Rep. Hill, Sen. Cotton Introduce Bill to Fix Disability Insurance Program

WASHINGTON, June 28 -- Rep. French Hill, R-Arkansas, issued the following news release:

This week, Congressman French Hill (AR-02) and U.S. Senator Tom Cotton introduced companion legislation, the "Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) Return to Work Act."

The bill will reform SSDI by modernizing the Social Security Administration's (SSA) classification of disability beneficiaries and incentivizing returning to work for beneficiaries who have recovered.

"For too long, the success of well-intentioned federal programs has been determined by the growth of their funding and not by real-world outcomes," said Congressman Hill. "After more than 60 years of existence, the SSDI program has morphed into a black hole of abuse and unaccountability that hurts disabled Americans and taxpayers. To ensure that SSDI supports those who need it most and promotes work for those willing and able, SSDI reforms are desperately needed. I'm proud to work with Senator Cotton on this commonsense bill to ensure the responsible stewardship of program funds and strengthen a valuable safety net for disabled Americans."

"We shouldn't resign people with treatable conditions to a lifetime of sitting on the sidelines. If they can get back to work, then by all means we should help them," said Senator Cotton. "That's why we've got to fix this program so it takes into account people's different capabilities. This will not only save the program, which is dangerously close to going bankrupt; It will save our aid for the people who need it most."

Background:

Original House cosponsors of the SSDI Return to Work Act include Congressman Rick Allen (GA-12), Congressman Bill Flores (TX-17), Congressman Bill Huizenga (MI-02), Congressman David Rouzer (NC-07). Original Senate cosponsors include Senator Mike Lee (Utah) and Marco Rubio (Florida).

The SSDI program has grown more than seven-fold from $20 billion to $143 billion (in 2017 dollars) since 1970. At the same time, the number of beneficiaries who leave the program to return to work has dropped from nearly six percent in 1982 to less than one half of one percent in 2014. The SSDI Return to Work Act would require disability determiners to classify new beneficiaries based on whether medical improvement is expected. Beneficiaries who are expected to recover would be given a timeline and additional resources to obtain employment while on SSDI. These beneficiaries will also be able to reapply if they have not recovered. Beneficiaries who are not expected to recover will have no timeline for program participation.