In the twelve-month stretch from October 2022 through September 2023, 30,000 people died while waiting for federal disability determinations, according to Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley. Martha asked Harris what she would do as president for people, like herself, who are waiting for disability decisions while in desperate need of health insurance.
Delays in those decisions, driven in part by understaffing and a Covid-related rise in disability rates, have driven the typical wait time from four months in 2019 to seven months today, often coupled with the need to appeal an initial rejection, which can take years. The processing times represent a mounting crisis for the more than 1 million Americans who apply for disability in a given year.
It will always blow my mind that the <$950 people on SSI get every month is somehow supposed to sustain them. I’m lucky that I get SSDI but even though I’m making 1.5x the SSI benefit, I’m still drowning in expenses. And I can’t do any work or I risk losing my income. I wish they’d just let me work a couple hours a month with zero risk to being kicked off disability. It would save so much money in their other benefit pots that I do qualify for.
But yay, so glad they’re using realistic math to determine an appropriate cost of living adjustment. That 2.5% will go a long way - I could afford the gas to drive to the doctor 2 extra times! Or I could buy 4 bananas! The possibilities are endless.