Sen. Tom Coburn wants a meeting with the top Social Security Administration investigator to discuss the increase in people receiving disability payments, saying he’s concerned that some may be using the program as “an extension of unemployment benefits.”

GOOD INTENTIONS have gone awry in the federal program that gives cash benefits to families of disabled children, and a comprehensive assessment of the program’s weaknesses is the first step toward fixing it. Given the strong possibility that children are being misclassified as disabled to make their families eligible for checks of up to $700 a month, Congress should happily pay the $10 million or so needed to fund a study of the program by the well-regarded Institute of Medicine. And then it should quickly implement any changes based on the institute’s findings before more children are misclassified.

Economic policy reporter Damian Paletta had a front-page story in The Wall Street Journal last week that quickly stirred outrage and prompted investigations. He reported on a Huntington, W.Va., judge who has approved Social Security disability benefits in 100 percent of the 729 cases appealed to him in the first six months of fiscal 2011. In the previous fiscal year, he decided 1,284 cases and awarded benefits in all but four.

The peach pages that come in the mail and the letter that follows put thousands of Tennesseans in a deep blue funk so severe that some wonder if they can keep on living.

Several hundred demonstrators with disabilities gathered outside Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) office Tuesday to protest his budget’s proposed reduction in Medicaid funding.

The government should create incentives for employers to retain disabled workers on their payrolls as a way of slowing unsustainable increases in the number of people receiving Social Security disability benefits, according to a new report.

Unable to use his hands because of a childhood bout with polio, Paul K. Longmore wrote his first book by punching a keyboard with a pen he held in his mouth. It took him 10 years, and when he was done, he burned a copy in front of the Federal Building downtown.

More baby boomers are having trouble with common physical tasks such as climbing stairs, stooping, walking a quarter mile or reaching overhead, a new study says.

For many Floridians with disabilities, the choice between competitive work and Medicaid assistance is all too real. While many of these citizens have a desire to work and contribute to the economic vitality of their communities, Florida law strongly discourages against this. To qualify for Medicaid assistance, individuals must not exceed a low-income and asset level. There are exceptions for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients; however, current policy limits their opportunities to work.

After weeks of negotiations on proposals that were far apart, the House and Senate have crafted a compromise bill to save the $339-a-month cash grant and medical coverage that the temporarily disabled receive through the state’s General Assistance-Unemployable program. But 1,200 people are expected to be cut from the GAU rolls on Sept. 1.