disability insurance fraud 60 minutes

wanderingbear said:
So you think the program should be shut down and leave the poor old and disabled to die on the streets?
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Why do you think shutting down Federal programs would send the poor and disabled to die in the streets. That is not only a false and bizzarre statement, but it is incredibly stupid.

We have States, we have communities and we have families. People will not be left to die in the streets.

How old are you? It would explain such naive and bizzarre views.

It is an amazing strawman leftists like to use claiming that the only way to care for people is through massive inneficient Federal programs that make fraud a cottage industry.
 
annata said:
thanks, i was scrolling thru the transcripts, seems this was about Coburn, so it's in his area.

Thing is though the explosive growth of the program across the board -did you see the ad at the top of the page?

Lawyers hustling to help you "get" you BDI (Bureau of Disability Insurance).

the entitlements ahve to be addressed.
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they interview Coburn and talk about the work his staff was doing looking into this but it wasn't just about him.

They reference the large number of lawyers out there trying to help people (game the system) win disability payments. Like I said they interviewed judges as well as former lawyers from a plantiffs firm. It's hard not to get fired up/frustrated while watching the piece.
 
Truth Detector said:
We have States, we have communities and we have families. People will not be left to die in the streets.
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I suspect that wanderingminds' family has deserted him and the disability payments he gets from the government are all he has. Maybe he fears exposure and the loss of his only income.
 
annata said:
Sen. Coburn says disability payments are now propping up the economy in some of the poorest regions in the country. Which is why he sent his investigators to the border area of Kentucky and West Virginia.


More than a quarter of a million people in this area are on disability -- 10 to 15 percent of the population -- about three times the national average. Jennifer Griffith and Sarah Carver processed disability claims at the Social Security regional office in Huntington, West Virginia.


Steve Kroft: How important are disability checks to people in this part of the country?


Jennifer Griffith: They're a vital part of our economy. A lot of people depend on them to survive.


To see it first hand, they suggested we come back right after the disability checks went out. And we did, to find crowds and traffic jams.


Jennifer Griffith: You avoid the pharmacy. You avoid Wal-Mart. You avoid, you know, restaurants because it's just--


Sarah Carver: Any grocery stores.


Jennifer Griffith: It's just extremely crowded. Everybody's received their benefits. Let's go shopping.


Not everyone in the throngs we saw is on disability, but Jennifer Griffith and Sarah Carver say there's no question that a lot of them are and probably shouldn't be.


Sarah Carver: We have a lot of people who have exhausted their unemployment checks and have moved onto Social Security disability.


Steve Kroft: This is, sort of, a bridge between unemployment and collecting Social Security.


Sarah Carver: Generally, yes.


Steve Kroft: Are they disabled?


Sarah Carver: Not always, no.


Jennifer Griffith: More often than not, no.


Around here, people call it "getting on the draw" or "getting on the check," but they have other names for it.


Sarah Carver: I think you could call it a scheme. You could call it a scam. You could call it fraud. I mean, there's different definitions for it.


Steve Kroft: Large scale?


Jennifer Griffith: Very large scale.


They began complaining to their bosses at the Social Security Administration six years ago after discovering that an outsized number of claims and some questionable medical evidence was being submitted by Eric Conn, a flamboyant attorney whose face is plastered on billboards throughout the area and on local TV.


He runs the third largest disability practice in the country out of the Eric C. Conn Law Center which is just off Route 23 in Stanville, Ky. It's a complex of several doublewides welded together with an imposing replica of the Lincoln Memorial in the parking lot. Surprisingly, it has only one space for the disabled.


Steve Kroft: I mean, it's kinda hard to miss Eric Conn around here, isn't it, with all the billboards and--


Jennifer Griffith: You'd be hard pressed to find somebody who doesn't know who he is in this area.


Steve Kroft: He calls himself Mr. Social Security. And some of his ads say "guaranteed success." How can he make that claim?


Sarah Carver: He backs that up.


Steve Kroft: A slam dunk?


Sarah Carver: Uh-huh (affirm). Pretty much.


Steve Kroft: That's a remarkable record.


Sarah Carver: Yes, it is.


Steve Kroft: Is he that good a lawyer?


Sarah Carver:: You know--


Jennifer Griffith: No. (laugh)


A lot of Conn's success, they say, had to do with a particularly friendly disability judge, David Daugherty, who sought out Conn's cases and approved virtually all 1,823 of them, awarding a half a billion dollars worth of lifetime benefits to Conn's clients. The decisions were based on the recommendations of a loyal group of doctors who often examined Conn's clients right in his law offices and always endorsed them for the disability rolls.


Steve Kroft: Were most of the medical reports submitted by the same doctors?


Jennifer Griffith: Yes.


Sarah Carver: Yes. Sometimes up to 13 to 20 reports a day.


Jennifer Griffith: I know on one, we counted 16 exams by the same doctor
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All I know, from what I have seen friends go through, it took my vet friend three years to get disability, many doctors exams and mountains of paperwork, he received disability, PTSD.

My other friend with seizures did not.

It isn't just a stroll into an office, fill out a form and get a check.

I know there are many who claim back injuries and probably could work, but there are one with genuine back injuries that truly are disabled by their injuries.
 
cawacko said:
they interview Coburn and talk about the work his staff was doing looking into this but it wasn't just about him.

They reference the large number of lawyers out there trying to help people (game the system) win disability payments. Like I said they interviewed judges as well as former lawyers from a plantiffs firm. It's hard not to get fired up/frustrated while watching the piece.
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i gotta go ot the gym for a few minutes, (walking distance), will check it out.
Seriously messed up..
 
cawacko said:
I watched it. They're talking about federal disability not state. And you are correct many are using it as a bridge between their unemployment benefits running out and social security.

They focused on one area on the Kentucky/West Virgina border where the economy is practically propped up by those on disability and one lawyer who is tight with a judge and won basically 100% of his 1,800 or so cases. Pretty outrageous.

They interviewed two women who formerly worked for a law firm that backed patients fighting for disability who said maybe 40% of their clients had legitimate disability claims and the rest were questionable at best.

It's basically desperate people doing anything they can to can to get money. What's going to happen though is the system will go broke and those with legitimate disability claims are going to be the one's getting screwed (along with the tax payers).
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What were these people claiming as their disabilities and what Dr. did they have supporting their diagnosis, did they say? We're they physical or mental health issues?
 
Rana said:
All I know, from what I have seen friends go through, it took my vet friend three years to get disability, many doctors exams and mountains of paperwork, he received disability, PTSD.

My other friend with seizures did not.

It isn't just a stroll into an office, fill out a form and get a check.

I know there are many who claim back injuries and probably could work, but there are one with genuine back injuries that truly are disabled by their injuries.
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I know. I worked at BDI (Woodlawn Md.)for a few years, as a temporary - this was decades ago - I remember seeing Congresional FLAGS on case folders -
people who were desperate nough to get Conressional clout involved.

There is somehting whached out - uneven teasting, I've heard storys too, of people getting routinely denied
 
cawacko said:
they interview Coburn and talk about the work his staff was doing looking into this but it wasn't just about him.

They reference the large number of lawyers out there trying to help people (game the system) win disability payments. Like I said they interviewed judges as well as former lawyers from a plantiffs firm. It's hard not to get fired up/frustrated while watching the piece.
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What is their stake in helping people?
 
annata said:
i gotta go ot the gym for a few minutes, (walking distance), will check it out.
Seriously messed up..
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If you get a chance to watch the piece check it out, it's good.

I'm all for those who are truly disabled getting help and I support that. Assuming what 60 Minutes is showing here is an accurate reflection the system is seriously getting gamed and that's not good for anyone (expect the lawyers and those gaming the system of course).
 
Rana said:
What were these people claiming as their disabilities and what Dr. did they have supporting their diagnosis, did they say? We're they physical or mental health issues?
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They didn't really focus on that.

The one lawyer they really went after had a large number of doctors 'examine' patients in his law office and write reports that the patients were hurt. This was the same lawyer who knew the judge and never lost a case.
 
Rana said:
All I know, from what I have seen friends go through, it took my vet friend three years to get disability, many doctors exams and mountains of paperwork, he received disability, PTSD.

My other friend with seizures did not.

It isn't just a stroll into an office, fill out a form and get a check.

I know there are many who claim back injuries and probably could work, but there are one with genuine back injuries that truly are disabled by their injuries.
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Yet this wasn't about those who legitimately needed assistance was it?
 
cawacko said:
They didn't really focus on that.

The one lawyer they really went after had a large number of doctors 'examine' patients in his law office and write reports that the patients were hurt. This was the same lawyer who knew the judge and never lost a case.
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If these people were poor, what were the lawyers getting out of it?
 
cawacko said:
The lawyers? What do you think? The lawyers want to get paid.
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How was this possible if the people were unemployed, poor? Do they take a portion of their monthly check? Did they state what the average monthly amount being rewarded or disability? I didn't see the program and I am trying to understand how lawyers would profit.
 
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