Report Details Social Security Disability Fraud

The first five years of the Obama Administration have witnessed the birth of a new health care entitlement, ObamaCare. It has also witnessed an explosion in existing entitlements, particularly the Food Stamp program and Social Security Disability payments. Today, almost 9 million Americans receive disability payments from Social Security, far more than ever envisioned by creators of the program. A new report from Our Generation details the 10 most outrageous examples of fraud in the program. 

Some highlights from the Report:

A Minnesota man who faked dementia to collect nearly $7,000 per month in benefits totaling more than $144,000;

A Missouri politician who improperly received more than $50,000 in disability payments while serving as a state legislator;

A California healthcare professional who invented bogus maladies and provided false information to help scores of patients receive $1.5 million in disability benefits;

A Social Security worker and a gaggle of doctors in Puerto Rico alleged to create such a large and sophisticated system for defrauding the federal government of Social Security disability benefits that likely totaled $6 million;

A man who illegally entered the United States and posed as a disabled Vietnam war hero to swindle Americans out of more than $128,000 in Social Security disability funds.

The disability program originated in the 1950s as a means to provide support for workers over 50 who became disabled on the job and were unable to continue working in advance of retirement. The program was small, but provided critical support to workers who had been injured on the job. 

As the report from Our Generation details, however, eligibility requirements have been loosened, benefits increased and the applications process cannot effectively distinguish between genuine disabilities and fraud. As a result, the program spends over $130 billion a year. That amount is more than the federal government spends on highways and transportation or education. 

“Social Security Disability Insurance is meant to provide assistance to Americans who are unable to work due to physical or mental disabilities. Unfortunately, 8.9 million Americans now collect disability benefits, and this well-intentioned program has ballooned into a $135 billion bureaucracy rife with waste, fraud and abuse,” said MacMillin Slobodien, Executive Director of Our Generation.