Als Disability Insurance Access Act of 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. GRASSLEY. 578. Eventhough my amendment did not gain the 60 vote threshold, I want my colleagues to know that you just can't tap into the Social Security disability trust funds without dire future consequences.

S. 578 waives a waiting period in the disability program for the compelling case of patients with ALS.

There are, of course, other compelling cases.

And we have to be mindful of the disability trust fund which will eventually face depletion.

As the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, which is an umbrella organization representing advocates for a number of disabling conditions, puts it:

``Bills that only fix the problem for some people who meet the strict eligibility standards for SSDI are likely to lead to interest groups requesting waiver of wait periods for other impairments.''

So it is likely that Congress will see more requests for waivers of waiting periods for those afflicted with disabilities arising from conditions other than ALS.

Waiting periods in the disability insurance program were put into law for various policy reasons.

When we waive waiting periods for specific conditions, some of which are terribly disabling and even fatal, we change the nature of the disability program.

We change benefits and don't have any offsetting change to the tax that funds the disability insurance trust fund or any offsetting change to other benefits.

However compelling it is to waive waiting periods, whenever we do it, we accelerate the exhaustion of the disability trust fund.

And that affects people with all forms of disability.

In order to help make Social Security combined disability and retirement trust funds whole, my amendment would offset the cost of the ALS bill.

My amendment simply changes the minimum monthly withholding threshold for recovery of any overpayment of Social Security benefits to reflect the increase in benefits we have seen since SSA established the current minimum of $10 in 1960.

My amendment simply changes the threshold amount from $10 to 10 percent of the monthly benefit payable, as is already done in the SSI program.

With this change, SSA would recover overpayments more efficiently and better fulfill its stewardship obligations to Social Security's trust funds, while retaining safeguards for beneficiaries surrounding overpayments.

Guardrails to protect beneficiaries to ensure that collections don't create hardships are maintained.

Nothing in my amendment leads to benefit cuts of even a penny that a retiree or disabled worker has earned.

This policy is something that has been in numerous budgets of the President, including President Obama and now President Trump.

I urge my colleagues to support my amendment, to ensure that we protect the integrity of Social Security's trust funds while also protecting beneficiaries.

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