Over 100 Scam Disability Benefits

[Andara Bledin]

Article at CNN

The indictment claims that over the last 25 years, four men have been coaching firemen and police in how to scam their way into lifetime Disability awards, typically ranging from $30,000 to $50,000 per year.

Those who ran the scam included a disability lawyer (former FBI and a prosecutor, at that), a union official, a disability consultant, and a retired police officer who used to work the racket division.

All defendants have plead Not Guilty, but the case against many of them is strong, and I suspect that the level of detail they have into the operation means that they ran an operation to gather said information.

With over 100 defendants, with the prosecution promising that there are more to be found, it's a given that some will slip through and get away with it. However, with the sheer size of the case, and the fact that those most likely to sweep it under the rug are spearheading the attack against them, it's unlikely that they'll get out of this without some substantial damage. The state is determined to get back every penny gained through the fraud.

[crashhelmet]

We all know that fraud exists everywhere in programs like disability, unemployment, and welfare. I don't know if it's the size of this that angers me the most or the organization and infrastructure of it all.

I'm willing to bet that as more information comes out, they're going to find doctors in the organization that help affirm their "disabled" status.

[Aethian]

A new guy my Mom has recently started seeing is under fire for supposedly making up his claim for disability retirement. The guy is a former Chicago firefighter. He has to have his PTSD psyc appointments outside. He constantly has to look at every plug to make sure everything is unplugged and unpowered. When he saw Moms fireplace he insisted on taking them out to dinner. I guess you can say that after 35 years he's gotten a bit shaky on things that cause fires.

[Teysa]

I think what makes me the most mad about stuff like this is the fact that it makes it that much harder for the people who genuinely need help to get it or keep it like with Aethian's Mom's friend.

[DGoddess]

I think what makes me the most mad about stuff like this is the fact that it makes it that much harder for the people who genuinely need help to get it or keep it like with Aethian's Mom's friend.

That's the sad part of situations like these.

A friend of my Mom's was trying to get disability benefits a few years back and had such a hard time trying (she had Type 1 and 2 Diabetes, arthritis, neuropathy and several other things going on) and was still having to work while she was waiting to get her benefits.

Sadly, she died a month before she got word that she qualified and her widower (who nobody, least of all her kids liked) ended up getting her back pay.

[Mytical]

I think what makes me the most mad about stuff like this is the fact that it makes it that much harder for the people who genuinely need help to get it or keep it like with Aethian's Mom's friend.

If I had not ended up in the ICU bleeding to death (literally .. they had to bring me back from death twice), I would have never gotten disability. Because I have 'invisible' illnesses like Neuropathy, Cirrhosis, etc. When people look at me, they see this strapping young healthy guy who is 6' tall, and powerful. They don't see the pain that has me curled up in a fetal positions at time, the blood going to my stomach instead of where it should go, or the fact that not only do I need a cane/walker sometimes, but help getting blasted dressed. Because .. hey .. I am a guy.. I should just suck it up and shut up. I tried for years to tell doctors that something was wrong, but hey.. they are the doctors.. they know my body better then I do .. right? So since the doctors knew better, and I was 'healthy' in their eyes, I couldn't be disabled, right? Sure, I could lift a person up with one hand, but physical strength does not always = healthy. Sorry, for the rant.. this is a sore point of mine. People who commit fraud get away with it, and people who need it suffer for it. Because of a few bad apples the rest of the orchard should just be abandoned and burned... right?

[s_stabeler]

or, to give a slightly less depressing view of things, I have ADHD and Asergers Syndrome. The number of times I have been told "You're making it up" beggars belief. ( especially when one was my father)

[Seshat]

Unless you want a very upset, angry rant, don't get me started on any of the following:

* parents who don't believe their children (adult-age or child-age) when the child tries to tell them something important and medical.
I might have received treatment from about age 12 if I'd been believed. I'm still not believed.

* doctors who don't believe you.

* disability scammers making it hard for legit people.

* the below-poverty-line level of the disability pension in Aussieland. (Side note: at least we get the medical treatment and meds we need; or at least, we do if Medicare covers it)

* the below-poverty-line level of the CARER'S pension in Aussieland. I mean, EXCUSE ME? These people are WORKING, and usually working damned hard. WTF is with giving them a crap income that's well below minimum wage???



Ahem.


Anyway... yeah. I hate scammers.

[AccountingDrone]

I know someone from another message board who went through hell [and at least one law firm] to get his benefits.

I don't know about you, but I really *don't* want a respiratory therapist with freaking Alzheimers!

Despite having all sorts of imaging, I am not going to attempt at getting disability, I really don't want to go through the freaking hell it will be to get what I paid into the system for 35 years to get. At least we have Rob's Tri-Care benefits that pay for my meds and durable medical goodies. [time for a new wheelchair this spring! Woot?] If it were not for his military medical benefits we would be seriously fucked - I tend to hit my catastrophic cap for the year by 1 Feb ... and I still need an upper and lower GI series and to get my gallbladder ripped out this year.

When can I have a new body?