Who is John Thune and why does it appear that he
dislike disabled persons?
John Thune is senator from South
Dakota and a Republican. He has
responsibility to try to address the shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund. In an attempt to prevent the Fund from going bankrupt,
he along with Orrin Hatch (R-UT), have introduced two amendments to partially
pay for the bill by cutting Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)
benefits for people who also receive Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits. Senator Thune’s proposal would deem that an
individual has performed Substantial Gainful Activity in any month that he or
she receives UI.
How does this save money for the
Highway Trust Fund? The proposal would
mean any month during which a person receives unemployment compensation, that
month could count as a waiting period month, and an SSDI claimant receiving UI
would be denied at having substantial gainful activity. This would delay both SSDI cash
benefits and Medicare health insurance for workers who become disabled.In other words, if a claimant receives unemployment benefits and applies for SSDI, that claimant’s disability onset date could not be set during any month in which the claimant received unemployment benefits. The claimant, who may have to wait for over an year for a hearing on his disability claim and who is unable to work, would be forced to choose between receiving of unemployment benefits, or pushing his/her disability onset date further into the future. If you disability on-set date is delayed obviously your ability to obtain Social Security Disability income and Medicare benefits are concurrently delayed into the future.
Senator Thune has no understanding of the economic problems faced by disabled people trying to obtain benefits through the social security system. They have little or no income. Some have had to rely on Unemployment Benefits to sustain themselves during the Social Security Disability process. The process can take years before the system finally decides that the worker really is disabled.
Some may argue that it is not fair for a claimant to claim benefits under both systems. Such arguments miss the point that there is a 5 full month waiting period from the date a claimant is determined to be disabled before he/she becomes capable of getting any benefits. So the way it works now, your disability payments do not even begin until 6 months after the “onset date” (the date the disability prevented you from working at a full time job).
If your disability claim is approved, you cannot keep collecting unemployment benefits.
If a Claimant’s initial claim is denied he/she get caught in the uncertainty of a disability process. Each step has a longer waiting period, during which the claimant is unable to earn an income, unemployment insurance may be the only source of income for he/she can reach to pay for necessary living expenses during the months of delay.
Memorandum 10-1258 by Frank A. Cristaudo, a former Chief Administrative Law Judge, says that “[I]t is SSA’s position that individuals need not choose between applying for unemployment insurance and Social Security disability benefits.”
“[A] person can qualify for Social Security disability benefits even though he or she remains capable of performing some work.” Memorandum 10-1258, citing Social Security Ruling 00-1c and Cleveland v. Policy Management Systems Corp., 526 U.S. 795 (1999) (Social Security Disability claim and ADA claim can be concurrent).
Although funding the Highway Trust Fund is very important, it isn’t fair the place the burden of funding it upon the poor and disabled.
