Social Security is A Mix Of Programs, Not Just One Program
Most people in the United States associate social-security with being an annuity that is the largest source of income for most seniors. But it is actually an umbrella of programs, including Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance.
What is Supplemental Security Income?
Supplemental Security Income is a program run by the Social Security Administration that is a quick way to qualify for Medicaid, which pays for most long-term support services in the United States. I’ve received it since 1991 to pay for my 136-day NICU stay. SSI is the closest thing the United States has to universal basic income for people with disabilities, but in fact it–and programs associated with it, along with other social determinants of health–often function as a highly effective poverty trap, because the law that created it hasn’t been updated since 1972.
Burned-out psychologist Mary Zanarini, developer of the MSI for Borderline Personality Disorder, incorrectly calls SSI “social security disability income”. Her burn-out is so evident in how she talks about recovery, suggesting that some patients are “born competent”, with a derisive little laugh. In fact, as all research on psychotherapy suggests, the goodness-of-fit between therapist/patient—what psychiatrist Antonia New calls “the ability to develop a trusting relationship with a therapist“, predicts the outcome of the patient. It is paramount that psychotherapists believe in their patients, stresses DBTTM developer Dr. Marsha Linehan.
Here’s more evidence of how burned out Dr. Zanarini is: she’s very excited about all of her studies on which she’s principal investigator, but she says for some patients, “death by suicide is always an option“. Dr. Zanarini, I’m excited about your fMRI study as well, but I hate to be the bearer of statistics here, but you shouldn’t acquiesce that suicide is an acceptable option for any patient. The answer to mental illness is mental healthcare. For borderlines, the statistic is ten (10) per cent of patients complete suicide.
I have to wonder aloud to Dr. Zanarini: Of the ninety (90) per cent of borderlines that are treated who don’t kill themselves, would you prefer that forty-five (45) per cent go on a bunch of neuroleptics (and, not everyone gains weight on neuroleptics–I actually lost weight, and Kit has never appeared to gain weight in her videos and has said she doesn’t experience the metabolic side effects, and she’s had her schizoaffective disorder treated for years). As for the other forty-five (45) per cent patients, Dr. Zanarini, people on Social Security benefits can and DO work! (By the way, Dr. Zanarini, please ask that your interviews be captioned—you are by far the hardest BorderlinerNotes contributor/expert to speechread! Dr. Zanarini reports that “patients said she looked sad” when she gave them the borderline personality disorder diagnosis in a Jan 23, 2024 blog post for BPDVideo, but she said she realized that she was reinforcing the stigma.
I first worked a Summer job in 2008 (about June 8 to August 20, 2008) at Paramount’s Kings Island before transferring from Sycamore High School to The Ohio School for the Deaf, where I started college in my senior year and graduated from high school with fourteen (14) semester college credit hours, thanks to an AP test score. I didn’t make enough to earn any work credits, but a few months after I saw I started getting survivor’s benefits on my late mother’s work record. These are called Childhood Disability Benefits or Disabled Adult Child Benefits. Two years later before I turned twenty, I qualified for Medicare on my late mother’s work record.
From 10/26/2016–11/17/2016 I worked for the local elections office, where I earned two work credits. As required, I alerted my local field office when I started and stopped working, and reported my paystubs multiple times (in person, by FAX, and by Certified Mail when the office lost it). But over two years later, I was accused of an overpayment. Fortunately, as it was less than $500, one of the representatives at the national number was able to waive it.
I was only able to wait on hold after school was out. I was, in essence, punished for working a temporary job even though I did everything required.
Fixing Social Security means raising taxes—not just on the rich. Here’s an analysis from Vox.
What Are Survivors Benefits? What Are Childhood Disability Benefits? What Is Being A Disabled Wage-Earner?
- Survivors of dependents, either living or dead, may qualify to receive survivors benefits.
- Childhood disability benefits are benefits for survivors who meet disability tests by the Social Security Administration. In other words, these recipients are considered dependents on the people who paid into the system.
- Being a disabled wage-earner means that you are disabled but have worked enough and paid enough into the system from the time of your disability to get social security on your own work record. It is only these people who are not subject to means-testing (unless they also receive Medicaid, but that is a different program and has a different set of rules per state).
Because I have received Supplemental Security Income benefits since I was born, I only need four (4) more work credits in a single fiscal-year period to switch from being a disabled adult child, with all the limitations that it has, including on cohabitating (and because Windsor and Obergefell made marriage equality national–as it should be) people who are practicing homosexuals are subject to these limitations too.
As I have a Ticket to Work with the SeaTac Vocational Rehabilitation office while I am in college and in training, I will not automatically lose benefits if I’m hired. Additionally, receiving Social Security Disability Insurance gives me nine (9) Trial Work Periods every sixty (60) months, in which I can earn as much as I can without losing SSDI monies.
Because my local field office is so disorganized, I would prefer to receive one (1) check for a year’s worth of work for four credits. That will reduce the chances that they will lose the record. And, any business or non-profit that does hire me is likely eligible for a tax credit federally. We’ll have to fill out IRS Form 8850 to get pre-screened and certified, but that can easily be done.
Last Updated: June 26, 2025