Help for Social Security?

Anyone who has applied for Social Security Disability ("SSD") benefits knows that the system has rules that do not make sense and are unfair. Two stand out. First, if you are approved for SSD, there is a 5 month waiting period from your onset date until your benefits to kick in. So if you stopped working on January 15, 2018, your SSD benefits would not start until July 2018. There is absolutely no reason to make people wait for SSD benefits, especially since there is no 5 month waiting time for Supplemental Security benefits. Second, if you are approved for SSD benefits, you must wait 2 years from your date of entitlement for Medicare coverage. Using the example above, you would not be eligible for Medicare until July 15, 2020 if your onset date was January 15, 2018. 

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. John B. Larson (D-Conn.) introduced legislation Wednesday that addresses many of the issues facing Social Security, such as lack of funding and long waits for hearings. The legislation also proposes to do away with the 5 month SSD waiting period and the 2 year waiting period for Medicare. If this legislation passed, it would make a huge difference in the lives of disabled individuals who qualify for SSD.