If you leave the vault open, expect your cash to disappear. This obvious rule seems to have been forgotten when it comes to several federal and local benefits programs.
Surely this is the case with Social Security Disability payments — as the recently uncovered $400 million ripoff by retired cops and firemen so colorfully shows. Add to this the sheer number of people now collecting these payments, legally or otherwise: nearly 11 million Americans, or one in 14 workers.
Who’s minding the till?
One problem is the mindset. In the $1 billion Long Island Rail Road pension scam of a few years ago, an estimated 90 percent of retirees applied for disability benefits. The thinking: Everyone does it; the cash is there for the taking.
Another problem: It’s too easy to game the system. Doctors (including those in on the scam) OK’d almost every LIRR retiree who applied. In the Social Security flap, some of the accused fraudsters felt so confident, they posted online photos of themselves fishing, flying helicopters and driving water scooters, despite having claimed their disabilities kept them home-bound.
Worse is that rules set up for many of these programs practically legalize abuse. Under New York law, for example, many illnesses that affect cops and firefighters are presumed to have originated on the job — meaning these retirees qualify for higher disability pensions, even if their medical woes are unrelated to their work. In 2011, some 26.5 percent of police retirees got “accidental (duty) disability benefits.”
Prosecution is a logical, necessary way to fight abuse. But here’s another idea: Make the rules to qualify for taxpayer funds enforceable — and don’t leave an open vault unattended.