03-22-2013, 09:10 PM
It's unfortunate that there are so many apparent malingerers on disability, since it creates a welfare state supporting people who are not really disabled and takes away from those people who really need it. The case described, whereby a doctor can make judgement calls regarding whether relatively minor ailments such as back pain and high blood pressure (suffered by a large fraction of society) can disqualify people from working because he feels that his particular town has a dearth of non-physical labor jobs, shows that the system really is broken.
It seems to me that what is needed is a more evenly applied standard as to what a disability is, and that doctors should not have such broad latitude in making that determination. Also, people with certain types of reversible disabilities should be enrolled in mandatory programs aimed at getting them healthy or finding them jobs that they can do. It wouldn't hurt to go after the monetary incentives for states to push people onto the federal disability rolls too.
It seems to me that what is needed is a more evenly applied standard as to what a disability is, and that doctors should not have such broad latitude in making that determination. Also, people with certain types of reversible disabilities should be enrolled in mandatory programs aimed at getting them healthy or finding them jobs that they can do. It wouldn't hurt to go after the monetary incentives for states to push people onto the federal disability rolls too.