House of Representatives Subcommittee plans tonarrow access to SSI
Hello, friends, I want to tell a personal story to focus attention on the importance of this information. I once had a private social work practice in Connecticut. One of my favorite clients was a young man who was in and out of prisons and mental institutions for the majority of his life following age 16, and he was in his early thirties when I was working with him. He had an undiagnosed brain injury and a severe mental illness. Despite evidence presented by myself and his psychiatrist (an expert in this disorder), he was repeatedly denied SSI (Social Security disability Income). The situation led this peaceful, nonviolent, intelligent young man to lose the ability to obtain the very necessary treatments and therapy to alleviate the problems of his condition. With proper medical attention and support, he could viably function and contribute to society. Without SSI, he became homeless and had no access to needed medicine or therapy for controlling his illness. He is now awaiting sentencing for an alleged murder. When he was receiving assistance before, he was able to work, speak out against drinking and drugs at local junior and senior high schools, ride his Harley-Davidson motorcycle, write two books, and do almost anything constructive with his life. When SSI stopped, he lasted for only two months without the medical and financial support. What a waste!
My point here is that medical and financial assistance were ripped away from someone who needed them most. This sad story has continued to be repeated nationwide since welfare reform has swept the country. My friend and client asked me to share his story so that it may motivate people to work on stopping this from happening to others with mental and physical disabilities. At least, now in prison, my friend understands that society failed to help him. I am going to contact him again and ask that he share his story with Congress.
For the purpose of clearness, most individuals with mental and/or physical disabilities are not at all violent even with the worst kind of condition. The aforementioned tragic situation shows me that our society can push and abuse a person only so far before they crack, and thousands of disabled people's lives are spiralling downhill. They are often the least able to deal with government bureaucratic forms and appeals for which they are specifically targeted! I feel that it is appropriate to end this report with a significant philosophical statement: The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who did nothing during the times of greatest moral crisis. Please take time to read and respond to this and other action alerts before it is too late.
Julie ReiskinCommander, Starfleet liaison officer
Colorado Cross-Disabilities Coalition
Denver, Colorado
House of Representatives Subcommittee Plans to Narrow Access to Disability Benefits for Children, Adults, and Senior Citizens As of June, 1998, children, adults, and senior citizens with mental and/or physical disabilities who rely on federal benefits continue to be targeted by the Human Resources Subcommittee of the House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee. Subcommittee leaders are circulating draft amendments to SSI-disability and other programs that would make it more difficult for impaired people to qualify for disability benefits. The amendments would also reduce payment levels to certain groups and individuals. These proposals are rubric-packaged under combating fraud and abuse. However, the changes would not simply include the previously mentioned points but a fundamental restructuring of specific program aspects that would have far reaching effects. A terrific response to the Action Alerts has succeeded in delaying passage of these amendments, but now a subcomittee hearing will possibly occur before the end of the month with legal ramifications thereafter.
Medical Evidence vs. Functional Evidence. Currently the Social Security Administration (SSA) defines both of these areas like this:
- Medical Evidence: The signs and symptoms of how a disorder creates a disabling condition in a person's life.
- Functional Evidence: How a disability actually affects a person's day-to-day activities and ability to do professional and/or manual work.
The Human Resources Subcommittee proposes that the SSA use only medical evidence in considering cases under review. They want the functional evidence to be disregarded in the process of determining a person's eligibility for benefits. While this can be perceived as reasonable, the idea is fraught with potential problems involved with the determinations process for receiving benefits. Many determinations would or could be made in error, particularly with persons whose disability or disabilities are not obvious, such as in cases of mental disabilities or the first phases of physical disabilities. Although it is true that medical evidence would carry more weight, the functional evidence would not be eliminated.
The second part of this provision poses another problem area involving those who are mentally disabled. The section requires the SSA to give equal weight to both forms of evidence. An SSA-hired consulting physician would examine the person and the information presented by the person's treating physician. This means that the doctor who treated the person for years will have little to say over the new SSA consulting doctor who is not familiar with either the case or the individual behind that case. The said individual's benefits could very easily be denied.
Upper-level tax payers will benefit in denying people access to this support. Medical insurance and income specifically for gaining medications, treatments, etc. would be denied to those who are commonly considered as being "too expensive for society to deal with" by upper-level tax payers, at least until disability and/or old age happens to those upper-level tax payers. At that point in their lives, the hypocrisy demonstrated by the higher bracket tax payers in question becomes so thick that it shines like the beacon of convenient and politically correct sounding lies that it really always was before. This sort of attitude is a problem for all individuals with disabilities, and it is not a dilemma just for those who can politically and/or financially afford not to care what anyone else thinks.
It is strongly believed that both of the evidence provisions will result in major errors occurring more often than not against mentally disabled individuals and cause a substantial reduction of the numbers who currently qualify to receive assistance under federal law. SSI recipients who live together and share the same dwelling space to either cut costs or to have companionship would lose twenty-five percent of their combined incomes because of the terms of the Human Resources Subcommittee proposal. Although the SSI recipients would suffer from the proposal, those living in nursing homes and group homes are not included in the recent proposal. Since SSI benefits are already much less than the Federal Poverty Level, the further financial cuts in the proposal would cause further hardship on the SSI recipients.
The stricter criteria for determining the eligibility of disabled children would be significantly changed by the Subcommittee's earlier proposal that "tightens" the standards for disability benefits to require that each person has a "marked" limitation in two functional areas. This would affect kids who apply in the future. Despite its "protection of disabled children and adults" now on the rolls, this represents yet another inroad on children's SSI benefits that were so drastically cut in the 1996 "welfare reform" that Congress passed. Impacted by the new proposal would be children with epilepsy, cerebral palsy, and mental retardation.
Prospects for Action This Fraud and Abuse Amendments Package, including the three points just discussed, is expected and supposed to save valuable federal resources. Congress may wish to use these savings to offset the costs of proposed tax cuts. Such cuts would benefit the higher bracket taxpayers, while the offsets will be taken from the pockets of those with the lowest level incomes. This means that the offsets would be placed directly on the shoulders of disabled children, adults, and senior citizens. Ironically these amendments would increase the burdens on SSI recipients who share living costs, while the tax cuts would ease the burdens on higher income married couples.
Action is needed and required immediately! Contact Members of Congress to stop this entire package of federal disability programs cuts from going through!
Inform your Congress members that most of the Human Resources Subcommittee's proposed cuts to federal SSI, SSDI, and other programs would not combat abuse or fraud. The cuts would simply reduce benefits to those who need them the most. Certain proposals would have damaging effects upon those with mental and/or physical disabilities by denying federal disability benefits to those who cannot work. Make sure to cite information listed here carefully, and urge rejection of unwarranted proposals that:
- Alter the way in which medical evidence is presented.
- Cut SSI benefits to single disabled people who live together to cut their costs of living.
- Further tighten SSI rules for disabled children.
Write to your Congress member today using this format:
Honorable_________________________, United States House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. 20515.
Call by phone or send a FAX using information obtained from the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121, and ask for your State Representative's Office phone and FAX number.
Send E-mail by accessing the Congressional E-mail system using this web address link: http://congress.org/elecmail.html
Please copy, print, and distribute these Action Alerts to others whom you know as well as to as many in your community as possible. This information deals directly with our communities, our people, and our future! If we do not stand up for ourselves, then who else will?
Thank you so much for reading, responding, and helping yourselves and the rest of the disabled community. Colorado Adapt includes: Atlantis Chapter, DCIL Chapter, the Starship Adapt and the Disability Interface - Star Trek disabled and/or deaf fandom's voice, Boulder Chapter, and the Colorado Springs Chapter. Also, a heartfelt thank you goes out to the Colorado Cross Disabilities Coalition, National Adapt, the Bazelon Center, and many others who work tirelessly on behalf of all to keep us free, informed, aware, and ready to act!
Investigations of PASS Violations We are Denver, Colorado attorneys who have been asked by the PASS Plan Participants' Rights Campaign to investigate violations of the Social Security Administration (SSA) in administering PASS programs. We would like to hear from the following people:
- Those who have either submitted or resubmitted their PASS Plans paperwork as of April, 1998 and have encountered legal (i.e., law, policy, regulation) violations at any point along the way.
- Those with ongoing overpayment disputes related to noncompliance findings for the past two years.
If you fall within one of these groups and would be interested in starting and/or taking part in an investigation and/or possibly filing a class action lawsuit against the SSA, then please contact either of us below.
It would be very helpful if you draft a letter or send E-mail describing exactly your problems, situations, and interactions with the SSA and how you believe it violated the spirit or letter of the law. Please include precise names, dates, and places where the actions occurred whenever possible. Feel free to forward this document to others who may have encountered PASS program violations.
| Amy Robertson c/o Fox & Robertson, P.C. 1675 Larimer Street, S-610, Denver, Colorado 80218 Phone: (303) 595-9700 FAX: (303) 595-9705 E-mail: arob@foxrob.com |
Kevin W. Williams, General Counsel, Colorado Cross-Disabilities Coalition (CCDC) P.O. Box 18874 Denver, Colorado 80218 Phone: (303) 839-1775 FAX: (303) 839-1782 E-mail: kwwl1997@aol.com Website: http://www.colorado2.com/ccdc/ |
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