Today’s Miami Herald illuminates the story of disabled political refugees who may lose thier SSI benefits:

Eustacio Guevara spent 14 years in Cuban jails as a political prisoner and when he finally got a visa to relocate to the United States as a refugee in 2000 he thought he would live out his days in Miami free of worries or fears.

“It was like a dream come true,” Guevara, 61, told El Nuevo Herald earlier this month in an interview at his home in Miami’s Allapattah neighborhood.

But Guevara’s dream may become a nightmare.

Guevara is among almost 4,000 refugees from Cuba and other countries scheduled to lose Social Security disability aid Oct. 1 because they are in violation of a federal law that requires disabled foreign refugees to become citizens within seven years of arrival if they want to continue receiving Supplemental Security Income, or SSI.

This month, Guevara received a letter from the Social Security Administration warning that his $505 monthly SSI check may end. Read more:

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Kaiser News Reports:

After Russ Hillard developed Huntington’s disease, a devastating neurological disorder, he lost his $35,000-a-year job as a welder and, with it, his health insurance.

His wife, who was working part time, had insurance, but it didn’t come close to covering the medical bills for the incurable disease, which causes uncontrolled movements, emotional problems and the loss of cognitive abilities. Eventually, Hillard qualified for Medicare, which covers disabled people under 65 after a two-year waiting period. But the coverage didn’t kick in until after the family went deeply into debt and had to take out a $20,000 loan on their home in Methuen, N.H. …

Under federal rules, most people with disabilities who are younger than 65 aren’t eligible for Medicare until more than two years after they qualify for Social Security disability income. A coalition of more than 65 organizations led by the Medicare Rights Center has been pushing Congress to do away with the waiting period. But the effort has stalled because of the high cost to the federal government – an estimated $113 billion over 10 years …

Some groups, including the Huntington’s Disease Society of America, are going their own way, asking Congress for specific waivers from the Medicare waiting period for their diseases.

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Columbus, Ohio (CNN) — President Barack Obama pledged Wednesday that the Social Security system won’t be privatized while he is in the White House.

In a town-hall style meeting with a few dozen residents of Columbus, Ohio, Obama said “modest” changes can keep the government pension system solvent for decades.

Republicans have called for transforming the government program to a private savings account as a way to help keep it going as America’s aging population stresses its financial health.

“It will not be privatized as long as I’m president,” Obama said to applause, noting that the economic recession and Wall Street collapse would have devastated the savings of retirees under a privatized Social Security system. Se Link to story here:

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A White House-created commission is considering proposals to raise the retirement age and take other steps to shore up the finances of Social Security, prompting key players to prepare for a major battle over the program’s future. Under consideration are raising the retirement age and reducing benefiots for higher-income retirees. See the entire story in the Wall Street Journal here:

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Social Security, the most successful domestic program in our nation’s history, is celebrating its 75th anniversary. …

Today, millions of retirees live in dignity thanks to their monthly Social Security benefit payment. Over the decades, Social Security expanded to not only protect against the risk of poverty in old age, but also the economic risk of career-ending disability and the premature death of a worker. …

As we celebrate 75 years, I reflect on how Social Security was there for my family, how proud I am to work for this remarkable program, and how lucky I am to lead such a talented and compassionate work force.

I have two wonderful children who entered the work force in the past year. One is being called up for active military duty in October and the other will teach inner-city children. It is imperative that they and millions of other young Americans have confidence that we will continue to honor the great inter-generational contract that is Social Security.

It is in this spirit that President Barack Obama established the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform that in December will make recommendations regarding the future of Social Security. …

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From a letter to USA Today:Dick Armey, chairman of FreedomWorks, is dreaming in his piece “Let’s upend Social Security” (Opposing view, Retirement income debate, Tuesday). Eliminating Social Security and putting it in each worker’s hands would be the scam artist’s bonanza. I get calls every day from scammers peddling precious metals, movie investments, “green” energy and other things. Remember financiers Bernie Madoff and Allen Stanford?
If the so-called experts at Lehman Bros. and Bear Stearns couldn’t get it right, how would the average Joe who doesn’t have training or expertise in the financial field? And if the economy went south, as it did the past few years, how many workers would spend their retirement instead of investing it?

Marvin Chosky; Bedford, Texas

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From today’s Los Angeles Times: Even Social Security’s friends sometimes get bollixed up in the bamboozlements of its enemies. The best example of that may be the “lockbox” scheme promoted by Al Gore during the 2000 presidential campaign. Gore was trying to defuse concerns that the government had “stolen” Social Security’s money, but in the process he handed the bamboozlers another weapon.

The focus of the concern was the condition of the Social Security trust fund. As my Sunday column explains, this concern is wholly fabricated; the trust fund is just fine. But the idea that Social Security’s surplus should be somehow sequestered, left untouched until it’s needed to pay benefits, is foolish and dangerous.

Why? Because that money is being banked over a period of 50 years or more. Plainly, if its value is not to be utterly destroyed by inflation over that time, it must be invested. But in what? Gold bars in the basement of Ft. Knox, like the hoard James Bond saved from destruction in “Goldfinger?” Towering mounds of cash? Diamonds? See column here:

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The New York Times Reports today:

“The Social Security Administration is about to terminate cash assistance for thousands of indigent refugees who are severely disabled or over the age of 64.

“You will lose your Supplemental Security Income on Oct. 1,” the agency says in letters being mailed to more than 3,800 refugees.

“All fled persecution or torture. Many are too old or infirm to work and are not yet eligible to become United States citizens.

“Federal law sets a seven-year limit on payments to refugees. The maximum federal payment is $674 a month for an individual and $1,011 a month for a couple. In 2008, Congress provided a two-year extension of benefits for elderly and disabled refugees, asylum seekers and certain other humanitarian immigrants, including victims of sex trafficking.

“The extra eligibility period is now ending, and Congress has not taken action to extend it.”
See link to article here:

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