How much Fraud, Waste and Abuse is there in the Social Security Administration (Part three)

Goss & Fentress began representing disability claimants in 1982. The country was in the midst of the “Reagan Revolution”.  The President began his Administration by declaring that “Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.” The problem was “fraud waste and abuse”. So began the jihad to find it and exterminate it. Reagan set his sights on the Social Security Disability Insurance and SSI programs.

In 1981, Reagan ordered the Social Security Administration (SSA) to tighten up enforcement of the Disability Amendments Act of 1980 that was enacted during the Carter Administration. The agency review that resulted, found more than 485,000 recipients ineligible, and 150,000 to 200,000 people ultimately lost benefits, prompting widespread public and media condemnation. Then came a strong rebuke from the federal courts who found the review to be a blatantly unconstitutional attack on benefit recipients. By early 1984, the disability review process had nearly collapsed, and an internal SSA memo acknowledged that the agency’s credibility was at an all-time low. 

On April 14, 1984, Margaret M. Heckler, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, said that she was suspending the disability review process  ”until new disability legislation is enacted and can be effectively implemented.”

This resulted in Congress creating the Reform Act, which had the effect of strengthening the legal position of SSDI beneficiaries. The Reform Act instituted a “medical improvement standard” that said benefits could only be terminated if certain conditions were met, and put the burden of proof on the Social Security Administration (SSA) to demonstrate that the individual was capable of engaging in “substantial gainful activity.”

Public awareness and anger, publicized by various media accounts, turned the tide that day. And, in the end, there was no significant fraud waste and abuse. Just people being badly treated.