MLIVE’S ASK THE ATTORNEY COLUMN

Q. I was injured on the job and can no longer work. I get $1,000 a month in Social Security Disability. How long will these benefits last? (June 2017)(updated Jan 2021)

A. That depends on how the Republican Congress responds to President Trump’s proposed budget. You paid for these benefits through payroll deductions when you were working. Yet Trump’s budget seeks to impose time limits on Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits and to reduce these benefits for those injured on the job. He also wants disabled people to prove they can’t find a job in order to receive benefits. The details are fuzzy but his proposal would radically alter the Social Security Disability program enacted by President Eisenhower that thousands of Americans depend upon to meet their basic needs. Elections have consequences. Remember to vote and to let the leaders in Washington know you depend upon these insurance benefits.

UPDATE:   Former President Trump repeatedly proposed changes to Social Security Disability that would have been devastating to disabled workers. Most changes never became law because the Democrats maintained control of the U.S. House. Donald J. Trump was defeated in the November 3, 2020 election. Protect your benefits by continuing to vote.

–Attorney Robert J. MacDonald