This government insurance program known as FICA is about fifty-one years old. However, there has been a two-month CBS investigation revealed that this is one safety net that might not be there in times of dire need.
“I always figured that I’d die in a fiery car wreck or something, never that I’d be disabled,” according to 33-year-old Scott Watson. Watson explains two years prior that a failed surgery left him with a fracture in the spinal cord.
Watson’s life was not the same and could not continue working his job as a broadcast engineer. “Everybody says, ‘You gotta have a positive attitude,’” he said. Watson continued: “You know, and I say, ‘Well, I am positive. I’m positive this is the end,’ you know. I mean it’s not going to get better.”
The state of Maryland declared Watson disabled. He was told that he would be a “shoo-in” when applying for federal disability last year. However, he was turned down three months later because he was not disabled “enough.” He appealed again only to be denied again.
About two out of every three people that apply for federal disability gets rejected by a government agency is considered out of date by critics. Critics say that the agency is underfunded and incapable of serving the increasing number of disabled Americans.
Linda Fullerton, an advocate for the disabled said: “I have people all the time writing to me, saying they are suicidal.”
However, Michael Astrue the Social Security Commissioner said that it’s getting fixed.
But it is not of enough consolation to Scott Watson who relies on his parents to simply survive.
“You pay into a system that you think is gonna help you in your time of need, and it doesn’t even acknowledge that you even have a problem,” he said.
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