James M. Jeffords: “Today Senators Kennedy, Roth, Moynihan, and I, joined by many of our colleagues are introducing the Work Incentives…”

“Today Senators Kennedy, Roth, Moynihan, and I, joined by many of our colleagues are introducing the Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999. The reason for this broad bipartisan effort is both compelling and simple. Currently, individuals with disabilities must choose between working or getting health care. Such a choice is absurd. But, current federal law forces individuals with disabilities to make that choice. Our legislation addresses this fundamental flaw. The federal government helps individuals with significant disabilities, who earn under $500 a month. Individuals, who have less than $2,000 in assets and have not paid into Social Security, receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) cash payments and access to Medicaid. Individuals, who have worked and paid into Social Security, receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) cash payments and access to Medicare. Yet, the current system offers no incentive for SSI and SSDI recipients to work to their full potential, to be taxpayers, to contribute to their well-being and that of their families. The facts bear out this assertion. Less than one half of one percent of the 7.5 million individuals on the Social Security disability rolls leave them. Do these individuals really want to work? The answer is a resounding, 'Yes.' Over the last 10 years, national surveys consistently confirm that people with disabilities of working age want to work, but only about one-third are working.”