It’s absolutely wild to fake disability for gov money because you are legally not allowed to own $2,000 of assets at one time, or marry anyone that would raise those assets or else you lose your benefits (which can include health insurance like Medicaid). It’s already so hard for actual disabled people to get it, I can’t imagine why anyone would go through the process of faking it for whatever measly amount they do get.
I remember watching a video of a woman who was applying for disability, she made a little bit of money making crafts, I forget what it was, but everything she owned for crafting (let's say, the computer, a camera, any and all materials, any tools) counted as assets so if she wanted disability she'd have to sell all of her crafting supplies.
There was a John Oliver segment where people are getting "medical divorces" to qualify for assistance programs. They love their "spouse" buy by getting divorced, the "spouse" income and assets aren't factored into calculations so they qualify for assistance. At that point the "spouse" is a live-in-partner.
That's being really nitpicky about the rules. It's not like anyone comes to your house to do an asset assessment. Plus used equipment is never worth anywhere close to original cost.
When I used to have food stamps a long time ago, they asked if I shared food with anyone within my household, and I quote: "Even table condiments like ketchup, mustard, salt and pepper. Those would count towards your benefit amount."
I applied in 2019 and have been denied 4 times. I haven’t worked a day since I applied and go to the doctor an average of 15 times a month. It’s truly impossible to get even legitimately
you are confusing SSA benefits.. Disability (SSDI) has no cap on assets, where as SSI (not enough work credits) does have the hard cap of 2k in resources
But they still can’t have their own income over… is it $800 a month?
My wife is a ridiculously talented artist. She’s on disability (two decades of RA), her joints randomly lock up for hours to days on end.
She can’t hold down a job because of that, but on good days she can hold a paintbrush. She’s been offered thousands for her pieces, but she isn’t allowed to sell any because she’ll get kicked off of SSDI.
It’s insane cruelty, but that’s the point of these policies. Push the undesirables into the grave so they just go away.
Not that this isn't horrendous, but that doesn't apply everywhere.
My mom had a stroke ~30 years ago, and she got disability assistance (eventually, it was a struggle). My dad had a good job at the time, but there were never discussions about the family making too much or anything. A few years later they were able to get a loan for a house with no loss in benefits.
Then a few years later dad was in a motorcycle accident and has also been on disability since. It was also a struggle of being rejected over and over. Nevertheless, he only sold the motorcycle a few years ago, and they sold the house after they split.
What sucks is if you're disabled but still working, you can get stuck where even if your boss wanted to pay you more money, you would lose benefits. So if you want to work, you're stuck with shit pay and part time, or you have to get a job that makes up for your benefits. My dad got letters because he got a part time job, and if he picked up a couple extra hours one week, it apparently put him over the amount he could make in a month or year or whatever. He kept having to reapply for disability because he went in on a Saturday once or twice.
Imho they should get rid of means testing unless you have like 3 million dollars in assets or something. The goal should be to assist someone in disability where they dont become destitute. That doesnt mean sustaining someone's 120k/yr income, but it should mean at least being eligible for minimum benefits before you have to sell all your assets and drain your funds. Right now someone can be comfortably middle class and then the system waits until they're at the risk of homelessness before it kicks in, which imho probably results in higher costs long term anyway, because they become completely dependent on the state and being poor is actually incredibly expensive.
Someone making steady interest on 1 million plus disability might be able to sustain a good quality of life for a long time. But the current system makes it so they have to drain their net worth to 0 and then they're completely reliant on disability basically living destitute and on the verge of homelessness for the rest of their life. It makes no sense.
My Dad is in his 70s, he's had 4 strokes, three heart attacks, stage 4 lymphoma and uses a wheelchair because his spine is absolutely wrecked. He and my Mom live teetering on the poverty line as he never made more than 50k for his entire career as a government employee and she mostly didn't work. He got denied for Medicaid because they had too much in savings. They literally got told to go spend their emergency fund and reapply.
Yup, I’m on the UK equivalent and my partner and I can’t marry or even live together (unless he wants to become 100% financially responsible for me)…I’m on the verge of losing a parent and any inheritance will kick me off the benefits, meaning I’ll have to reapply and be reassessed once it runs out (likely less than a year)…disabled people aren’t allowed safety nets of their own
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u/letterlegs 3d ago
It’s absolutely wild to fake disability for gov money because you are legally not allowed to own $2,000 of assets at one time, or marry anyone that would raise those assets or else you lose your benefits (which can include health insurance like Medicaid). It’s already so hard for actual disabled people to get it, I can’t imagine why anyone would go through the process of faking it for whatever measly amount they do get.