CBS Report On Disability

Last night, CBS aired the first part of Armen Keteyian's report on Social Security Disability and the veritable hell people go through to get disability benefits. My name is not Scott Watson; it's Steve Walden, but this has been my world for the past two years.

How do I feel about all this? I feel angry and frustrated that a government I paid involuntarily for years while I was employed, working despite continuing pain and exhaustion, that government has denied me the benefits I paid for. Like Jerry Rice in the report said, "I'm not asking for welfare. I'm asking them to give me what they promised."

I don't mean to sound bitter. I know that the last thing we should do is look to the government to save us. In a very real way, I could be accused of doing that. Instead, I hope that I am looking to God to provide for us. We prayed about filing for disability and felt God leading us to do that. Now, 18 months later, I can say that God has continually provided for us. We are nearing the end of any resources we have to our name, but God is continually reassuring us of His promises to us. We are waiting on God to act, not the government. God may act through the government, but we are letting Him have total control and do what He wants with our lives, our home, and our future.

I still plan to watch the other half of the report, although I know what they're likely going to say. The reason behind the high rate of disability claim rejections is not that the applicants didn't know what they were doing or that they weren't really disabled. No, the reason behind these claim rejections is that Social Security does not have the ability to pay out all the claims. The baby boomers are retiring now and Roe v. Wade has eroded the population that can support the burden of it's progenitors sucessfully. Much like the insurance companies in the Gulf Coast after Katrina, they are going to lose their shirts and no bureaucrat wants to be the one who is accused of killing the company, or in this case, the Social Security Administration. They find choking on paperwork and endless court delays preferable to paying the claims.

There is a huge backlog of cases. There is endless bureaucracy and inefficiencies. There is a disturbing amount of suicide and other signs of despair among the applicants desperate to get in. We need help and we need it now.

Follow Up: Here's part 2 of the report.