Who's sucking the life out of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid?

[WhiskeyGirl]

"In 1950, there were 16 workers per one putting money into the system—which means that when somebody retired, there's 16 workers contributing to that person's retirement..."

—President Bush, February 10, 2005 1

The president is right that our society has changed in many important ways since Social Security began in 1935 and that people are living longer in retirement. But he is wrong about what that means for Social Security because he ignores the fact that people have also become much more productive at work, which translates into more income to support those too young or too old for the workforce. He also ignores the fact that the elderly are, and will remain, a relatively small share of the total population. When the number of children and working-age people are brought into the picture, the total population change presents an entirely manageable additional burden in coming decades.

As productivity increased in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, the United States made substantial improvements in Social Security benefits—raising benefits in tandem with wages (to maintain income replacement), incorporating disability benefits, and allowing for early retirement...

http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/ib208/

Why are the elderly the ones making the sacrifices?  Where does the money go?

ED380916 - Social Security: Rapid Rise in Children on SSI Disability Rolls Follows New Regulations. Report to the Honorable Gerald D. Kleczka, House of Representatives.

In February 1990, the U.S. Supreme Court mandated in Sullivan versus Zebley that, in determining eligibility for Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the Social Security Administration expand its medical standards for assessing mental impairments in children and consider individualized functional assessments of how each child's impairment limits his/her ability to act and behave in age-appropriate ways. From 1989 to 1993, the number of children receiving SSI disability benefits more than doubled, growing from almost 300,000 to more than 770,000. Through 1992, the new functional assessment process added 87,900 children to the disability rolls who previously would have been denied benefits, accounting for about 30 percent of all awards made. Increases in the number of children awarded benefits because of mental impairments accounted for more than two-thirds of the growth in awards. Most awards to children with mental impairments go to those with mental retardation. The portion of mental awards to children with "behavior problems," such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, personality disorders, and autism/pervasive developmental disorders, has accounted for 22 percent of the awards made to children with mental impairments. An appendix describes the study's scope and methodology. (JDD)

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED380916&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED380916

I've stories about the rise in autism in children in the U.S.  No other nation seems to share that problem.  1 of 6, 1 of 15. 1 of ?   Why? 

Does a label of autism get parents a disability check?  Medicare?  Medicaid?

How fast are the disability rolls rising compared to those that retire?  Retirement age continues to rise, so what do the statistics look like?

Who's using up all that Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid money?

[WhiskeyGirl]

How Children Benefit from Social Security

In February 2008, the National Academy of Social Insurance issued its Social Security Brief No. 27, Children’s stake in Social Security (PDF). This paper shows that previous research understated the importance of Social Security for children. The authors assert that 6.5 million children under age 18 received part of their family income form Social Security in 2005. That’s nearly 9 percent of American children. These children include 3.1 million who receive benefits as dpendants of deceased, disabled, or retired workers and an estimated 3.4 million other children who do not themselves receive Social Security but live with relatives who do.

This matches with earlier data that showed about three million children living in families receiving either survivor or disability payments. Social Security pays monthly survivor’s benefits to 7.4 million Americans, including almost two million children. Disability benefits go to more than four million disabled workers under 65, and 1.7 million dependents, including more than a million children. This data comes from the U.S. Federal Citizen Information Center (FCIC) (January 2001).

http://www.results.org/website/article.asp?id=1482

[2NJSons_Mom]

Information straight from the Social Security site may help with your questions.  Having gone through the process myself, I can assure you that they apply stringent criteria in the process of determining a disability.  I also worked with a young mother of two, living in CO, who's daughter was severely disabled at birth and know that she applied on the daughter's behalf.  The amount varies by state, according to Social Security. 

http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10026.html#Introduction

[WhiskeyGirl]

Who Receives Benefits from Social Security?
More than 49 million people receive monthly Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance benefits (OASDI)...

Retired Workers
Almost two-thirds (63 percent) of Social Security beneficiaries are retired workers..About 9 percent of retired worker beneficiaries are ages 62 to 64.

Disabled Workers
Fourteen percent of all beneficiaries–more than 6.8 million people–are disabled workers, of whom 54 percent are men and 46 percent are women. The average age of disabled workers is 52.

Spouses
About 2.5 million beneficiaries are wives or husbands of retired workers, and more than 156,000 are spouses of disabled workers. Spouses of retired or disabled workers represent approximately 5.4 percent of all beneficiaries.

Adult Survivors of Deceased Workers
About 9.5 percent of beneficiaries are aged or disabled widows or widowers, aged dependent parents, or widowed mothers or fathers with child beneficiaries in their care.

Children
Children represent 8.2 percent of beneficiaries. Of these 4 million children

http://www.aarp.org/research/socialsecurity/general/dd159_ss.html

[oldiebutgoodie]

http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/ib208/

Why are the elderly the ones making the sacrifices?  Where does the money go?

From your article that you linked above:  "Looking at this broader picture tells us that the resources will be there to keep our commitment to retirees. Productivity growth will more than make up for the 8% growth in the total population that working-age people will have to support in coming decades. Political pressures, not excessive economic pressures, will determine whether our society fulfills current commitments for Social Security benefits in the future."

ED380916 - Social Security: Rapid Rise in Children on SSI Disability Rolls Follows New Regulations. Report to the Honorable Gerald D. Kleczka, House of Representatives.

In February 1990, the U.S. Supreme Court mandated in Sullivan versus Zebley that, in determining eligibility for Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the Social Security Administration expand its medical standards for assessing mental impairments in children and consider individualized functional assessments of how each child's impairment limits his/her ability to act and behave in age-appropriate ways. From 1989 to 1993, the number of children receiving SSI disability benefits more than doubled, growing from almost 300,000 to more than 770,000. Through 1992, the new functional assessment process added 87,900 children to the disability rolls who previously would have been denied benefits, accounting for about 30 percent of all awards made. Increases in the number of children awarded benefits because of mental impairments accounted for more than two-thirds of the growth in awards. Most awards to children with mental impairments go to those with mental retardation. The portion of mental awards to children with "behavior problems," such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, personality disorders, and autism/pervasive developmental disorders, has accounted for 22 percent of the awards made to children with mental impairments. An appendix describes the study's scope and methodology. (JDD)[/b]

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED380916&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED380916

This report is fifteen years old and is based, in part, on data collected since the 1980's to 1993. Do you have anything more recent?

I've stories about the rise in autism in children in the U.S.  No other nation seems to share that problem.  1 of 6, 1 of 15. 1 of ?   Why? 

This article from WebMD offers some possible explanations. It's actually fairly recent, dated 2009.

This article offers more information. Here is an excerpt:  "Clearly, there are two schools of thought on this issue. On the one hand are those who say that the change in diagnostic criteria, combined with new school statistics and rising awareness of autism all created an apparent (but not real) epidemic. On the other hand are those who say that thimerosal caused the epidemic -- and the removal of thimerosal from vaccines means the beginning of the end of the epidemic."

This article also confirms that doctors are seeing a dramatic rise in clinically diagnosed autism.

This article is also informative (about the Nevada legislature considering making autism a "coverable" expense under parents' insurance plans) but I found one of the comments after the article to be especially interesting: 

Children with autism have substantial medical needs and have a difficult time accessing necessary treatments through Medicaid and private health insurance. Most insurance policies contain specific exclusions for autism. This is a hardship for most families, who are often forced to cope with delayed, inadequate, and fragmented care. Often, families must pay for costly treatments out-of pocket or forego treatment.

This article mentions speech and occupational therapy but fails to mention Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), a treatment recommended by the United States Surgeon General, government agencies, scientific organizations and the Nevada Autism Task Force.

AB 162 recognizes the need for comprehensive autism services and includes ABA.

Any insurance reform for Nevadans with Autism Spectrum Disorders must include coverage of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and other structured behavioral therapies, which are the most effective forms of treatment and have the best outcomes, both in human costs and in long-term economic benefits.

I encourage Legislators to look at the experiences of the other states with insurance reform. Their experiences show that the policy holder costs resulting from the passage of legislation requiring comprehensive autism services have been relatively small.

The costs of this insurance reform are small and will have very little impact on the cost of health insurance premiums for the individual consumer.

By improving outcomes for children with autism, insurance reform will decrease the lifetime costs of treating and providing services and will actually result in an overall cost savings in the long-run.

Does a label of autism get parents a disability check?  Medicare?  Medicaid?

How fast are the disability rolls rising compared to those that retire?  Retirement age continues to rise, so what do the statistics look like?

Who's using up all that Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid money?

This is an older report (from 2007) but it discusses which States have DD waiver programs that allow them to provide services to children with autism if the only alternative is long-term institutionalization.

One State has a five-year waiting list for services for autistic children and for one specific form of treatment only. Since most cases of autism cannot be diagnosed until the child is at least three years old and since this State's program must begin before the child reaches six years old, and since the waiting list wait means that a child probably won't have a slot open up until they are at least eight years old... it means almost no child in that State receives State autism programs.

Since a diagnosis of autism must be confirmed by State doctors and the only alternative to State funded treatment means that child spends their life in an institution, I don't think this is quite the "gravy train" for parents of these unfortunate youngsters that you seem to imagine that it is.

So, in answer to your question, "Who's using up all that Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid money?," I don't think it's the kids.

I think this excerpt from the quoted material above is worth repeating:  "By improving outcomes for children with autism, insurance reform will decrease the lifetime costs of treating and providing services and will actually result in an overall cost savings in the long-run."

[oldiebutgoodie]

The Autism Society of America's website is a wonderful resource for information on autism and places where help is available for those who suffer from one of the autistic disorders.

Some relevant news articles linked from their website are:

Colorado Legislature Passes Insurance Coverage for Treatment of Autism

California Department of Developmental Services Releases Statistical Report

National Autism Awareness Month Draws to a Close

Book Offers Guidance for Parents of Recently Diagnosed Children

Riders Roll Through Jacksonville for Autism Awareness

[oldiebutgoodie]

From the Autism Society's website:

There is no known single cause for autism, but it is generally accepted that it is caused by abnormalities in brain structure or function. Brain scans show differences in the shape and structure of the brain in children with autism versus neuro-typical children. Researchers are investigating a number of theories, including the link between heredity, genetics and medical problems. In many families, there appears to be a pattern of autism or related disabilities, further supporting a genetic basis to the disorder. While no one gene has been identified as causing autism, researchers are searching for irregular segments of genetic code that children with autism may have inherited. It also appears that some children are born with a susceptibility to autism, but researchers have not yet identified a single "trigger" that causes autism to develop.

Other researchers are investigating the possibility that under certain conditions, a cluster of unstable genes may interfere with brain development, resulting in autism. Still other researchers are investigating problems during pregnancy or delivery as well as environmental factors, such as viral infections, metabolic imbalances, and exposure to environmental chemicals.

Genetic Vulnerability

Autism tends to occur more frequently than expected among individuals who have certain medical conditions, including Fragile X syndrome, tuberous sclerosis, congenital rubella syndrome, and untreated phenylketonuria (PKU). Some harmful substances ingested during pregnancy also have been associated with an increased risk of autism. Read more about related conditions.

Environmental Factors

Research indicates that other factors besides the genetic component are contributing to the rise in increasing occurrences of ASD, such as environmental toxins (e.g., heavy metals such as mercury), which are more prevalent in our current environment than in the past. Those with ASD (or those who are at risk) may be especially vulnerable, as their ability to metabolize and detoxify these exposures can be compromised. Read more about environmental health and autism.

Last updated: 25 January 2008

ALSO SEE:   Medical Components of ASD

[oldiebutgoodie]

Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey's Autism Organization is called Generation Rescue and it is an international movement of scientists, physicians and parent-volunteers researching the causes and treatments for autism and mentoring thousands of families in recovering their children from autism.
 

[WhiskeyGirl]

Research suggests children can recover from autism
By LINDSEY TANNER – 6 hours ago

CHICAGO (AP) — Leo Lytel was diagnosed with autism as a toddler. But by age 9 he had overcome the disorder. His progress is part of a growing body of research that suggests at least 10 percent of children with autism can "recover" from it — most of them after undergoing years of intensive behavioral therapy.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jRilhgkP3MgIaH0pDB1LLaub1b-AD9829KK81

[WhiskeyGirl]

The ARI says that since the early 1990s the rate of autism has increased exponentially worldwide with figures as high as 60 per 10,000 children. The Centers for Disease Control reported in 2007 that one in 150 children is diagnosed with autism.

http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Non-food/Disease/060520090939_clue_in_autism_study_may_help_early_diagnosis.html

Are these children are eligible for Social Security and Medicare from birth?  1 out of 150 children with cradle to grave welfare benefits?

[oldiebutgoodie]

The ARI says that since the early 1990s the rate of autism has increased exponentially worldwide with figures as high as 60 per 10,000 children. The Centers for Disease Control reported in 2007 that one in 150 children is diagnosed with autism.

http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Non-food/Disease/060520090939_clue_in_autism_study_may_help_early_diagnosis.html

Are these children are eligible for Social Security and Medicare from birth?  1 out of 150 children with cradle to grave welfare benefits?

The information and links I posted above all state that it takes years for doctors to properly diagnose autism. What is your source to prove that it is a "from birth" circumstance? Do you have any links to any sources for that claim or anything that would justify such speculation?

[WhiskeyGirl]

That's a really good question oldiebutgoodie.  I'll answer below.

The ARI says that since the early 1990s the rate of autism has increased exponentially worldwide with figures as high as 60 per 10,000 children. The Centers for Disease Control reported in 2007 that one in 150 children is diagnosed with autism.

http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Non-food/Disease/060520090939_clue_in_autism_study_may_help_early_diagnosis.html

Are these children are eligible for Social Security and Medicare from birth?  1 out of 150 children with cradle to grave welfare benefits?

The information and links I posted above all state that it takes years for doctors to properly diagnose autism. What is your source to prove that it is a "from birth" circumstance? Do you have any links to any sources for that claim or anything that would justify such speculation?

Is Autism Present From Birth, At What Age Do Symptoms Emerge, And When Is Autism Usually Diagnosed?

Question: Is autism present from birth, at what age do symptoms emerge, and when is autism usually diagnosed?

Answer: Autism is a neurobiological condition and has a developmental presentation, so it develops over time and you realize as an infant is getting older, as a toddler is getting older, that they miss key developmental milestones. So, the issue is more of a developmental presentation.

In fact some of the new data is showing us that we can diagnose children with autism about 50 percent of the time in as young as 14 months of age.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/AutismSymptomsDiagnosis/story?id=5386877

Scientists from the University of Yale stated that they believe to have found a way to spot autism early during birth by analysing and seeking out certain biological abnormalities present in the placenta.

http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news/Analysis-of-Placenta-Helps-In-Diagnosis-of-Autism-At-Birth-11684-1/

TRADITIONAL SCREENING: There is no medical test for autism. The Centers For Disease Control has set guidelines that suggest all children be screened for autism during their 18-month, 24-month and 30-month well checks. During the screening, doctors look at behavioral symptoms, ask parents specific developmental questions, perform speech and language tests as well as utilize various other screening techniques. This screening cannot be used alone to make a diagnosis, but a positive screening should be followed up by further assessment.

Subjective? 

DIAGNOSIS AT BIRTH? Taking early diagnosis a step further, Harvey Kliman, M.D., Ph.D., is studying microscopic differences in the placentas of children with autism. He found that the placenta of a child without autism looks like the branch system of a tree under a microscope with smaller branches stemming out from larger ones. The placentas of children with autism look different. Instead of having a pattern that branches out, some of the branches are inverted

http://www.ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=20683

This study supports the argument that the apparent increase in autism in recent years is at least in part attributable to decreases in the age at diagnosis over time.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19047542

My bad.  Maybe there are a few more questions...

Is this a disability for life?  Always eligible?  No future review?

[WhiskeyGirl]

If someone is diagnosed at one, do they (or their parents or guardians) receive back benefits?  A lump sum payment from birth to present age?

For children ages 1 to 3, a claimant's records must show at least one of the following:
(snip)

Comments regarding areas of functionality

1. Cognitive and communicative functioning may be measured through the use of standardized testing that is appropriate for a claimant's age. As the blue book states, the type of testing employed may vary with age. The manual also states that alternative criteria may be used to measure deficits that may exist in language development or speech pattern development. Regarding the measurement of cognition itself, a primary sign of limited function is a valid IQ score (either full scale, verbal or performance) of 70 or less.

2. Social functioning is defined in the blue book as a child's capacity to form and keep relationships. This includes relationships with peers, their parents, and with other adults. Impairments in social functioning may result in a number of expressions, including physically aggressive behavior, becoming socially isolated, and even mutism, while healthy and strong social functioning may be indicated by, among other things, a child's ability to form and maintain social relationships, participate and cooperate with other individuals and groups, and respond appropriately to authority figures (parents, teachers, etc).

3. Personal functioning refers to the development of self-care skills (such as feeding oneself, personal hygeine, dressing, grooming, toileting, etc). An impairment in personal functioning equates with a failure, to whatever degree, to develop such skills.

4. Concentration, persistence, and pace - The ability to focus attention to a task, to appropriately persist at it and to maintain a pace at the task (at would be considered an age-appropriate level) is measured both by observing the child and also measured by results obtained from standardized testing.

http://www.disabilitysecrets.com/conditions-page-2-53.html

Couldn't someone that is being abused or neglected also have impairments like this?

Is it possible that not everyone gets a disabling lifetime impairment? 

Maybe it's not just elderly people who are adding to the Social Security and Medicare crisis?