Social Security Disability, a Protection for Some Workers, Is at a Crossroads

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https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/13/business/social-security-disability-insurance-retirement.html
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Social Security Disability, a Protection for Some Workers, Is at a Crossroads
The benefits provide important economic support for older people who cannot work. The White House recently halted changes to the program that had worried some experts.

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A representative for the Office of Management and Budget told The New York Times last month in a statement that the administration is not working on changes to the way age is considered in weighing applications. But two people with direct knowledge of the effort said that soon after President Trump took office in January, Social Security was directed by the budget office to restart work on the plan, which was developed during his first administration. In addition, a notice about the rule-making process is still on the office’s website. The people requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about it.

Some experts believe the work will be resumed at some point — especially on the jobs database.

“What the administration is contemplating isn’t just a tweak, it’s a fundamental restructuring of the disability insurance system,” said Michelle Aliff, a vocational expert who testifies frequently in disability appeal hearings and, until earlier this year, served on an advisory committee to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The contemplated rule change — which would raise the minimum age where age is considered from 50 to 60 — set off alarm bells for disability insurance experts, who worry that would result in more rejections of vulnerable older Americans. Thirty-eight percent of the people who are denied Social Security disability are poor, according to research by David Weaver, an economist and a former associate commissioner at the Social Security Administration. . . .

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