by Jagadeesh Gokhale | CATO

Determining whether medical impairments imply inability to work is becoming more difficult in a growing number of cases, with the result that many applicants with residual work capacities are admitted to Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), a program facing imminent insolvency. In this paper, Cato scholar Jagadeesh Gokhale encourages a change in the structure of SSDI’s benefit payments to those admitted to the program. Shifting benefits at the margin toward paying beneficiaries to work rather than to remain out of the work force would encourage beneficiaries with residual capacities to return to work.

Many beneficiaries express a desire to return to work but fear of losing benefits and health coverage under SSDI’s current benefit rules impedes such a decision. Accordingly, this paper advocates a change in the structure of SSDI’s benefit payments to those admitted to the program. Shifting benefits at the margin toward paying beneficiaries to work rather than to remain out of the work force would encourage beneficiaries with residual work capacities to return to work. That shift would serve as a backstop to reduce the economic loss from wrongful allowances of applicants into SSDI. Such a switch in benefit design can be accomplished without compromising benefit eligibility for those who cannot work. The paper explains how to implement such a change to SSDI’s benefit structure and the advantages that would accrue from it. Apart from creating better incentives to work, the proposed reform complements other reforms Congress might adopt. . .

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