Despite advances in medical care, the amount of people qualifying for disability payments rose more than 7 times

Lifestyle changes? Kids aren't as active as they (we) used to be. Maybe the level of inactivity- plays dates with mommie right there watching and laying around on social media compared to kids just going outside and running around.

Cost of healthcare in the U.S. -- total and per person

1960: $27 billion -- $146 per person

2020: $4,124 billion -- $12,530 per person

86x higher.

Modern medicine is not good at saving people from themselves.

Laziness and gaming the system…it’s as simple as that. Some of the things considered “disability” would make you want to pull your hair out.

Mainly addiction…to cigarettes, alcohol, opiates, and food (obesity/diabetes).

Also I’d imagine disability criteria have changed since the 1960s?

Disability lawyers

In 1960, men could expect to live to age 66.6, on average, while women lived to age 73.1

Also, when people are throwing out "disability", are you referring to Social Security Disability? Supplemental Security Income? Private LTD?

Qualifying for SSD is an arduous process. If you think you just fill out a form saying "I'm addicted to percocet, I can't work" and Uncle Sam hands you over a fat check, you are mistaken. If you are under the age of 60, you might be waiting months/years for an approval after rounds of appeals.

SSI pays a MAXIMUM of $914 PER MONTH, and that's if you can prove you have no other assets or financial support.

Looks like another red state problem.

Image:www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v78n2/v78n...

WTH?

$914 PER MONTH?

What kind of nonsense is this - how can anyone live off of that in today's high inflation?

This is pretty egregious when this country every year sends BILLIONS of dollars to other countries for military & humanitarian aide.

That's what is wrong with this country - we won't take care of our own but we'll throw free $$$ at these other countries.🤣

Many disability-type conditions can be linked to "diseases of society" (addiction, obesity, mental health issues, etc.) The more stratified and isolating your society becomes the more you will see it. I imagine it is especially high in the US due to weaker social safety nets, wealth consolidation, and car-centric development leading to less "casual intervention/socializing" (the individual has to plan much more of their actions and interactions-very few people are that good at this, causes unhealthy social lives).

I'd guess a huge amount of that rise are people scamming the disability system. I know at least two persons that are on disability that should not be.

Even though there have been increases in medical technology, poor people receive below average healthcare.

I used to be asked to certify people for disability (or not). I stopped immediately because it became clear, that 99% of it is fraud.

Although I no longer am asked to determine people's disability eligibility, I encounter people "on disability" by the thousands. And I can tell you, without a shadow of a doubt at least 99% of it is fraud. 99%, maybe even 99.9% of the people I see getting paychecks for doing no work (i.e. "on disability") could work in some form. In fact, the great majority of them do work off-the-record work, for cash, to supplement their disability income. They just don't report it.

It's an entire industry, where lawyers specialize in getting these people certified. The doctors certify them all, because they don't want to lose a patient or get "bad patient satisfaction scores." The lawyers get paid, the doctor gets paid and the "disabled" person gets paid.

Granted, many of these people can't do heavy labor, but the vast majority can work, in some form. If you can work a phone or a laptop, sit, stand or lie down, you can do some form of work.

Most disability eligibility is based on conditions that could generally be described as "chronic pain." Unfortunately, there is no method of assessing whether someone is in pain other than asking them. As a result, we have a system where your eligibility largely turns on which ALJ hears your case. Some judges grant 90% of applications; some grant only 10%:

atticus.com

Social Security Disability Judge Approval Rates in 2022 | Atticus

Disability judges approved 54% of all Social Security disability claims in 2022, though some judges had approval rates as low at 10% and as high as 97%.

Link:www.atticus.com/advice/general/social-...

Incidentally, the explosion in social security disability coverage coincided with the 1996 welfare reforms. People who would've been permanent welfare recipients became permanent disability recipients. Some have argued that this is appropriate because many people on permanent welfare were chronically ill or disabled, so they were simply unable to work, but never had to prove it. Others argue that people are just gaming the system. (It's almost certainly some of both.)