Opening Statement of the Hon. E. Clay Shaw, Jr., a Representative in Congress from the State of Florida,
and Chairman, Subcommittee on Social Security

Hearing on Social Security Disability Programs' Challenges and Opportunities

July 11, 2002

Good morning.  Today the Subcommittee continues our examination of the challenges and opportunities faced by Social Security’s two disability programs – Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income – by focusing on the definition of disability.

According to law, an individual is considered disabled when they are unable to; “engage in substantial gainful activity by reason of a medically determinable physical or mental impairment which can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months.”

While that definition would seem to outline the parameters of disability, in fact there are over 270 pages of federal regulations that discuss how to implement this law.  Included is a complex list of impairments, how to consider age, education, and vocational factors, and how to evaluate pain, other subjective complaints, and activities of daily living.

Although the regulations are intended to produce objective determinations of disability, each person’s circumstance is unique, and disability determinations are inherently the result of both objective review of the evidence and subjective judgment.  Thus, different decision makers may reasonably come to different conclusions, even in similar circumstances.  No wonder ensuring fair and consistent treatment for all claimants remains a key challenge for the agency as it administers this complex program.

Compounding the difficulty of implementing a fair and accurate definition of disability is the evolving nature of work.  Employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities have expanded over the past several decades.  The intent of the disability programs has been to provide a safety net for individuals who cannot work because of a long-term disability.  However, new employment possibilities and the changes in – and interaction between – vocational, environmental, medical, and other factors have led many to question whether the definition of disability accurately reflects the intent of the program and the needs of individuals with disabilities today.

 Helping us sort through all of these issues today is Martin Gerry, the Deputy Commissioner for Disability and Income Security Programs at the Social Security Administration, Robert Robertson at the GAO, Sarah Mitchell, chair of the Ticket to Work Advisory Panel who is making her first appearance before the Subcommittee, and various consumer, academic, and private sector experts.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who signed Social Security into law and was himself an individual with a disability, turned the concept of disability on its head, and we’ve been trying to catch up ever since.  Evolutions in the workplace, society, and medicine have outpaced our progress in reviewing the program’s definition of disability.  Though ensuring that the definition of disability meets the needs of Americans is a difficult and complex task, it must be a priority.  America’s workers and their families who rely on the vital safety net Social Security disability benefits provide deserve no less.