After years of increase, the number of Americans on disability has 
dropped in the last six months.
New disability awards peaked in 2010 and hovered at around one million a year between 2009 and 2012. But, in 2014, new awards were down, coming in at 811,000 according to data from the Social Security Administration.
And, numbers for the first three months of 2015 suggest an increased drop to around 750,000 for all of 2015.
2014 was the first year, in more than 10 years, when the number of disabled workers in the 16-64 year old population stabilized.
In fact, disability applications have dropped by about 400,000 a year to 2.5 million in the waning years of the 2007-2009 financial crisis. Since September 2014, more people have left the disability program than joined the program, driving down the number of recipients to 8,935,000.
SSDI rolls had reached almost 11 million recipients — about 1 in 14 U.S. workers in 2013.
The decrease in the numbers of the disabled might help to calm fears about funding and mitigate accusations of fraud, often expressed by Republican and libertarian politicians, over the social security disability (SSDI) insurance and social security income programs (SSI). They’ve raised the alarm that social security disability could run out of money and called for tighter eligibility requirements. Indeed, there accusations have already attained success as many Baltimore social security disability lawyers and non-attorney representatives — long familiar with the process of obtaining federal disability benefits — have said that it’s much harder today to get an approval for disability than it was three years ago. And, data indicates that the approval rate at hearings is hovering at around 50 percent, a drop from the 70 percent approval rate seen in earlier years.
Things Happen in Cycles
“There is no question that there is a cyclical component,” said Stephen C. Gross, the Social Security Administration’s chief actuary. Gross explained that the newfound strength of the labor market means that people with less severe disabilities and sought after skills can find work as the economy improves.
Some say that jobs available to the mildly disabled become easier to obtain and that employers’ willingness to hire those with health problems changes with the economic cycle.
Labor Market Strengthening
Gross also said that the numbers serve as a gauge of the strength of the labor market. The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits rose less than expected recently and the four-week moving average of claims hit its lowest level since 2000. The national unemployment rate for April 2015 was 5.4 percent. Maryland’s unemployment rate dropped to 5.4 percent in March 2015. According to the preliminary data, Maryland jobs have decreased by 5,700 total jobs over-the-month. Although Baltimore City posted an unemployment rate of 8.5 percent in February 2015.
The Republican Congress decided to make overhauling the Social Security disability program one of its priorities. On the first day of the new session, it voted into place a rule change that would make it difficult to address the shortfall the program is projected to face sometime next year. Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican leader from Kentucky, claimed the change was needed because many people getting disability had the sort of back aches and occasional anxieties that we have to deal with on a daily basis. The difference, he said, is that they get checks from the government rather than go to work. As a result, Rand argued the program is in serious need of reform.
But, as one columnist for the Huffington Post pointed out: [W]e are likely to do more to reduce disability rolls by sustaining high levels of employment than by setting Rand Paul loose to get rid of all the shirkers.
Obtaining social security disability benefits is not an easy task, and with opposition from politicians who scoff about disabilities, it is not going to get any easier, that’s why a Baltimore social security lawyer or a non-attorney representative can provide you with the help you need. Call Delmarva Disability Advocates and Support at 844.327.5567 so we can help you.