Vinson’s Variety: Disability benefits a tricky subject
Even though the following is a two-part column, the two parts are closely related, and hopefully will intertwine to yield the desired effect. The two parts: (1) medical care/aid; (2) disability.
Medical care/aid
Some time back, I was sitting inside a doctor’s office, waiting to be seen. While waiting, I listened to a nationally syndicated radio show. The topic of the show was medical aid available to and afforded immigrants/emigrants arriving in the United States.
According to the host of the radio show, it is guesstimated approximately 3,000 of these foreigners arrive in the United States daily, the main ports of entry being New York City and Los Angeles. Many of them are suffering from terminal illnesses, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, etc.
Claimed the radio show host: At these ports of entry (in addition to other U.S. locals, I would imagine), our federal government has identified and ordered specific medical facilities to care for these immigrants/emigrants until they either recover or expire, free of charge, complements of Uncle Sam.
The radio host made specific reference to a man from Africa, who, suffering from a kidney ailment, liquidated his assets in Africa and came to the United States solely for the purpose of being put on a dialysis machine.
Well, there certainly is nothing wrong with someone from a foreign country wanting to come to the United States in order to receive medical treatment and live a more productive life. However, when America, irresponsibly, continues to hand out medical freebies to a host of foreigners, while blatantly over-charging its native citizens – which is the case, precisely – then our system is way out of balance and doomed for failure.
Disability
Off the top, I’ll acknowledge that many disability claimants are undeserving, get-overs, which makes it more difficult for those who are deserving, to whom the following pertains.
Concerning a disability claim, a rule of thumb is it is a three-part procedure: (1) initial filing-get turned down; (2) appeal-get turned down; (3) appeal-court date. Still, when an individual files for disability, he/she must cease working entirely. However, bills such as rent, car payment, insurance, groceries, and utilities continue.
To the best of my knowledge, for Tennessee residents, anyway, the only assistances allowed are Food Stamps and TennCare. (The latter could fall by the wayside, if Gov. Don Sundquist has his way.) With the second appeal, the third part of a disability claim procedure, a court date is set. In short, the time from the initial filing of a disability claim to final granting/rejection generally is 18 to 36 months – sometimes longer! Just how is the disability claimant expected to survive financially during that period?
Simple enough, financial survival is virtually impossible, so the claimant is forced into some type of employment, which forces the claimant to start from scratch with his/her disability claim. On the surface, it appears the disability claim formula was designed to look good on paper, yet equate failure, saving the government both face and big bucks.
If, indeed, I am wrong with this allegation, then this column should prompt a corrective response from someone who is an expert in the administration of disability claims, and I’ll welcome the response.
Before America can help others, it first must take care of our own. Otherwise, both will lose.
(Mike Vinson is a Warren County columnist who can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].)