Recently, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities had an excellent story about how the ‘Great Recession’ hurt the Social Security Disability Insurance program’s revenues.
The report, by senior fellow Kathy Ruffing, claims that the damage from the recession did result in more people obtaining SSDI benefits at one point than expected. However, it also resulted in another occurrence that many people do not think about—limited tax revenues and interest gained for the program.
According to Ruffing, the projections contained in the Social Security Administration 2008 Trustees’ report did not anticipate the financial collapse. Because of this, it threw off the agency’s mathematical measures, resulting in SSDI revenue projections being 20 percent below what was expected.
The report notes that SSDI spending was less than what was expected in 2014, even though at the end of the year, the SSDI trust fund was $152 billion less than what was projected in 2008. As Ruffing noted, most of SSDI’s revenues come from taxes on wages, salaries and self-employment income, which employees and employers must each pay.
Because the number of jobs in America was reduced during the recession, taxable payroll revenues fell well short of projections. To read the CBPP report, you can click here.
Working With a Social Security Disability Attorney
As the CBPP report indicated, although the media sometimes paints a picture that SSDI benefits are spiraling out of control and are being awarded without merit, the truth is that statistics do not show that this is occurring. Frankly, underfunding is hurting the SSDI program, and our legislators must figure out a way to replenish the SSDI trust fund.
We will continue to follow any news coming out of Washington about SSA funding. If you have questions about an SSDI benefit decision, contact our Tulsa disability attorneys. We can help you move ahead with your claim.
For more information about the SSDI application and appeals process, you can visit our Social Security FAQ page.
Troutman & Troutman, P.C. – Tulsa Social Security disability lawyers
