NPR reports that more than three million extra people are now collecting Social Security payments because of disability, than were in 2007. A new report from the Obama administration and others suggests that as people lose unemployment benefits, they’re going after disability benefits. Unemployment claims have been trickling down over the past few months, which most agree is good.
But in tandem with that decrease, another public benefit has been increasing. Since 2007, some 3.4 million Americans have been added to the list of those receiving Social Security Disability Insurance. SSDI, as it’s know, pays out some $1,000 a month and also gives people access to Medicare and Medicaid.
About 10.6 million Americans now receive SSDI benefits, which has raised new fears that the Social Security Trust Fund may go broke as early as 2017. According to two new studies, many of those new claimants ran out of unemployment benefits before they applied for SSDI. Listen to report here: