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The Social Security Administration (SSA) administers two disability programs, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
Created in 1956 and financed out of payroll taxes, the SSDI program is an insurance program that provides disability benefits based on previous employment covered by Social Security. Today, almost 145 million Americans are insured for Social Security Disability Insurance and about 7.7 million workers and their families are receiving benefits from the SSDI program.
The SSI program is a need-based program enacted in 1972, funded from general revenues of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Today there are nearly 6.8 million disabled and needy adults and children receiving SSI disability benefits.
Both of these programs have grown steadily. For fiscal year 2004, both the SSDI and SSI programs are expected to account for approximately $116 billion in Federal spending, or nearly 5 percent of the Federal budget. Also, nearly two-thirds of the agency's fiscal year 2004 $8.4 billion administrative budget will be devoted to disability programs. Moreover, due to the aging of the baby boomers, Social Security's actuaries project that between now and 2015, the number of SSDI beneficiaries will increase by nearly 30 percent and the number of SSI recipients will increase by 12 percent.
Like Social Security's retirement program, the SSDI program will face financial challenges in coming decades. Administering the safety net will also become more difficult due to the aging of SSA's own workforce. By the end of this decade, nearly half of all SSA employees are expected to leave the agency, largely due to retirement.
The Subcommittee on Social Security has held a series of hearings examining the disability determination and appeals process for Social Security disability benefits. The hearings have served to assess what challenges and opportunities the Social Security disability programs face, and what might be changed to improve them for individuals with disabilities today and into the future.
The Subcommittee is also overseeing the implementation of the Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program administered by the SSA, to provide individuals with disabilities greater opportunities for receiving assistance designed to help them return to work. The Ticket to Work Program began distributing "tickets" to individuals receiving Social Security disability benefits in the first phase of its implementation in February 2002. The implementation is continuing and the program will be nationwide by September 2004.
To find out more about the Subcommittee's work to improve Social Security's disability programs, click below:
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The Social Security Administration's Management of the Ticket to Work Program
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The Social Security Administration's Management of the Office of Hearings and Appeals
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Definition of Disability
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Disability Determination and Appeals Process- Part I
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Disability Determination and Appeals Process - Part II
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Disability Determination and Appeals Process - Overview
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Social Security Administration's Proposal to Implement Return to Work Legislation
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More on Ticket to Work Program from the SSA
Click here for more information on the Social Security Administration's Ticket to Work Program
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Challenges Facing Social Security Disability Programs in the 21st Century
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Work Incentives for Blind and Disabled Social Security Benficiaries
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Improving Social Security Work Incentives
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| Barriers Preventing Disability Beneficiaries From Returning to Work
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