09/26/13 Disability Payments

One point two-nine billion dollars [$1.29 billion]. 

That’s how much the U.S. has paid-out in improper disability payments.  Just since January.

The Government Accountability Office reports 36,000 people have received that money.

Its easy to see how this happened.  Federal disability payments have exploded.  And like everything else in government.  There’s no accountability.  No ones held responsible for misspending billions.

A record 14 million people now receive federal disability payments. One in 11 of every eligible worker gets a government disability check.

The ranks have exploded.  Nearly 6 million people have been added to the disability roles since January 2009.  More than 100,000 people are being added every single month.

Once on disability, workers rarely return to the workforce.

If the billions of dollars spent on food stamps and welfare payments annoy you then brace yourself. Disability payments are more than those two programs. Combined.  Its more than $260 billion annually. 

Recipients, regardless of their age, also begin receiving Medicare after two years. So tack on another $80 billion.  Easy money.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the disability program will soon be bankrupt.  It’ll run out of money by 2016.

There are people who are legitimately injured.  Or have debilitating illnesses and injuries.  This is why the disability program exists.

But lets be realistic.  Federal disability has become another government free money program.

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