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Senator Tom Coburn: Social Security Disability Is Being Used to Extend Unemployment Benefits

Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn has waged a very public crack-down on the Social Security Administration’s disability program, saying in a new interview with The Oklahoman that he thinks that people may use the program as  “an extension of unemployment benefits.”

Earlier this month Coburn wrote a letter to the inspector general of the Social Security Administration regarding his concerns about why “an adult baby”—a man who lives his life role-playing that he’s a baby—is receiving Social Security Disability benefits. The man had been featured on National Geographic’s Taboo.

Coburn, along with Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, has now penned another letter to the inspector general of the agency with additional concerns that too many judges are rubber-stamping disability appeals. This follows a Wall Street Journal expose about one West Virginia judge who reportedly approved 100 percent of appeals so far this year.

“Given the looming collapse of [the Social Security Disability Income program], it is imperative that disability claims are properly examined to ensure that only those who are lawfully entitled to benefits receive them,” wrote Coburn and Hatch.“Individuals cannot be allowed to exploit SSDI, transforming it into a supplemental source of unemployment income with enormous and crippling costs to taxpayers.”

Coburn says he wants to meet with the agency to discuss the increasing number of people collecting disability payments.

“Growth in this program has been horrendous,” Coburn told The Oklahoman.

Read more.

If you need help with your Social Security benefits, contact the Social Security Disability lawyers at Fleschner, Stark, Tanoos & Newlin.

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The financial burden that often comes with a serious injury can be too much for many people to bear. Unexpected medical debt, damaged personal property, and the sudden loss of income can impact the budgets of most families. The good news is that a successful injury claim could help reduce that financial strain after a serious accident. Get in touch with a Terre Haute personal injury lawyer with Fleschner, Stark, Tanoos & Newlin to learn more.

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