East Idaho Times

Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) delivered remarks at a hearing entitled “Work and Social Security Disability Benefits: Addressing Challenges and Creating Opportunities.”

As prepared for delivery, Crapo stated: “Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding today’s hearing examining how work can affect eligibility for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments. This is an important topic and one that the Finance Committee has not examined in many years."

Crapo emphasized the importance of providing opportunities for individuals receiving Social Security disability benefits who wish to work. He noted the challenges these individuals face when attempting to rejoin the workforce.

“One of the challenges stems from the concern that if they resume working, they will lose access to their disability benefits and health insurance,” he said. While there are provisions intended to facilitate this transition, such as allowing SSDI beneficiaries to try working without immediately losing their benefits and extensions for health insurance coverage if their disability benefits stop due to work, Crapo acknowledged that these incentives are complex and not well understood.

He expressed interest in discussing ways to improve awareness and understanding of current work-related rules and incentives. Crapo also called for serious review of proposals aimed at modifying disability program rules to reduce barriers to work but cautioned against reforms that could significantly increase mandatory spending.

“Work-related overpayments represent another challenge that many individuals with disabilities face if they try returning to work,” Crapo added. These overpayments occur when the Social Security Administration does not receive or process earnings information promptly.

To address this issue, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 allowed the agency to enter into an information exchange with a payroll data provider. The Social Security Administration issued a proposed rule in February describing its planned implementation of this provision after years of delay.

“The proposed rule represents progress, and I urge the Social Security Administration to continue taking steps necessary to implement this exchange,” Crapo said. However, he pointed out that this new payroll information exchange would not include earnings information for all disability beneficiaries, urging further measures by SSA to prevent or limit work-related overpayments before they occur.

Crapo also highlighted issues related to outdated occupational data used by SSA in determining eligibility for disability benefits through a five-step process evaluating whether an individual can perform past relevant work or any other work existing in the national economy.

“The SSA continues to rely on woefully outdated occupational data... It also does not accurately reflect how jobs are actually performed in today’s economy,” he remarked. He urged SSA to advance its project developing an alternative database essential for ensuring accurate disability decisions.

Concluding his remarks, Crapo thanked witnesses present at the hearing and expressed anticipation for their testimonies.

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