tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235419263414453422.post5309895560389714440..comments2024-02-23T01:30:06.101-08:00Comments on Early Warning: The US Disability ExplosionStuart Stanifordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07182839827506265860noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235419263414453422.post-57519933486675535052011-03-29T17:14:13.144-07:002011-03-29T17:14:13.144-07:00Michael is right, if we had a proper universal hea...Michael is right, if we had a proper universal health system (Single Payer, Bismarck, mix, or other), this issue would largely be solved. Single payer healthcare would be a great boom for small business (and employment in general), but the ideological powers that be are still stiffing it across the nation.<br /><br />Thankfully, it seems Vermont is heading in the right direction on this issue :) http://pnhp.org/news/2011/march/medical-students-rally-for-single-payer-system-in-vermontTiradeFactionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06760660346802297769noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235419263414453422.post-65837786643409010022011-03-29T14:34:48.422-07:002011-03-29T14:34:48.422-07:00When I worked on state human services budgets, thi...When I worked on state human services budgets, this trend was often remarked upon. The most common narrative went like this: "US policy assumes that the private sector will (a) hire all willing workers and (b) provide at least workers comp insurance, and preferably regular health insurance as well. Employers have found that hiring workers aged 55 and up, especially those with a history of work-related injury or illness, can result in significant increases in their insurance premiums. As a result, many of those workers are simply unemployable. But they are too young for SS and Medicare, and if they have personal savings, too wealthy for Medicaid. SSDI is being used as a safety net of last resort."<br /><br />Interestingly, the most obvious fix for the situation is one adopted in one form or another by all of the OECD countries except the US: single-payer health insurance, or regulation of private insurance so that it functions in essentially the same way. It doesn't fix everything, but it does remove the financial penalties associated with hiring older workers, particularly those with previous job-related injury or illness.Michael Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01472223216496790376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235419263414453422.post-43308756110447095772011-03-29T07:58:40.848-07:002011-03-29T07:58:40.848-07:00Stuart,
On of the major issues at the last electi...Stuart,<br /><br />On of the major issues at the last elections 2010 in Sweden was the benefits at disability, disability insurance. In 1980 the percentage with disability payment was 3.1 % (about 3.5 % in US) in the population between 16 and 64, which increased to 5.0 % (5.5 in US) in 2006. The percentage is now decreasing but the measures taken by the conservative government are causing suffering in some groups of disabled. I suspect the increasing costs for benefits at disability will be a worry for most governments in OECD. <br /><br />http://www.scb.se/Pages/TableAndChart____181298.aspx (English is available)Lars-Eric Bjerkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12632949799117185675noreply@blogger.com