Thread by @rebeccavallas

Putting on my former legal aid lawyer hat for a sec to explain why it’s so important that we temporarily halt “continuing disability reviews” for #SocialSecurity disability benefits as part of #coronavirus response (as @mattbc & I have been urging).

thread:

@mattbc For people who rely on SSDI or SSI benefits, continuing disability reviews (CDRs) are periodic fire-drills that generally require not just lots of paperwork, but also multiple dr visits, trips to the #SocialSecurity office, and in many cases, visits to SSA consulting docs.

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@mattbc The bottom line: Continuing with CDRs as scheduled right now would make it impossible for SSI & SSDI beneficiaries to observe the #coronavirus social distancing protocols urged by the CDC and public health experts at this critical time.

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@mattbc Instead, it would force medically-vulnerable SSDI & SSI beneficiaries to not only leave safe home environments—but to enter medical facilities & other environments with extra-high-risk for exposure to #COVID19.

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@mattbc It makes *zero* sense to needlessly put SSDI & SSI beneficiaries’ health at risk in a pandemic—especially when they are some of the people at greatest risk of serious health consequences and even death from #COVID19.

Failing to halt CDRs could literally kill people.

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@mattbc If an SSDI/SSI beneficiary refuses to comply with the demands of a CDR, they lose their benefits.

It would be nothing short of monstrous to force beneficiaries to choose between their health and their sole source of income in the middle of a pandemic.

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Failing to halt CDRs would also put #SocialSecurity employees and state Disability Determination Services (DDS) agency employees at risk, by keeping contact between them and beneficiaries up at unnecessary levels.

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Pausing these reviews and all associated visits is thus in the interest of #SocialSecurity employees' health and safety too—and will help flatten the curve at a critical time.

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Finally: we should be doing everything we can to allow our medical system to focus on responding to the threat of the #coronavirus right now—rather than processing incredibly time-intensive paperwork from the #SocialSecurity Administration.

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Given that the purpose of CDRs is to end disability benefits for people who no longer medically qualify, failure to halt reviews would be a declaration by the Trump admin that they’re more concerned w/taking benefits away from disabled people than containing #coronavirus.

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I really hope they prove me wrong.

/fin

cc: #CripTheVote #NoSocialSecurityCuts