By: Rachel Pulaski
As of May 2013 almost 11 million Americans were collecting disability, more than the entire population of Greece. Since Obama became President, almost 6 million Americans were added to disability, despite the fact that the federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund has been in the red for over four years. Between 2009-2012, President Obama put more people on disability than in jobs; 3.1 million Americans were put on disability, but only 2.6 million jobs were created during that time period.
Now, the Government Accountability Office has released a report stating an estimated 36,000 workers were overpaid. Improper payments distributed from December 2010 to January 2013 cost the tax payers $1.3 billion. And out of a fund that is rapidly becoming insolvent.
KMOV St Louis reported:
“The report lays out clear, common-sense steps that the agency can and should take in order to avoid improper payments,” said Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. “However, if we’re serious about preventing waste and fraud and ensuring that these critical benefits get to the people who need and deserve them, Congress must also do its part and provide needed resources and access to basic anti-fraud data to the Social Security Administration.”
Republican Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) is not pleased either:
“This report demonstrates just how little importance the Social Security Administration places on policing its disability rolls,” said Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, the ranking Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. “SSA has known for years that it could prevent millions of dollars in improper disability payments using quarterly wage records, but chose not to.”
