Holy crap, this is a must-read.
The topic is the explosion of disability claims and the mechanisms that provide unreasonable incentives to move people onto the disability rolls.
[h/t S. rex]
[The Mystic sends us this response from Media Matters. I have only glanced at it, so I'm not vouching for it, just passing it along.]
I heard that story on NPR a while back and was surprised enough to Google it. I found this:
ReplyDeletehttp://mediamatters.org/mobile/research/2013/03/22/this-american-life-features-error-riddled-story/193215
I haven't investigated too thoroughly, but the refutation seemed reasonable to me, enough to dull the claims by NPR down to non-crazy levels.
Could be wrong, but there it is for what it's worth.
Rarely have I seen such a large number of moral hazards.
ReplyDelete• the states pay shysters to get people on disability.
• you can't get medical care if you are working
• Kids told to so poorly in school(!)
On the other hand, back injuries are a real issue in low-paying jobs. Standing still and/or leave lifting heavy objects are both terrible for your back. It's a real problem.
Mystic seems to be right Winston. NPR is starting to look more and more like a water-carrier for the Cult:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.offthechartsblog.org/the-facts-about-disability-insurance/
But I suppose trumped-up alarmism in the pursuit of ideology is no vice.
Also m: I read the MM article. It has dubious interpretation of the number of children with disabilities. The bottom line is: children with disabilities have increased by 70%, with strong correlation with recession rate.
ReplyDeleteFor the record, I think that This American Life is PRI.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what "PRI" means. I even tried this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.abbreviations.com/PRI
Nothing fits.
Public Radio International
ReplyDeleteIf one wants to hear from someone with experience in disability and related public policy matters, Wonkblog has a nice piece.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/03/28/harold-pollack-what-this-american-life-missed-on-disability-insurance/
To my mind the money quote is:
If people are leaving the labor market so that they can get $13,000 per year and health care because that’s better than anything that employers can provide, what does that tell you about the state of the economy?