This one statement that is 100% true but makes no sense what so ever. I mean about SSA rules for employment. If a person becomes disabled and can no longer perform their old job and SSA agrees with this.

Q. Is SSA going to pay for this person to be retrained? A. NO.

Q. This person is disabled, is anyone going to hire them? A. Very Doubtful.

Q. With the job market as is, is this person going to be able to find a job? A. Very Doubtful.

Q. If a job were open 3 counties away, is SSA going to relocate this person? A. NO.

If a persons doctor tells them that they can no longer perform work because of medical problems, then SSA should have to evaluate the employment or job status where this person lives. They should consider if there is a job nearby that this person could possibly do with their limitations. They should consider that if there was a job 25 or 50 miles away paying $8.00 an hour, would this be feasible for this person to travel this far. It would take most of the paycheck just to pay for gas. If there was a job in the next state, SSA should consider if the person is financially able to make the move. I know that SSA will never consider any of this in a claim decision. I think instead of just having a SSA claim worker and a medical examiner deciding claims, there should also be a human relations or resources worker involved.

So your point is that place of residence should be a factor in determining whether or not a person was disabled. A a person who chose to reside in or move to a remote rural area would be approved but a person who chose to live near employment opportunities would be denied. Deciding where to live is a choice. Americans have always had the right and ability to relocate if there was more opportunity somewhere else. They can also choose to live in a depressed area if that is what they want. Using this as criteria, if someone were entitled to SSDI or SSI, they could lose those benefits if a new company opened up in their commute area because then there is a possible job that they could do. SSA should keep track of businesses opening and closing in every city and town and county in America.

A person who chooses to learn and work at a trade that is becoming obsolete (buggy repair for instance) should have an advantage in a disability finding over a person who chose to learn a skill like office machine repair?

Many disabled people go to work every day. Many disabled people find jobs every day. Many companies hire disabled people every day. Sheltered workshops hire the mentally challenged, the federal government gives precedence to disabled veterans, other employers get tax credits if they hire someone who meets some disability standard.

Also, if the economy is bad (based on some economic statistic) a person could be entitled but if the economy picks up, the benefits should stop? Or that people who are file a claim when the economy is bad get a different set of criteria than people who file a claim when the economy is booming (assuming the same medical condition)?

Adding this layer of bureaucracy and regulation to an already bloated system does not sound like a good idea to me at all. Also makes the decision based less on objective medical criteria and more on choices made by the claimant.

I wondered how long it would take for someone to say this.

Use your god given ability to face simple facts of today's life.

If a person was born, raised and worked in the same place all there life, it should be considered.
That person should not have to move to another city or state simply because they became disabled.

If a disabled person can find a job that suits them and they can do the job, yes take the job.

What do you suppose are the chances of the economy picking up in the foreseeable future?

This is NOT bureaucracy.
It is my opinion on the whole damn situation and I have the right to voice my opinion.

I said I knew these things would never come into light with SSA but it"s my personal opinion that they should be part of a disability claim. That is all.

Just seen a story on a local tv station the other day. Companies now are refusing to hire able-bodied unemployed people because they want to hire only people who are currently working. The tv station lawyer said this was perfectly legal. So if you are disabled and looking for work good luck. Companies don't want to hire people with health problems who have a higher rate of absentism.

Thank You!
This is my point exactly. SSA does not consider that the disabled can not find work. The local Department of Health and Human Resources should be contacted by SSA to decide whether employment in an easy or doable job is possible when SSA decides a claim. And know I don't mean a person should move away from their home to file for disability. If you live in a big city where the odds of finding a job are favorable, then you shouldn't move to a rural area and file because of that fact. There are ways to make something like happen but hotter heads must prevail.

I received a letter from my employer saying basically I was unemployable so I guess that helped my case in winning SSDI. Its too bad they didn't consider it the first time around but I was on LTD so it wasn't as bad as not having income coming in.

If you don't believe a disabled person should be required to move why are you discriminating against the able bodied? Why should the able bodied person then be required to move if there were no jobs in the area they choose to live in?

Anyone who chooses to live in a depressed area is owed a living by the government or only the disabled who choose to live in a depressed area are owed a living? What about the spouse of the disabled person who can't find a job in a depressed area? Is the spouse owed a living also or should the able bodied spouse live off of the money paid to the disabled person?

Or maybe the government should force an industry to move to the depressed area to provide jobs for both the able bodied and disabled who choose to live there?

And what if they only lived there most of their life, but not all of it? And what if their families had moved away for better opportunities?

The US economy has ebbs and flows throughout history. We recovered from the Great Depression. I have faith that America will continue to have peaks and valleys.

I don't believe that anyone is owed money just because they choose to live where there are few jobs. I believe America continues to be the land of opportunity. Why else does the rest of the world want to live here?

I am not commenting on your ability to work, only the idea that choosing a place of residence should be a factor of disability. Disagree.

Let's try to stay on topic with ideas & help for the original poster of this thread. :)

Thoughts and ideas on improving or changes to the system can be in a new thread for that topic.
thank you.

just a point of information.

if you get to the alj level there often times is a vocactional expert who will tell the judge what jobs you can do and if those jobs exist in the local or national economy

I think that this can all be said in the stress and emotions of SS thread, if you think that's a good idea.