In the United States today, more than 11 million people rely on certain benefits for their survival. According to Reuters, approximately two million dependants and nine million disabled adults depend on Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits for their livelihood. Unfortunately, the Social Security trust is rapidly depleting. In order to maintain the trust for the benefit of the nation’s elderly, those who rely on SSD benefits may be forced to endure cuts to their monthly check amounts.
As it stands, shortfalls in the Social Security budget mean that either retirement benefits or disability benefits will need to be reformed within the next three years if neither program’s beneficiaries are to experience dramatic cuts to their benefits. It is possible that both programs will need to be reformed or that one will need to be reformed dramatically to save the other.
Unlike some members of the elderly population who are well-established financially and have little need for their Social Security retirement benefits, individuals who rely on SSD benefits often have few other sources of income to turn to in order to fund their basic needs. Though it is critical that both programs remain viable, SSD beneficiaries are a uniquely vulnerable population and need to be taken care of as a national priority.
If substantial reform is not passed within the next three years, SSD beneficiaries may be forced to endure a 20 percent cut in their benefits. Concerned Americans should contact their congressional representatives and insist that they support comprehensive reform so that the nation’s disabled population is not saddled with the challenges that are sure to accompany inadequate benefit amounts.