According to The Time Leader, a group of Social Security Disability advocates and Social Security Administration workers plan to join together to picket in protest of the $1.7 billion Social Security funding proposed by lawmakers. House Republicans proposed an attachment to the new Continuing Resolution in which workers will face a month of furloughs, significantly impacting processing for new Social Security Disability claims.
The protests are scheduled to take place at federal buildings across the country. According to Social Security Disability advocates, the Social Security Administration is already suffering from job cuts of 3500 this year. The employee furlough is mandated in proposed federal government budget cuts. The already beleaguered Social Security Disability process affects millions of disabled Americans and those newly disabled who go through a difficultly long claim process. The public service will be devastated, claims the federal government’s largest union. Its members, along with advocacy groups for retired Americans, plan to distribute informational fliers protesting SSA cuts and furloughs.
The advocacy group warns the SSA furloughs will impact people currently receiving disability benefits, as there will be 32,000 fewer continuing disability reviews, leading to possibly incorrect payments to disabled Americans in need. Additionally, there will be 70,000 fewer disability appeals hearings, causing an even longer wait for those seeking benefits they may be entitled. The current disability appeals hearing process takes over a year.
