Report
The Case for Updating SSI Asset Limits
Raising or eliminating asset limits would reduce administrative burdens without dramatically increasing enrollment.
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Policy Basics
Social Security’s Disability Insurance (SSDI) program provides modest but vital benefits to workers who can no longer do substantial work due to a severe medical impairment.
We work to ensure that the program is adequately funded and to analyze reform proposals to determine their impact on the program’s long-term solvency and its beneficiaries.
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The Realities of Work for Individuals with Disabilities: Impact of Age, Education, and Work Experience
The Social Security Administration is inviting comments on the criteria it uses to evaluate whether the 2.5 million people who apply for DI each year meet the strict definition of disability in the...
Expanding Private Disability Insurance Unlikely to Improve SSDI Finances
The insurance industry has proposed allowing employers to automatically enroll their workers in private disability coverage — at the employees’ expense — while giving them the choice to opt...
Automatic Enrollment in Private Disability Insurance
Researchers and policymakers have begun to examine the role that private disability insurance (PDI) might play in helping workers with chronic conditions and severe impairments remain at or return to...
10 Things You Should Know About Disability Insurance
Unless the President and Congress act to replenish the Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) trust fund, beneficiaries face a 20 percent benefit cut next year. As we’ve explained, DI is a...
Disability Insurance: Critical Help for the Few Young Workers Who Qualify
We’ve noted that 70 percent of Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) beneficiaries are 50 or older, but DI is also important for the relatively few younger workers who qualify for it due to a...
DI Beneficiaries Have Extensive Work Histories
The large majority of Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) beneficiaries have extensive work histories, new research from the Social Security Administration (SSA) shows.
To qualify for DI,...
Funding Bills Include Damaging Social Security Service Cuts
Social Security Administration (SSA) administrative funding would face more cuts under the House and Senate committee-approved appropriations bills for 2016, which would mean more cuts to staffing...
The Right Way to Avoid Disability Cuts
With the Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) trust fund expected to run short next year, my new paper explains why forcing DI to borrow from Social Security’s retirement fund is a bad idea...
Borrowing Won't Solve Disability Insurance Shortfall
Congress must act soon to avert a nearly 20 percent benefit cut in Disability Insurance, a critical part of Social Security that serves as a lifeline for workers who can no longer support themselves...
Disability Insurance Has Many Safeguards Against Fraud and Abuse
Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) maintains high levels of program integrity, despite periodic claims to the contrary, and the program has many safeguards against fraud and...