Stacie Golebiewski
Implications on Social Security Cutoff
Social Security Cutoffs are when people have too much money in their account and their social security goes down, because social security is for people’s own survival NOT for savings. So if you are saving way too much money your payments may be limited because of it. Social Security Disability is a federal service disability system which pays money to people who can no longer work because of a disability. Benefits are based on work that’s done in payroll deductions. Social Security Disability is paid to you after you have been out of work for twelve months. People may be able to be selected in less than twelve months, because of a medical condition and recognition of a major disease or problem. People must apply for a social security disability by contacting a lawyer and filling out an online application. (Social Security Disability Lawyers).
There are almost two Million people affected by the Social Security Cut-Offs. Many people are affected because they do not know the rules and regulations that come with Social Security Benefits. Most of the people affected by the cut-offs are the elderly, because they tend to save money for health care costs, hospital costs or nursing home costs.
The values implicit in Social Security is that we as a nation, found it important to take care of the elderly and the disabled of our country in a program that provided affected individuals both comfort and dignity. In August 14, 1935, President Roosevelt signed the Social Security act into law. The state goals of this policy are to create a social insurance program, designed to pay retired workers continuing income after retirement, to provide for general welfare by establishing a Federal System of benefits to the disabled. A Social Security Board was established to raise revenue for this purpose. Law established payroll Tax Rates for OASI and DI. (Gordon M. Fisher)
The Social Security Administration determines Social Security Cut-Off rates. These rated were created so that people did not gain wealth while on Social Security, but rather maintain a living income for individuals. Under the Social Security legislation, a cost of living increase was established each year, to have this income keep pace with the inflation. (If The Social Security Administration Cuts Off My Disability Benefits, What Do I Do?).
The major Stakeholders of Social Security are the Employers, the American Workers and the Vulnerable Communities of this country. The opponents of this program are the republican and conservative democrats in congress who have made dramatic accusations about this program’s influence on the economy and they insinuated that the program was socialist in nature. The most powerful stakeholders in Social Security are the American workers, who contribute to the system every payday. Many Americans want SSI and SSD to succeed, because it gives them some comfort in knowing that they will have a constant stream on income should they retire. (Rachel Frazier, Borchard Fellow, National Senior Citizens Law Center).
The rate in which an individual gets in SSI or SSD depends on their earnings base or that of their parents. The Social Security Administration oversees, evaluated and coordinated all polities for SSI and SSD. Although a part of the Federal Government, they act as an independent agency like the United States Post office. (A Guide To Supplemental Security Income for Groups and Organizations).
The political process that lead to the establishment of Social Security came because of the industrial revolution, where more people began living on the cities, rather than the farm or rural areas. In addition, people began to realize that people were living longer and that there was a need for retirement income to maintain an adequate living standard for retired and disabled individuals. The idea of Social Security was a concept promoted by President Roosevelt. In working with the United States Congress and the United States Senate, the Social Security Act received scrutiny and was molded in Committees, where they received input from stakeholders. It passed the House of Representatives and the United States Senate and was signed into law by President Roosevelt. (Traditional Sources of Economic Security)
The first four decades of the Social Security Program were, in general, ones of expansion. In fact, the program was expanded even before it became operational. In 1939, amendments added child, spouse and survivors benefits to the retirement benefits authorized by the 1935 Act. The amendments to the program allowed for monthly benefits to begin in 1940.The Medicare program was created in 1965 and the program was expanded again in the 1970’s. The last major reforms to the Social Security Act happened in 1983, where a commission chaired by Alan Greenspan amended the Social Security act.
Social Security is a critical federal program that promotes income stability among households throughout the United States. Social security plays a key role in the economy, supporting over 9 million jobs across the United States and has more than a trillion dollars in economic impact. It keeps almost 22million people out of poverty, the most of any public program. In 2012, social security paid out over $774.6 Billion in benefits, 22 % of the total Federal expenditures and about 5% of the Nations GDP. 37% of the people receiving social security benefits are disabled. These benefits provide a substantial percentage of their household income. (Matthew Frankel)
The Social Security Act does have historic roots and the stakeholders of the Social Security Act had the most benefit. The Stakeholders include workers, employers and vulnerable individuals had the greatest benefit, according to the AARP Public Policy Institute – Social Security’s Impact on the National Economy. It created economic stability for employers; it created jobs for the workers in this country and created a safety net for the vulnerable population in this country. (Paul Starr)
As human services worker, I believe that Social Security will have a great impact in eliminating the inequality for a good majority of the population in the United States. Most importantly, it creates a safety net for retirees, the elderly and the disabled in our population who rely on this program to maintain a respectful and dignified life. (Patricia P. Martin and David A. Weaver).
In 1935, Social Security was designed to give income security to the elderly through departure benefits. They were based on the person’s own career departure over time the program grew to include benefits for spouses, survivors and the disabled. The practical changes mean that the Social Security aids were no longer connected just to a person’s own earning history but also to his or her own marriage history and spouse’s earnings history (Carolyn Puckett).
The lifespan aids paid by Social Security have been lessening qualified to the lifetime charities among more recent birth partners entering departure. The effect is that as pays and prices increase over time, fewer people are certified for the plan because their estates are well above the benefit level restrictions. (Melissa Boteach, Erik Stegman, Sarah Baron, Tracey Ross, and Katie Wright).
In Sweden, they felt that it was important to have a National Health Care Policy, where all of its citizens had equal access to healthcare. I believe that this is similar in nature, for the Swedish people pay a national tax and part of that tax covers health care for all in that country. It was an idea that was proposed years ago, to help eliminate the inequality of those receiving health care in Sweden. Many people in Sweden were afraid that National Health Care would lead to a socialist government, the same issues that were brought up by Republicans and Democratic Conservatives. It seems that throughout the years, the people of Sweden and the United States came to realize how important these policies were to the benefit of their countries. Therefore so many people support Health Care in Sweden and Social Security in the United States. (Health Care In Sweden)
“The income limit for the SSI program is based on something called the federal benefit rate (FBR)” (Beth Laurence) The federal benefit rate shows both the SSI income limit and the maximum federal monthly SSI fee. In 2017, the FBR is $735 per month for people and $1,103 for couples. The FBR rises every year if there is a “Social Security cost-of-living adjustments” to be enabled for SSI, your countable monthly income cannot surpass the FBR. However, the SSA counts only some of your income when it determines whether your income is beyond the income limit. For example, if you are earning money from work, less than half of your monthly earnings are estimated toward the income limit, so you can make more than $735 per month. This makes it hard to know for sure whether your earnings fall under, SSI income limit. If you are participating in the Plan to Achieve Self Support (PASS) the program in which I am under, SSI allows you to set aside money to help you get back to work. These payments won't count toward your compensation for SSI too. (Beth Laurence)
Because the disability insurance program functions as a true insurance program with its own tax, trust fund, and eligibility process, it is considered separate from Social Security's retirement and survivors program (Beth Laurence).
There is another problem that could change the income limits in most states: the state supplement. Most states add money to the federal SSI payment; this is called a state additive. “This means that the allowed income level, as well as the SSI payments, are higher than the federal maximums in those states.” Every state but Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia has a state additive (Beth Laurence).
The amount of the state additive changes between states, from $10 to $400. The SSA manages the state additive for some states. In addition, the amount of the state additive can build upon whether you are single or married and on your existent arrangements. For example, some states pay an additive only to those living in an assisted living facility. For these reasons, unless you live in a state without a state additive, it might be difficult for you to guess on whether your income falls under the SSI limit (Beth Laurence).
Blind SSI applicants are avowed to make up to $1,950 per month (in 2017) before they are carrying out SGA. However, the upper income limit for all SSI applicants is still a little over $1,500 per month. If an SSI applicant makes more than $1,500 per month, their counted income would be too high for SSI. “However, many blind applicants have impairment-related blind work expenses” (BWE), which can be lessened from their countable income. Examples of BWE include the cost of optical and auditory assistance or service animals (Blind work expenses).
Getting awarded Social Security Disability benefits is not easy. The agency's definition of disability is very rigorous, and about half of workers who apply for benefits are not approved. Some of the people who apply for this, will be approved on petition, but the process can be long and hard (Benefits for people with disabilities). This policy is caused by people having way too much money in their account. About sixty million people are affected by the Social Security Act cutoffs because the people who are on social security are either disabled, or elderly and they cannot do their jobs as well as they did when they were younger, but they are given it because the social security thinks that they’re only doing it for their necessities to live, when they need to be saved in case their sons or daughters are getting married or need it for tuition. They may also need the money for homecare. Social security is funded by the payroll taxes evaluated in the United States. (How is Social security Funded?)
The values made for the social security policy are that people who actually need it for health and care at home because of their disabilities. The Social Security Act of 1935 had one goal, which was “to keep American families from becoming destitute in health or in the essential of health.” Some other goals are to eliminate the melancholy fears of poverty, mistreated ill health, and hardship from our people the social security will discharge them from unions and hold them back, the policy would help encourage them to even better willingness and separate advantage. (Arthur J. Altmeyer).
To be certified, a worker must be unable to do any kind of big work because of physical or mental impairments, which are expected either to last at least 12 months or to result in death. Only being unable to do the job that he or she held before the disability does not automatically qualify a worker for disability benefits. Depending on the worker's age, experience, and education, the worker may be thought of as able to be picked for other work and so be banned disability benefits, even if the work is at a lower salary. Family members may also be able to receive benefits because of a worker's impairment (Beth Laurence). In order to be certified for social security benefits, people must meet the transition of disabled or blind, based on guaranteed status of the individual or another certified person, no discovered income or useful benefit amount based on federal insurance contributions act and earnings during work history generally needed, living arrangements have no effect on qualification or benefit amount, may be able to be picked for Medicaid, able to participate for Medicaid 24 months after entitlement to social security disability insurance benefits (A Guide to Social Security Income for Groups and Organizations).
“Indeed, payroll-tax funded influential social security occurs in most countries, but the occurrence of familiarity engenders several problems in covering their analysis. As an outcome, most of the people remains outside their job. Only 26.1% of the working-age people in sub-Saharan Africa have admission to old-age exposure, 17.1% to protection against employment injury and a meagre 1.1% to unemployment insurance. Other developing regions have slightly higher levels of protection but are still considerably below the level of developed countries.” (Juan R. de Laiglesia)
Values set for the Social Security policy are that you have to either be disabled, not working or retired, because in order to qualify for social security you need to be blind, disabled, or 65 years of age or older.
An independent business of the Federal government that regulates Social Security, a social insurance program consisting of retirement, disability, and survivors' benefits, and the SSI program. The goal of the SSA is to give Social Security services that meet the changing needs of the public. (Frequently asked Questions). If social security were to run out the SSA would no longer have any importance and could run the risk of being disbanded. Many Americans would have disadvantages based on social security running out. This could entail financial hardship, lack of adequate care, and social inequity. The cap helps to ensure these things don’t happen by letting people know when they’re spending too much which ensures that they don’t run out of benefit pay. Thus, the cap makes the SSI program stay sustainable.
These problems interest me because people currently receiving social security. It took a great deal of effort from my parents to put people on it, and most people want to know more about what the implications and regulations of social security were. Social security benefits help millions of Americans live meaningful lives. It gives me the chance of being competitive while in school, and helps me better transition into the world of work. According to Michael Golebiewski, “Social Security in general is regarded as a landmark decision,” but learning about the programs really makes people want a job after college because it seems like there are a lot of problems with being on social security disability. Social security income limits have positive effects on people by encouraging them to work even part time to better their situation and locking them into a certain income level. Social Security does however provide an important social safety net for those who can’t work and ensure that they do not end up living on the streets and are able to be in a decent standard of living.
In closing, while the social security cap can keep the social security programs sustainable, it can have detrimental effects towards citizens. Many people would believe that Social Security and it’s cap on earning income can help make Social Security programs sustainable over the years. Although it may have detrimental impacts on certain people in the program, its policies are in place to keep people from gaining wealth from this programs.