They need help especially the working poor. The rich get subsidies already through all the government provides, tax breaks the republicans provide, and courts that rule in their favor. They get more than I do! Don’t begrudge the support as a safety net for the poor. The rich still get mire but with all their crying you would not think so.
During my time as an Administrative Assistant or secretary there were times I did the same job as the men. However many years ago women were not paid a living wage therefore they, in their old age,get less social security which in today's world is not a living wage.
How can we have the kind of society we want when we have 800 military bases abroad and a huge military budget, Democrats have failed to see the connection between social well at home and our military build-up overseas. Let's bring a sane foreign policy back into the discussion
They know. They're just too terrified of calling for cuts and having Republicans tar them as unpatriotic, Communist haters of liberty. They also probably have constituents that benefit from defense largesse, which makes it even harder to have a spine.
McConnell said today that the military is woefully underfunded or some stuff like that
If he did, McConnell is woefully overserved on bourbon.
The Democrats are not the problem......
Thank you for sharing your class with us.
Loved this class, thank you. I want to add some comments to the 'welfare' section. After I retired from teaching science I worked for a California County Department of Social Services from 1989 until 2003. I experienced the transition from AFDC to TANF. There were multiple problems. First the public concept of 'welfare' recipients as given by Ronald Reagan are both false and incomplete. TANF did not take this disparity into consideration . As you so aptly pointed out, Professor Reich, the majority of recipients are white. This is especially so in more rural areas as opposed to urban areas such as Los Angeles County. A few recipients have had a recent negative major change in their lives, such as death of one of the parents, or divorce or desertion. Next, to receive either AFDC or TANF there must be at least one child under the age of 18 in the family. Most families on assistance have two children, In my personal caseload I had a few with one child, most with two, three or four and one with 16 children. Those with better educations were on assistance no more than 2 years, usually less, they just needed help to get over a major change, get some assistance in finding a job and then became self supporting. I had two cases where the only parent was a father, most were households headed by a mother and a handful had two parents. Another problem not recognized is several of the parents were handicapped. Some were so intellectually deficient, as to be unemployable. Some had severe illnesses - cancer, multiple sclerosis, loss of one or more limbs.
With the advent of TANF, only 10% of our total Department caseload could be excused from the five year lifetime limit. In our County we had two DSS offices, several miles apart, Between the two offices, closer to 20% of the entire caseload were unemployable.
Next, the work requirement. As I said I had been a teacher for several years and had taught career training during that time. In smaller Counties, the majority of Eligibility Workers had only high school education. Employment and Training Workers were promoted from this base. (including me) So, when they moved to Employment and Training, they received higher salaries and smaller caseloads,. But their idea was to get the recipients off welfare and into a job as quickly as possible. They pushed their clients into fast food part time work. Are you aware that your tax dollars subsidize the fast food industry? Well they do. Minimum wage is insufficient in itself, and more so if the employee works less than 32 hours per week, which is routine in fast food industry. A mother with two young children cannot even pay their rent on that amount of money. Result: they make too much money for TANF, but still qualify for Supplemental Nutrition Allowance Program (SNAP) which replaced food stamps. And they also qualify for Medicaid. [MediCal in California] Hence YOU are subsidizing fast food, Amazon, Walmart, and all retail industries that pay minimum wage and reduced hours (less than 32 per week) 32 is the magic number of hours where employers are not required to pay any benefits - no sick leave, no vacation, no health insurance.
The child income tax credit eliminated childhood poverty. IMHO would have transformed "poverty" programs. But our Republican friends would not support renewal of the program.
https://www.publicdemocracyamerica.org/post/expanded-child-tax-credits-expected-to-lift-4-million-us-children-out-of-poverty?gclid=CjwKCAjwm4ukBhAuEiwA0zQxk8v0gPQCr-R1QbqSoRh-POSg5XOLO2BbBfKDTjIJuwlZO4lA8DRc8RoCTqwQAvD_BwE
And the same socio/economic sub-section of our populace, being the ones who rail against the notion of assisting those most in need, happen to be the ones hip deep in the fresh wave of Bible thumping hypocrites infecting our nation as of late. To paraphrase, " Lo as you do to the least of my brethren, so do you do unto me ." Like I said, HYPOCRITES. JC is said to hate hypocrites.
Republican (what passes for) thinking: It's too difficult to identify "deserving poor," so let's just give everything to the very deserving rich.
You left our teachers….not a living wage for a one-income family.
Teachers often do not get the disability insurance because it is too expensive. Or if they have it, md,'s will not back person up until they are off it.
Robert, this is a difficult issue to conquer. As many factors are involved with it. Issues like Unemployment, Physical Disabilities, Mental Illness, Immigration, Drug Addiction, Bankruptcy, Obesity, to name some, specifically. Who decides who should address these social calamities & where should the resources come from, directly? Should the Federal Government, Local, State, or Municipalities, or an independent entity manage these processes? It's should NOT be taken from the Middle Class!! Must be taken directly from those that have an overabundance of wealth. Those that manipulate their wealth with greed for their own benefit. Corporations, Banks, Wall Street, top 1% class! Who have the necessary resources to bankroll lobbyists in Washington to do their glutton bidding. It's these entities that regularly pillage for their own benefit and always want more. This must stop, Inequality has crippled the Middle Class. While those listed entities continue to prosper but are never satisfied nor willing to share.
We have a national program for most people who are needy and can't work -- SSI. The standards for need are based on income and resources of a claimant.
I hate snappy answers. I worked where people with disabling psychiatric illnesses applied for SSIDI. When I was there, the first application was denied. Unfortunately the patients would then hire lawyers. I am presuming they were paid by a portion of their SSI, but don’t know for sure. The documentation was provided by the social workers. Same result with or without the attorney. The social workers filled out the paperwork on their own time, free of charge. They had heavy workloads and wanted to help their patients. The secretaries collected the medical records to support the claim. The attorneys did nothing except keep calling and demanding the paperwork immediately. With or without harassment the social workers got the paperwork done ASAP. We were an out patient mental health clinic for people on Medicare and or Medicaid.
Some people with physical disabilities get a percent disabled. Presumably they could work a little and collect a little. I never figured that one out. I know one that did just that. Luckily he was able to find someone to hire him. At least short term. The SSI social workers were also overworked and claims took time to be processed. SSDI eligibility had to be redetermined every year.
SSI is a separate program for low income people including seniors and children with disabilities or blindness. The MAXIMUM monthly SSI payment for 2023 is $914.00 a month. You can’t rent an apartment for that. At least not where I would feel safe and secure. And unfortunately there is a dearth of affordable and subsidized housing right now. If these people have no other income they will need health insurance, Medicaid or Medicare and Medicaid.
Most SSDI recipients have to wait 2 years after getting their disability before they can apply for medicare. They will Medicaid, need a way to pay for food, utilities, bus fare, etc. and that is just to survive. Envy that, if you can. And remember no guarantees that YOU will not end up on these benefits. An accident, illness, medical bills leading to bankruptcy, etc. can make you the next lucky candidate for these benefits.
"Unfortunately the patients would then hire lawyers." "Same result with or without the attorney."
Statistics show otherwise.
Most SSI claimants are entitled to free lawyers through legal services. Social workers are paid by their agencies. Many of the claimants make poor witnesses, and social workers can make the case if they know the patient and testify. I find that most of the witnesses and that includes medical providers do not know the standards, and in mental cases that means the listings of impairment.
The reason for denials usually is because there is some work that can be performed, given the medical profile. For adults, at the 5th step of the sequential evaluation" the govern must prove that there are a significant number of jobs that can be performed.
Many claimants are paid state administered TANF or other state disability benefits while cases are pending that have to be repaid from back benefits if they prevail.
Some people have fee generating cases and are referred to lawyers who only charge if they win.
I worked for years as a Visiting Nurse and saw first-hand how people at the edge lived. Elderly people who had to choose between filling a prescription for their heart medicine or keeping their heat on. Single moms who strung together two and sometimes three jobs, yet lacked health insurance for themselves. Children who were parentified to care for younger siblings so Mom could work; their childhoods stolen.
Many times we nurses passed an envelope around the office to help prevent a patient from falling through the cracks. There were always more cracks than nurses could fill.
Besides being a lawyer who took SSID and SSI cases, my brother was president of visiting nurse association in my home town.
Life is tough.
I've said previously that 20% of the population can not fend for themselves. We do not live in a perfect world. Most people do not have the medical or legal expertise to navigate by themselves.
Your patients were lucky to have you.
What is "poor"? In time, space, being? David Graeber suggested we ask the wrong questions. Marianna Mazzucato wrote a book with a title that poses "The Value of Everything". Oxford economist Kate Raworth spends her time with "Donut Economics", Jason Hickel on degrowth econ, Thomas Piketty on "Socialism Now" after years like Elizabeth Warren as a capitalist. My current favorites for "poor" are Clara Mattei "How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the Way to Fascism" and Gary Gerstle "William Clinton, the Fabulous Failure" and then there is Bill McKibben on Obama's Oral History that he never felt the president thought deeply. Paul Krugman has said the exact same thing about Bernie Sanders. Is David Graber on what is "poor"? I live on ~$1487/mo. Since I literally cannot rent anywhere my family, I set out in 2009 on the heels of a debilitating infectious disease to write about the gravity of climate change in an effort to wake up my dear country. Backpacking from the Canyon to Alaska, lecturing on law and science in Beijing's finest universities, spending several years in France and UK national libraries. Not even close to success. And probably must end in a few months. Am I "poor"? No American and I mean no American will hire a civil rights environmental lawyer in the Golden Era of Neoliberalism. I might sue them. Am I "poor"? Heavens no. I have had purpose. As for those without housing, food, healthcare it is disgraceful for the country.
One thing I never see discussed is how aid to the poor actually subsidizes major corporations by allowing them to pay less than living wages to their employees who must then depend on the aid programs.
I knew poor, but was not on assistance. However my best friend growing up, his mom was. My buddy and his sister did not choose their situation but what help they got in the 50s 60s helped keep a home and food for them.
Whom ? .
_EVERYONE_ who can maintain a 'C' grade average .
I'm a Blue Collar guy who didn't finish high school, I wish I had but that's on me, no one else .
One of my foster boys is about to graduate high school and he can't sign his own name .
America has plenty of money, they give so much to the rich why not give some to the little guys so they can stop needing food stamps and all that ? .
-Nate
Reagan loved the deserving poor, and he decided who was deserving.
He carried m.Friedman book around. Read Naomi Klein on shock (economics)