(Newswire.net — March 27, 2020) —
In an ongoing effort to tighten work requirements and increase restrictions over anti-poverty programs, the Trump administration has finalized a rule that will reduce the influence that the ability to speak English has on Social Security disability benefits claim reviews.
Affecting millions of people across the country, these new Social Security disability rules will make it more difficult for some people to receive benefits. One prominent rule was announced by the Social Security Administration that will specifically affect non-English speakers.
This rule, which comes into effect starting April 27, eliminates the effect that the ability to speak English will have within an applicant’s education assessment. When determining an applicant’s capacity to seek work while facing a medical condition, the ability to speak English is an educational factor that previously has been considered.
Commenting in a press release that was given after the rule’s finalization, Social Security Commissioner Andrew Saul stated, “It is important that we have an up-to-date disability program. The workforce and work opportunities have changed and outdated regulations need to be revised to reflect today’s world”.
What Previous Social Security Disability Rules Concerned Non-English Speakers?
Applying for Social Security disability benefits has always been considered a challenging process, often requiring long waiting periods and the help of a disability attorney. The Social Security Administration (SSA) has laid out strict guidelines that a claimant’s disability, current ability to work, and work history must meet to receive benefits.
To receive benefits, an individual must be unable to work to provide an income. A Residual Functional Capacity (RFC) assessment is performed to assess an individual’s ability to work. This assessment takes into account not only a claimant’s disability, but also their education level, age, and other factors, previously including ability to speak English. This assessment helps to determine the types of work that an individual could reasonably perform despite their disability.
Factors such as education level and English-speaking ability have been included because of how they affect the variety of jobs someone can perform. If an individual previously working a job requiring heavy physical labor sustains an injury limiting physical labor, but is still able to work an administrative job, they would be less likely to receive benefits because other options for work are still available. However, if that person cannot speak English, this was seen as a factor that would limit job opportunities, and so it increased their chance of receiving benefits.
Through the previous rules, non-English speakers over the age of 45 were more likely to be approved for disability benefits. This was because older people are less likely to be able to learn a completely new language with enough fluency to be proficient in a job relying heavily on written or spoken communication.
However, this has now been removed as a qualifying factor. Of course, not being able to communicate effectively in English was never considered to be a disability in and of itself, but it was considered a factor that would influence an individual’s ability to work after becoming disabled.
Repercussions of the Tightened Social Security Disability Rules
This new rule released by the Trump administration will undeniably make it harder for non-English speaking disabled individuals to obtain aid once language barriers are no longer considered as a factor.
Currently, the federal government pays an average of $1,200 each month in disability benefits to those who have been approved for disability benefits due to an injury or severe illness.
When the new rules restricting benefit requirements were announced, they received significant backlash from the Democrats, who commented that it would limit the aid to only those with extremely severe disabilities.
According to Democratic congressman John Larson (who is responsible for the House Ways and Means Subcommittee within Social Security), the rule will deny people what they have rightfully earned. He stated, “The inability to communicate in English poses an additional barrier to work. The new rule will end SSA’s consideration of this obstacle. I condemn this action by the Trump administration, which will deny Social Security and Supplemental Security Income disability benefits to an estimated 10,000 people a year with severe disabilities.”
Although this rule is the newest created by the Trump administration, it is simply a continuation of the efforts to limit the Social Security benefits. Earlier in the year, a fourth category within the Continuing Disability Reviews system was proposed, which would require more frequent reviews of a claimant’s medical condition and often resort in a shorter period of time an individual could receive payments.