Unfit
I almost needed to go on disability reading this piece from NPR:
In the past three decades, the number of Americans who are on disability has skyrocketed. The rise has come even as medical advances have allowed many more people to remain on the job, and new laws have banned workplace discrimination against the disabled. Every month, 14 million people now get a disability check from the government.
It is called Unfit or Work: The startling rise of disability in America and it is put together real well. You need to read this.
It is a very disturbing trend. Shame on those in our profession who help perpetrate the fraud. I see new patients from time to time who come to me for medical care because their “pain and disability doctor” doesn’t manage blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease etc.
Listening to Public Radio yesterday I was made aware of companies doing business for the specific purpose of moving people off the states’ welfare rolls onto the federal payroll. There are boiler room setups where phone calls are made daily for this purpose and the employees are paid based upon the number of people actually transferring (with their guidance) from state to federal. This is a “legitimate” business we are led to believe.
This is a deeply disturbing problem with devastating effects for generations. Daily, we primary care doctors are confronted with patients that don’t or cant find work. Hell, my own family is populated with them! Tough love goes a long way and truly these patients will not be lead happy, productive and meaningful lives on the disability roles. They say that water seeks the least resistant path and I believe that some folks just take the path of least resistance believing it is easier. In the long run, it is the more difficult and more destructive pathway on a personal and national level. Financially we as a nation cannot have a major percentage of our able body workers on the dole! C’MON MAN!!!
This is so sickening. The worst part is the last sentence, implying that the people who worked hard all their lives and earned social security will be bankrupted by people scamming the system.
Another big scam I see all the time where I work: bogus worker’s comp claims. HUGE.
As Dr. Timberlake alludes to in the article, education is the key. Our country needs to invest more money and resources in education, and treat teachers (as well as everyone else) nicer, to make our country more productive and less dependent.
Is it? a lot of people can’t get jobs in their field, or any decent paying jobs at all. A college education isn’t the answer anymore. A good trade is,one that can’t be outsourced. I have a PhD and I went back to school to get an AAS in nursing, which is how I earn my bread.
I agree with DrHockey, Education is the key. A technical education is an education too. Your AAS in nursing is still an education. I’m a high school teacher (which means part-time counselor) and I am not afraid to tell AP and honors level students to consider the trades. Their intelligence will help them in the long run, but the trades are paying well. I have former AP students that have gone to school for construction, welding, etc. These trades pay 60-90K coming out of a 4 year trade school. I still make under 50K with a masters degree. Sure, I get my summers off but the rest of the year I work 60-70 hour weeks to make up for it. These kids will quickly move up the levels and end up owning their own businesses.
I really want Atlas to shrug.
So depressing. And so many are duisabled from fibromyalgia, back pain, headaches, etc.