The Hill News

Of the roughly 17.5 million working-age people in the United States living with a disability, nearly 70 percent receive disability benefits. A recent study revealed that 12 percent of all federal spending goes to supporting this populationâ€"$357 billion in 2008. Just 33 percent of working-age people with disabilities are employed, compared to 73 percent of those with no disability. This costly system is failing both people with disabilities and taxpayers.

The federal government began offering Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits to older workers no longer able to work because of long-term impairments in 1956. The nation has since expanded SSDI coverage and launched additional programs to support Americans living with significant disabilities. This support system, however, has failed to keep up with the changing needs of Americans or the realities of current economic times. Despite the promise of the Americans with Disabilities Act, people with disab! ilities, as a group, are falling further behind their peers without disabilities and are becoming moreâ€"not lessâ€"dependent on government programs.

Read more...