so where does the money go? here's one answer...

[acroyear]

Insurers Faulted as Overloading Social Security - New York Times:

The Social Security system is choking on paperwork and spending millions of dollars a year screening dubious applications for disability benefits, according to lawsuits filed by whistle-blowers.

Insurance companies are the source of the problem, the lawsuits say. The insurers are forcing many people who file disability claims with them to also apply to Social Security — even people who clearly do not qualify for the government program.

The Social Security Administration defines “disabled” much more stringently than the insurers generally do, so it rejects most of the applications, at least initially. Often, the insurers then tell their claimants to appeal, the lawsuits say, raising the cost.

The story continues with a specific example, one JEssica Ortiz of San Diego, who was able to go back to work and knew she would, but her insurance company (Unum) insisted repeatedly that she file for disability anyways.

The flood of referrals, however, is making it hard for Social Security to respond to people who are truly disabled, said Kenneth D. Nibali, the former top administrator of the Social Security disability program.

“Anybody who is forced to come into this system, and who doesn’t need to be there, is affecting someone else,” said Mr. Nibali, who retired in 2002 and is serving as an expert witness for the plaintiffs. “They’re holding up cases for the people who have been waiting for months and years, who in many cases are much worse off.”

Already, the disability program is in much worse shape financially than the old-age portion of Social Security. It is projected to run out of money in 2026, 16 years ahead of the old-age trust fund.

The disability caseload is also expected to grow as the work force ages, since recovery time increases with age. The number of people waiting for hearings on their claims by an administrative law judge has more than doubled since 2000, and the average wait has grown to 512 days in that time, from 258 days.

I understand and accept that insurance isn't a panacea, nor a gift, much less a "right". It's a business.

But it doesn't have to be a business that ensures its profits only by passing on their responsibilities and making the common taxpayer pay for it, especially when at the same time, they lobby for themselves paying fewer and fewer taxes AND the same common taxpayer is already one of their clients who is supposed to be paying for a service, not paying for a runaround.

Nobody is in the insurance business because of their sense of ethical, moral, and social responsibility, are they?

Hattip: Mike the Mad Biologist.

Comments

[fiona64.livejournal.com]

I wish this came as a surprise to me; I don't know what the policy is *here,* but when I was at KP if you had to go out on long-term medical leave or maternity leave you were expected to apply to Social Security as well. And KP was the insurance provider ...