Christine Kim

Mr. Sullivan

AP Gov. / Period 5

29 March 2017

Public Policy Essay

Almost 20% of the U.S. population are people with disabilities (U.S. Census Bureau

Survey). The Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) was made to aid the people with

disabilities and benefit them with services. However, that is not the case. The qualifications for

these benefits are extremely strict and even with the benefits, most recipients do not receive

enough care to survive. More specifically, fewer than 4 in 10 applicants are approved and 1 in 5

recipients die within 5 years of receiving benefits (Vallas). The qualifications for receiving SSDI

are having one or more medically determinable physical or mental impairments that last at least

12 months or to result in death (Vallas). The applicant also needs to have proof that his or her

impairment unables them to have a job at a certain economic level. These criterias are just a

small portion of the entire process and it portrays the overly complicated and strict process of

receiving benefits for disabled.

According to the Organization for Economic Development, the United States has the

most restrictive disability benefit system of all OECD member countries. The data represents the

severity of the problem and lack of attention to the disabled in our country. The long delays and

troublesome process of reviewing applications in the administrative part of the system adds on to

the unorganized system for the disabled. The slow and cumbersome process of the SSDI has to

be resolved and more attention and care is needed for the people with disabilities in our country.
 In order to enhance the overall system for disabilities, the federal policy, SSDI, should be

enforced with more prominence and slightly reformed into a more coherent and fast-paced

process. The SSDIs main goal is to support people with disabilities, especially with their income

and work. It aims to support incomes for the disabled and provide care for the disabled.

However, the funding for the program has declined over the years and has cut the benefits by 20

percent (Gleckman). Therefore, one solution to the problem can be fundraising for the

enforcement of the policy. With enough money, it will be easier for the system to provide decent

aid to the applicants.

Rivals of the policy may be workplaces. Since the policy aims at supporting income for

disabled people, it discourages work for the disabled, which can upset the work force. Although

some disabled people are physically unable to work, some are in a condition that is possible to

work. Some individuals that view the policy as useless are also rivals. An example of an

individual that negatively views the policy would be Trumps budget director, Mick Mulvaney.

He views that the retirees deserve more of the money than disabilities beneficiaries and he has

made it very clear that he is intending to cut the funds for SSDI in order to benefit the retirees

more (Vallas). Workplaces and individuals that view the policy negatively are rivals of the SSDI

policy.

Supporters of the policy would be families with a disabled member and the disabled

member him or herself. Although the application process is tough, it provides the family hope

and an opportunity to receive help from the government. And once received, it lessens their

burden of worrying about their low income and supporting themselves and their family.
 One of the problems of the policy is that the application process is disorganized and

extremely strict. The strict and prolonged process is one of the disadvantages of the policy. The

policy should be reformed into a more fast-paced process by identifying disabilities with a

broader spectrum. Instead of identifying the disabilities with a specific disease or defect, the

policy should be applicable to a broader range of disabilities and provide aid accordingly. For

instance, a less problematic disability should be treated with rehabilitation to encourage work to

keep a more stable work force. In more severe cases of disabilities, the SSDI should cover more

of the persons support and match their conditions accordingly. A disadvantage of the policy,

which is the discouragement of the work force, can be resolved by applying different aids to each

severity of disabilities; in that way, more people, even with some disabilities, are able to stay in

the workforce and keep the balance of society. Along with keeping the workforce, the

disorganized system, another disadvantage of the policy, can be reformed into a more coherent

system by integrating more health services into the program. Smaller health services can help the

recipients in a closer way and the government programs can earn a more positive view from the

people. This allows the harmony between the government and people to grow and also trust each

other with other situations as well. It also speeds up the pace of the system and the efficiency by

allowing the recipients to recover faster and enabling them to use the money that was originally

for them for other people in need. By broadening the range of recipients and alternating the level

of support, the strict policy can loosen up to help a wider range of people. Also, the efficiency of

the policy can be fully retrieved by adding smaller health institutions and providing services to

speed up the recovery period of applicable people and provide work.

 Advantages of the policy would be the past success of it before the funding dropped

short. For the people who received benefits, SSDI became their safety net to survive and live

with a disability or several disabilities. However, as mentioned in the beginning, even with the

benefits, 1 in 5 recipients died within 5 years. This may lead to a conclusion that the policy is not

as helpful or efficient as expected, but it may also indicate the severity of the disabilities

recipients dealt with until they received the aid. If it is an inefficiency problem, then

incorporating small health services that are more approachable to the recipients can be a solution.

If it is just an indicator of severe health depravity of the general recipients of the policy, it simply

delivers a message of the severity of the recipient's health conditions.

Overall, the disadvantages of the policy such as disorganization and inefficiency

outweighs the advantages. Therefore, a slight reform of the policy is needed. In general, the most

desperate problems that are in need of a solution are rising unemployment rates and overly

restricted application process. These two problems can be resolved by balancing the given

support with smaller institutions and loosening the process by broadening the spectrum of

recipients. But in order for the two solutions to take place, funding will have to be considered

first.

The best solution to the problem of inefficient support of the people with disabilities

would be enforcing SSDI and reforming parts of the policy. In order to enforce the policy which

is the key to raising funds, the public has to first become aware of the policy and problem itself.

Social media is a convenient way of sharing information, however, it is not a good source of

valid information; many people change the information, causing people to receive false

information through SNS which causes more disruption and confusion among the people. Instead
of social media, the awareness should be shared by the news or articles easily accessible to the

people. By raising awareness of the problem, funding should become more feasible. The funds

can then be used to reform the policy which is to create smaller health institutions that will help

enhance the health of the recipients. Another reform of the policy would be writing petitions to

the government about the overly restricted process of applying and receiving the aid. The

petitions can be about shortening the long time period (12 months) person needs to be mentally

or physically disabled in order to qualifyfor benefits of the system; or perhaps the long delays

in administrative processes.

Overall, the problem of excessively strict and long process for the SSDI and the

inefficiency of it can be solved by raising awareness through news and articles and writing

petitions to the government. I believe these are the best solutions to the problems because of the

directness and efficiency of the actions. People with disabilities should be treated with as much

care as any other people with special needs and receive as much support as a retired person.
 Work Cited

Delaney, Arthur. The Social Security Disability Programs In Trouble And Republicans Will

Do... Something. The Huffington Post. 9 July 2015. Web. 2 April 2017.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/09/social-security-disability_n_7738750.html

Gleckman, Howard. How To Fix Our Crippled Social Security Disability Insurance System.

Forbes. Business in the Beltway. 24 June 2013. Web. 2 April 2017.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/beltway/2013/06/24/how-to-fix-our-crippled-social-securit

-disability-insurance-system/#6a4130686dc8

Livermore, Gina. Social Security Disability Beneficiaries with Work-Related Goals and

Expectations. Mathematica Policy Research. National Institute on Disability and

Rehabilitation Research. 2011. Web. 2 April 2017.

https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v71n3/v71n3p61.html

The National Service Inclusion Project (NSIP). Basic Facts: People with Disabilities.

Institute for Community Inclusion. N/A. Web. 2 April 2017.

http://www.serviceandinclusion.org/index.php?page=basic

Vallas, Rebecca. What the Washington Post Missed on Disability. Talk Poverty. Center for

American Progress. 31 March 2017. Web. 2 April 2017.

https://talkpoverty.org/2017/03/31/washington-post-missed-disability/