You Shouldn’t Need a Law Degree to Access Disability Benefits

OFF-KILTER with Rebecca Vallas

For this week's pod, we're bringing you a conversation Rebecca moderated at this week's National Academy of Social Insurance conference on "Pathways to Economic Security" about how America's social insurance and public assistance system is falling short for disabled people and care workers who provide home and community based care services; the human consequences of how hard we've made it to access Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI); outdated program rules that trap disabled people in poverty and keep them from marrying; the "care crisis" that's resulted from underpaying and undervaluing direct care providers; and more.

Guests: Matthew Cortland, policy director of Be A Hero and a former SSI recipient; Bethany Lilly, director of income policy at The Arc of the United States; and Beverly Yu, state government affairs director of United Domestic Workers/AFSCME Local 3930.