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ADA and Disability

Disabilities Act Prompts Flood of Suits

As noted in this New York Times article, a small cadre of lawyers, some from out of state, are using New York City’s age and architectural as the foundation for a flood of lawsuits citing violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Suit by suit, the lawyers are forcing this tough and intensely pedestrian city, so resistant to change, to meet standards for accessibility that are more than 20 years old. In doing so, they are part of a nationwide trend: In the last year, 3,000 similar suits, including more than 300 in New York, were brought under the ADA, more than double the number five years ago.

The lawyers are generally not acting on existing complaints from people with disabilities. Instead, they identify local businesses, like bagel shops and delis, that are not in compliance with the law, and then aggressively recruit plaintiffs from advocacy groups for people with disabilities. Read more…

10 Arrested in $1 Billion Disability Scheme

I suppose it’s events like the fraud described in this New York Times article that keep us in business – the business of conducting medical evaluations on disability claims to ensure claimants are treated appropriately. But it’s hardly an event we’re celebrating at MCN: the cost of this type of fraud is staggering. From the complaint:

“And based [upon] my analysis of the data, including but not limited to the percentage of L.I.R.R. applicants handled by the three doctors discussed in this complaint and actual disability payouts to date, I further estimate that the fraudulent scheme could cause the R.R.B. to pay unwarranted occupational disability benefits exceeding $1 billion dollars if disbursed in full.”

The disability benefits are only part of the cost. The article also notes, “The doctors were paid — often in cash — between $800 to $1,200 for each fake assessment and narrative, in addition to the millions of dollars in health insurance payments they received for unnecessary medical treatments and fees for preparing false medical records to support the disability claims, the complaint said.”

Widespread fraud such as this are compounded by enormous opportunity costs in wasted physician time, increased insurance rates,  and other costs society absorbs one way or another. As the author notes, “The charges involving the railroad come at a time when public workers’ unions across the country have faced heavy criticism for negotiating pension obligations that have led many government agencies to slash services and lay off teachers, police officers and other workers.” Read more…

Disabled, but Looking for Work

This article in the New York Times is an interesting look at both one individual’s situation while on Social Security disability, as well as the larger question of “return to work.” Some points called out:

  • For the last five years, Social Security has paid out more in benefits to disabled workers than it has taken in from payroll taxes. Government actuaries forecast that the disability trust fund will run out of money by 2018.
  • Of the 567,395 medical reviews conducted on beneficiaries in 2009, Social Security expects less than 1 percent to leave because of improved health.
  • Nicole Maestas, an economist at the Rand Corporation, has examined Social Security data with fellow economist Kathleen J. Mullen, and concluded that in the absence of benefits, about 18 percent of recipients could work and earn at least $12,000 a year, the threshold at which benefits are suspended.
  • About one in 21 Americans from age 25 to 64 receive the benefit, according to an analysis of Social Security data by Prof. Mark G. Duggan, an economist at the University of Maryland, compared with one in 30 a little over a decade ago. In Arkansas, the figure is one in 12, among the highest in the nation.
  • and, the human side: Christopher Howard suffers from herniated discs in his back, knee problems and hepatitis C. As a result, Social Security sends him $574 every month and will until he reaches retirement age — unless he can find a job. Mr. Howard and his wife, Darlene, who is also out of work, scrape by on this. They live in a garage behind the home owned by Mr. Howard’s parents. Inside the forest green shack, which has no running water, they have crammed some shabby furniture and a tiny galley kitchen. Read more…

Service Dog Expansion Stretches Credibility

I have long had an interest in the expanded definition and use of service-dogs in US society. Historically these animals were used to extend capability to individuals with sensory deficits, primarily sight. Appropriate access laws and policies have been in place for some time with respect to these dogs.

The January 15 “Psychiatric News” of the American Psychiatric Association had a sympathetic article on the topic. I wrote a letter to the editor that was published on April 16 in response to this article.

I have been chagrined to see a trend towards creating a special class of animals to provide for the subjective comfort of their owners, to the degree that this imposes duties upon others to provide access and rights to the dog and their owners. For example right to be in workplaces, on public transportation, restaurants and other public accommodations that do not permit pets. At this point to my knowledge the issue has been addressed in the regulatory and not judicial sphere. A test case or two in the Federal courts would be illuminating and may soon be overdue.

While I can’t dispute the strongly held positions and  passions of others who feel the need for such accomodations for emotional issues, society at large has an equally compelling right to set limits on the obligations of others to participate or endorse these views.

It should also be noted that there is no meaningful credentialing of such service dogs or the claims of those who wish to use them. A web search will find any number of sites that will provide credentials for the animals and endorsement for their owners based upon self-report of need. See: http://www.servicedogsamerica.org/ and http://www.psychdog.org/index.html as a small sample of the many sites on the topic.

See http://www.pawnation.com/2009/05/21/service-animals-pets-helping-people/ and click on the slide show showing a number of ‘service animals’. Based upon the criteria that the animal do something and perform a service, which of them do you feel are legitimate in their function, and warrant the definition and rights of a service dog?

By the way, I have two dogs (King Charles Spaniels) and am rather fond of them, but they are pets, not therapists – regardless of he companionship and comfort that they may provide.