One more thing our government is getting wrong in the realm of social services is its approach to determining and distributing disability benefits. According to this informative article:
In 2010, a $1.4 billion slice of the disability-awards pie was paid as fees to disability lawyers by the Social Security Administration, up from $425 million in 2001.
There are lawyers and law firms out their whose sole industry is to win disability benefits for their clients. The government hears their arguments, but has no countering attorneys in place to protect the taxpayers’ interests.
The number of fraudulent disability claims being honored by our government is astounding. And it’s a circular disaster. Confusing policy makes it difficult for truly disabled people to receive benefits, so those people hire lawyers. Those lawyers see the profit to be made in these types of cases and begin to seek out more of them. The government will address the problem with even more convoluted policy. Meanwhile, the rest of us are paying through the nose and still have to go to work.
