WASHINGTON — Today, Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Chairman Sam Johnson (R-TX) introduced H.R. 1800, the Guiding Responsible and Improved Disability Decisions Act of 2015 (the GRIDD Act). The legislation would require the Social Security Administration (SSA) to update the medical and vocational regulatory guidelines for determining disability, which have not been… Read more

WASHINGTON — The Social Security Administration's (SSA) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) recently issued a report on the determination of disability claims from applicants who cannot communicate in English. The OIG found at least 218 cases in Puerto Rico where a disability rule was applied to the advantage of a claimant who was unable to communicate in… Read more

WASHINGTON — In a Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee hearing today, Subcommittee Chairman Sam Johnson (R-TX) put forth a set of principles that form a commitment to addressing the Disability Insurance trust fund shortfall. Chairman Johnson will use these principles, supported by Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), to guide policy solutions this Congress. As Chairman Johnson said during… Read more

WASHINGTON — Today, Human Resources Subcommittee Chairman Charles Boustany (R-LA), Social Security Subcommittee Chairman Sam Johnson (R-TX), and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Peter Roskam (R-IL) called on the Social Security Administration (SSA) to protect the American taxpayer and take commonsense steps to end fraud involving important benefits. A recent report by the Social Security… Read more

At today's Ways and Means hearing, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew told Social Security Subcommittee Chairman Sam Johnson (R-TX) that the Social Security trust fund is "in stronger shape now" than when President Obama took office. Really, Mr. Secretary? No matter how you look at it, Social Security has only gotten weaker. Every year, the program’s trustees figure out how big of a shortfall… Read more

Democrats continue to claim we can fix the looming shortfall in disability insurance by raiding retirees’ Social Security trust fund. But CBO Director Doug Elmendorf poured cold water on those assurances during his testimony before the House Budget Committee yesterday. Rep. Diane Black asked the head of the nonpartisan agency whether the Democrats’ preferred answer… Read more

Disability insurance: Not working The Economist, January 23, 2015 For years, Doug, who lives in Binghamton, New York, suffered from bipolar disorder. In 2003 he enrolled in the federal disability insurance (DI) programme. With his illness now properly treated, he has been looking for work since 2013, without much luck. Because he worked full-time in a shop a decade ago, he would lose… Read more

Congress last year unanimously closed a loophole that allowed surviving Nazi war criminals to claim Social Security benefits, but that’s where the entitlement reform consensus ends. Now the political left is melting down over a modest budget change that could require Congress to be honest about the Social Security disability program’s fiscal problems and employment… Read more

WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. attorney’s office in Puerto Rico announced additional indictments based on work begun over five years ago to bring fraudsters to justice. Upon hearing this news, Subcommittee on Social Security Chairman Sam Johnson (R-TX) stated: “Today’s arrests in Puerto Rico are yet further proof that the disability program is plagued by widespread fraud. While it is… Read more

Washington, DC – Today, House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security Chairman Sam Johnson (R-TX) and Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-UT) highlighted a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report detailing how the Social Security Administration's (SSA) $200 billion disability benefits programs are at risk for physician-assisted fraud. The GAO found… Read more