Disability Benefits: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

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  • Опубликовано: 25 сен 2024
  • John Oliver discusses why disability benefits can be hard to get and easy to lose, how getting them can turn people’s lives upside down, and why John fucking hates mimes. Ya, you heard us. John Oliver fucking hates mimes. Spread the word.
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Комментарии • 522

  • @Dot_Executables
    @Dot_Executables 12 часов назад +357

    Oh boy I love watching "The United States is a Living Hell" featuring Tookie the Tucan.

    • @myke030
      @myke030 11 часов назад +1

      Sarcasm noted. If you don't like him or his show, you could always just not watch it.

    • @asdfffs
      @asdfffs 11 часов назад +14

      @@myke030 Wasn't sarcasm mate, John often makes self deprecating jokes about his nose that he looks like a bird, he voiced Zazu from the live action lion king remake :)
      This show really could be called "The United States is a Living Hell, I love it

  • @Twinkle442
    @Twinkle442 11 часов назад +135

    I get SSDI and get 23 dollars in snap benefits... The best diet in the world... Homelessness, starvation and terminal cancer... I'm a useless eater according to my own government... And I'm terrified... If you're not a productive member of a society... You're not a member of society at all...

    • @Milaperadotti
      @Milaperadotti 11 часов назад +12

      Same here. I’m disabled and my daughter is special needs and her father died. I make $30 too much to get snap benefits . You only getting $23 that’s absolutely ridiculous but I know many people in the same position you are in. I raise my child on my disability benefits. She does not get disability benefits because she gets death benefits from her father dying but it’s very little and I probably run out of money at least a week if not more before I get paid again.

    • @StellaDallas88
      @StellaDallas88 10 часов назад +3

      Omg same. I think it's $26 a month for snap. And homeless for 6 months

    • @EALoArt
      @EALoArt 10 часов назад +4

      I'm so sorry. You are a valuable human person, your worth has NOTHING to do with the amount of cash the government has decided it will give you. There are people out there with money coming out of their ears, skimming off what others have been putting in for ages, who decide what other people can have to live. Someone once told me that living in misery in a broken system doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you, it just means the system is wrong. I don't know if you need to hear that, but I hope you know it's true.

    • @Jesse_Walt
      @Jesse_Walt 10 часов назад +3

      I get SSI and am broke 7-10days before payday with a roommate or I'd be homeless

  • @ultraviolettas
    @ultraviolettas 12 часов назад +262

    as a disabled, wheelchair-using 32 year old woman who has managed to get on SSI, thank you John Oliver for shining a light on the layers of atrocities of how hard it is for us to try to survive. I count myself as lucky. Thanks for fighting the good fight with us. I’m always sad I can’t get married 😭

    • @TheyForgotMySalad
      @TheyForgotMySalad 11 часов назад +11

      Marriage is overrated, and when you find your person, you'll understand why people say getting married is just a piece of paper. ❤ Sending you love.

    • @Etrielle
      @Etrielle 11 часов назад +5

      Why can't you get married?

    • @HistoricGentleman
      @HistoricGentleman 11 часов назад +19

      @@Etriellebecause marriage causes loss of disability benefits

    • @nathanieljae8927
      @nathanieljae8927 11 часов назад +12

      Its terrible and i cant even help myself get by financially by working a job i can handle ..because they take all i make out of my check.. theres no point of working. I want a small pt job for some extra cash because i can barely survive on $900 monthly.. id be reevaluated and could lose access to medication that helps me be able to work. I cannot lose my medication im epileptic and severely bipolar

    • @nathanieljae8927
      @nathanieljae8927 11 часов назад +1

      Did you watch the video at all?

  • @SalemArc
    @SalemArc 12 часов назад +123

    The government spends a lot of time trying to uphold the thin veneer of caring about those who are disabled, instead of just admitting that they view disabled and elderly as a burden.

    • @scifirealism5943
      @scifirealism5943 12 часов назад +4

      Correct.

    • @Falcodrin
      @Falcodrin 11 часов назад +9

      They spend a ton of money declining too. Its not exactly the same but states have been spending multitudes more money drug testing people applying for financial programs than they actually have saved. Its been well over a decade and pretty much the best any of these programs has done is break even on what it would have cost to just give the people on drugs the money. Its all about punishing people not actually making financial sense.

    • @ccggenius
      @ccggenius 11 часов назад +2

      I mean... that is literally correct, and shouldn't be up for debate. What SHOULD be up for discussion is whether a given burden is worth bearing. And... it really should be.

    • @milesmeralis5334
      @milesmeralis5334 10 часов назад +2

      They literally are a burden

    • @glorymanheretosleep
      @glorymanheretosleep 10 часов назад

      It's a lot of money going to places that need to help others rather than help themselves and friends make a lot of money. You get what you vote for.

  • @RHCole
    @RHCole 12 часов назад +185

    Oh wow, this one's gonna hit close to home, innit?
    Edit: "Many feel they are trapped in an endless cycle of poverty." BECAUSE WE ARE.

    • @BurgermanForever-nh2vp
      @BurgermanForever-nh2vp 11 часов назад +2

      It costs a lot of money to be poor

    • @E.J.Crunkleton
      @E.J.Crunkleton 11 часов назад +2

      How can you keep an army of people ready to work for low wages?
      You keep them desperate for resources.

  • @marcusc6825
    @marcusc6825 12 часов назад +54

    If you're declined, prove you can't still work even with desperation, then we'll think about it while you juggle bankruptcy and homelessness. Sounds like prison gives you a roof and food better. What a disgusting inhumane system there 'Merica.

    • @therealshadow99
      @therealshadow99 11 часов назад

      I know people who have committed crimes to avoid being homeless... Sadly Republicans in particular have tried to abolish any of these 'socialist' policies for ages that actually help people survive and have said things like 'People like those should just die', so of course the problems never go away.

  • @argoth83
    @argoth83 12 часов назад +78

    As a man married to a disabled woman (paralyzed from waist down since birth), yeah, this whole thing is a mess and a half. She lost her benefits the very moment we got married. On top of that, we've literally had an insurance company fight us and tell us it wasn't medically necessary for her to have a power wheelchair, which caused her to lose a lot of her independence for over 2 years. We had to go through the state workforce organization since she does have a job. It's fucking absurd. We live in Texas. Yes, I know.
    The best thing is that, when we were planning to get married, we literally asked them whether she would keep her benefits. Gave them information and everything. They said yes. So, we got married. Three months later, we got the denial letter, complete with asking for repayments of everything she'd gotten for the past 3 months. GREAT STUFF.

    • @scifirealism5943
      @scifirealism5943 11 часов назад +10

      Because politicians want the "burden" of taking care of disabled people to transfer from the state to the spouse.

    • @drextrey
      @drextrey 11 часов назад

      Why did you married legally?
      You can be husband and wife married only religiously without the marriage certificate, which most of the time make things more difficult.
      Marriage is not the problem Marriage Certificate is.

    • @crystalsoulslayer
      @crystalsoulslayer 11 часов назад +11

      @@drextrey Marriage certificates are not the problem. The system that punishes people for completely normal human behaviors is the problem.

    • @MarcussJay
      @MarcussJay 11 часов назад +3

      Yeah I live in TX too. This state is god awful and I’m not surprised at all after reading all that that they would be so cruel when it comes to medical issues and disabilities. I’m so sorry you’ve both had to go through that. It’s like living in the dark ages here when it comes to medical issues. Just me trying to get a surgery here they denied and denied over and over again saying people weren’t within my network.. long story short. The person was in my network the entire time. They made me wait so long that it caused the issue to get so much worse instead of just letting me get it done in the beginning.

    • @mn0g0nm
      @mn0g0nm 10 часов назад

      ​@@drextrey you know they don't let you get away with that, right?

  • @user-em6ie2be7x
    @user-em6ie2be7x 12 часов назад +54

    This was definitely one of John's most informative episodes, it's amazing how hard it is for disabled people to claim the benefits they need, but it's so easy to lose them or never be approved. Even more shocking is how little SSI & SSDI have been so poorly funded since the 70's. 👨🏿‍💻

  • @elizabethreed3358
    @elizabethreed3358 11 часов назад +52

    This is how the elderly and the disabled end up homeless. If lucky enough, they have a vehicle to live in, but even that's a problem because now there are less places they are allowed to park.

    • @HistoricGentleman
      @HistoricGentleman 11 часов назад +3

      Better hope that the vehicle is nearly worthless as most of these states consider vehicles a “disposable asset” that counts against the maximum value of gross assets you can have in order to be a part of any program, including disability, Medicaid and food stamps

    • @elizabethreed3358
      @elizabethreed3358 11 часов назад

      @@HistoricGentleman I agree, it's extremely sad and terrifying.

  • @laalaa99stl
    @laalaa99stl 12 часов назад +476

    The high rejection rate is not a bug; It's a feature. It's to discourage people from even applying.

    • @ChosenOne6666
      @ChosenOne6666 12 часов назад +27

      Its automatic rejection it part of the process, exactly to discourage people.

    • @victoriascotttheclassicist3692
      @victoriascotttheclassicist3692 12 часов назад +21

      Yup. We were straight up told they automatically reject 75% of applicants the first time when we tried to get benefits for my husband. And then... they told us 50% for appeal...

    • @Blingchachink
      @Blingchachink 12 часов назад +1

      Yes

    • @josephdrollette8573
      @josephdrollette8573 12 часов назад +9

      As someone who works in the field you are correct. 1st and 2nd attempts generally

    • @scifirealism5943
      @scifirealism5943 11 часов назад

      Yep

  • @ImTopin
    @ImTopin 11 часов назад +20

    The last leg of this segment just pisses me off.
    My girlfriend gets SSI and the fact that wanting to marry her can mean taking that away from her is devastatingly infuriating. We are only getting by in part because of her disability checks. She uses it to help pay for rent, bills, and groceries. You know, to survive with the rest of us sharing this apartment. The fact that if we were to get married or she decides to save up just a bit of her checks for a couple months means losing it altogether is discouraging.
    I hope to God congress can pull those bills out of limbo because whatever bad actors they may think would take advantage of this system, they are leaving tens if not hundreds of thousands of people in financial ruin for the sake of the alternative.

  • @Grachtnakk
    @Grachtnakk 12 часов назад +56

    My boyfriend has all kinds of disabilities, spine problems, post herpetic neuralgia, insomnia and more, it took him about 5 years to get approved and he was turned down multiple times before. He is literally unable to do any work but they still didn't consider him eligible for it all these times.

    • @JustAnotherBlader
      @JustAnotherBlader 11 часов назад

      Insomnia is a disability now? 😂

    • @thomaszinser8714
      @thomaszinser8714 11 часов назад +2

      @@JustAnotherBlader It can have a significant impact on the ability of somebody to function in society, so, uh, yes. Yes it fucking is.

  • @Levyathyn
    @Levyathyn 12 часов назад +18

    You guys keep hitting issues that pertain directly to me. I have multiple sclerosis, a somewhat recent diagnosis I've been struggling with for--well, longer than I've had the diagnosis, I can tell you that. And I was also diagnosed with clinical depression, leading to a SECOND series of interviews and testing, and contacting my therapist for questions, to certify it. So to be clear, I have MS, and have proven depression, both of which are separate qualifications with proven, iron-clad testing and paperwork to show.
    However, this wasn't good enough as I was denied both kinds of state disability, on both reasons. I've heard from an expert I will not source here that since my disability back pay (much of which I paid in over my last jobs) has been stacking up the entire time, through the entire vetting process, they deny people like me and hope we'll re-apply, which restarts it, giving all of that backed-up money right back to them. The state I live in... well, I don't just believe it, I know it.

    • @mn0g0nm
      @mn0g0nm 10 часов назад

      if you've got backpay coming & an ironclad case, just get a lawyer (that is the key move to get approved in our state, idky)

  • @petedog9581
    @petedog9581 12 часов назад +18

    What is the purpose of the doctor recommendation from the doctor who is doing the examinations, if SSI/SSDI disregard with them?

    • @emanwhomakesbarrels701
      @emanwhomakesbarrels701 10 часов назад

      Like everything in a weird capitalist country it's to create middlemen whos employment and lobbying prevent democratic processes from resolving the issues associated with capitalism and oligarchies owning everything.

  • @ShauntSerelu
    @ShauntSerelu 12 часов назад +18

    Im a young adult who has always been chronically ill but became disabled in 2019 after my lifelong issues worsened. I was approved for disability during my appeal in 2021 - AND I GOT LUCKY. I got a disability friendly judge literally the week before the Christmas break.
    I got lucky in that I got my day in court in 2 years, most people wait for like 5+ years.

    • @ShauntSerelu
      @ShauntSerelu 11 часов назад +3

      Edit: I was approved in 2020 but I didn't receive money until 2021

    • @scifirealism5943
      @scifirealism5943 11 часов назад

      That's messed up.

    • @laurab.9609
      @laurab.9609 10 часов назад

      Sorry that all this has happened to you. I have 10 medical conditions, it is literally not possible for me to meet the work requirements. I have never more than 30 hours a week. And for the past 3 years, I've never worked more than five. It sucks getting disabled as a young person. My first was epilepsy at 12. Unless laws change, I'll only be getting SSI if I'm living with my parents. I want to live with my boyfriend, maybe marry him one day. If I live with him, they can take it away because I could be seen as "pretending to be married." I'm also terrified to lose Medicare if I lived with him. He makes a lot, but not enough to cover hospital visits, doctors appointments, my seizure meds cost 1,000 a month. If I don't get them, I have non stop seizures and it would kill me. So many people it will. I don't understand how people can just be okay with that. Sorry for the long comment. I just like talking with young adults who get what it's like being disabled young.

  • @simplez4ck
    @simplez4ck 11 часов назад +17

    And what's the government going to do about it? Probaly nothing. Ive been on disability my whole life. The limits are completely insane.

    • @scifirealism5943
      @scifirealism5943 11 часов назад +1

      You're correct, nothing.

    • @Issidro
      @Issidro 11 часов назад +2

      I lost my benefits when I went over the limit in my bank account and now the burden of my existence is entirely on my family. Surely this is a good mental place to leave a citizen who can't find employment because they have been on disability all of their life. 🙃 I'm trying to get help from other social services while waiting for my disability application(applied 10 months ago) but that help is also very slow to materialize.

    • @scifirealism5943
      @scifirealism5943 11 часов назад

      @@Issidro it's all by design.
      Politicians believe that disabled people are a burden to society and don't deserve to be middle class, let alone upper class.

  • @holydezmondgamez1728
    @holydezmondgamez1728 12 часов назад +64

    Yeah as someone on SSI and food stamps its crazy that we have to jump through so many hoops and that it can be revoked for simple things is crazy. Especially since we have caps that aren't even enough for a lot of people, when we have goddamn billionaires who don't have caps on stock paybacks or increase tax on those bastards.

    • @scifirealism5943
      @scifirealism5943 11 часов назад

      Because the government wants poor and disabled people in poverty, they don't want billionaires in poverty.

    • @DigitalStarry
      @DigitalStarry 11 часов назад

      We put caps on the poorest people who are barely surviving but not on the richest people who have enough for their great grandchildren to live in luxury and constantly underpay their employees and cheat the tax system to avoid paying their fair share. Makes sense

  • @PremierCCGuyMMXVI
    @PremierCCGuyMMXVI 11 часов назад +11

    John Oliver is a hero for covering these extremely important topics

  • @Kaptn54000
    @Kaptn54000 11 часов назад +12

    "A hat-trick of parental disappointment" is now the term I'll use to refer to Donald Junior, Eric and Tiffany Trump.

  • @jeaniebird999
    @jeaniebird999 11 часов назад +10

    I'm on disability and if I had known what a trap it is, I would never have applied, in the first place.
    They literally PUNISH you if you try to better yourself! 🤬😡 I'm stuck, and there's no way out because I have no skills, I'm too old, and education isn't free. And no, student loans aren't an option, they are an even bigger trap.

  • @scifirealism5943
    @scifirealism5943 11 часов назад +9

    Many people think disabled people provide no value to society because they are unable to work.
    Why are there limits on what poor and disabled people can earn, but not billionaires or doctors? This is about the fact many Americans don't believe everyone is equally important.
    I watch my disabled brother all weekdays, it interferes with me going to school.
    He can't have more than $2,000 in his bank account.
    If he works, he is stuck working minimum wage.
    If he makes minimum wage full-time, he loses more money from benefits than what he can earn from working.

  • @meganhull
    @meganhull 12 часов назад +9

    Great to see last week tonight cover an issue that impacts millions of americans. Long covid is also undercovered and related (people who have been sick for years now are having a hard time getting disability benefits)

  • @laalaa99stl
    @laalaa99stl 12 часов назад +42

    John's hatred of mimes can mean only one thing: he's a closeted mime!
    Let's see you pantomime breaking free of your glass closet, John!

    • @Styphon
      @Styphon 11 часов назад

      He's an anti-mime. He stays hidden while doing voice work.

  • @Jackie_Chan-w2m
    @Jackie_Chan-w2m 11 часов назад +45

    It's not BROKEN, it's working perfectly as designed!
    Since when did the US gov. start taking care of its citizens?

    • @LifeInJambles
      @LifeInJambles 10 часов назад +1

      Momentarily, every time it starts to look like there's a relevant threat to their hegemony. The US state apparatus was never meant to be truly democratic since its inception; several of the founding fathers were explicit in their concerns about that.
      Temporary concessions are just one of the methods it uses to prevent its own deposition.
      It's not here to make our lives easier, it's here to make sure the economy runs and rich people can feel secure. It just needs to throw us a little bone every once in a while in order to do that without issues.

  • @elizabethreed3358
    @elizabethreed3358 11 часов назад +23

    Please vote for people that care and that don't want to end SS and disability benefits. Please pay attention to those who believe that if you're disabled or elderly and not able to work, that you are less human.

  • @z.s.7992
    @z.s.7992 11 часов назад +8

    another thing about being on disability as an american. We are all meant to feel if we are not working or if we cannot work that we are somehow less than.,

  • @RaviLa183
    @RaviLa183 12 часов назад +13

    2:25 I raise you one Steam Powered Giraffe

    • @TuftyTaltan
      @TuftyTaltan 11 часов назад +2

      The number of Steam Powered Giraffe fans I have found in the wild has increased to exactly... 1!
      Hmmm...

    • @RaviLa183
      @RaviLa183 11 часов назад

      @@TuftyTaltan I’m so honored to be here for this tremendous milestone

    • @Dizbulance
      @Dizbulance 11 часов назад +1

      @@TuftyTaltan make that +2 and I have Isabella Bennett's autograph.

    • @Vespiria67
      @Vespiria67 11 часов назад +1

      Make that +3 then... Though this is also my first time seeing other SPG fans outside their channel or pages lol

  • @Twinkle442
    @Twinkle442 11 часов назад +8

    I don't want to die but I literally cannot afford to continue to live...

    • @goodgrief1163
      @goodgrief1163 10 часов назад +1

      We're going to have alot of ppl dying in the gutter over the next 30-40yrs😭

  • @scifirealism5943
    @scifirealism5943 11 часов назад +6

    The reason there is a marriage penalty is because the government views disabled people as a burden and they believe a disabled person getting married should have that burden transfer from the state to the spouse.

  • @CreatiVastARTS
    @CreatiVastARTS 11 часов назад +6

    I often feel like I'm living in a house of cards. I know I'm meant to struggle, but do they have to make the struggle so much harder? It feels so abilist and discriminating

  • @Toldoris
    @Toldoris 12 часов назад +35

    Informing the public about social Injustice, greed and human suffering can't be entertaining.
    John Oliver:
    Hold my british Ale!

  • @sloth4you
    @sloth4you 12 часов назад +53

    Basically you don't look disabled enough.... it sucks being disabled but having to fight for years just to get 1200 a month is a death sentence.

    • @simul8rduude
      @simul8rduude 12 часов назад +9

      Yeah bro. I'm 100% deaf in my left ear and 98% deaf in my right. If it's not something they can look at, point at, or associate with not looking normal, all of a sudden we're full of shit, lazy, and lying about it.
      The stigma is real sometimes and it gets kind of shameful how some people will act knowing absolutely nothing about the disabled party.

    • @Phil.Anthropy
      @Phil.Anthropy 11 часов назад

      ​@simul8rduude as a music enthusiast I'm deeply sorry for your ailment. I hope they figure a system out that helps within a decent time. It's been too long as it is. Be well.

    • @sloth4you
      @sloth4you 11 часов назад +1

      Exactly! I need powerful meds just to keep me awake and powerful meds that cost 160,000$ a month for the rest of my life. There is no way I can qualify for disability without getting a heart attack in the process.

    • @Bearer_of-Light
      @Bearer_of-Light 11 часов назад +1

      For SSDI its 780 a month, plus I pay 50 a month for medicaid/care ( can't remember which one it is) I literally can't afford my mental illness medication either. It'd cost more than 900 a month for all my medications.

    • @JimAllen-Persona
      @JimAllen-Persona 11 часов назад

      Lawyer. Get one.

  • @loonylulu90
    @loonylulu90 11 часов назад +5

    This is an important topic but just a small correction.
    SSI doesn't qualify you for Medicare. There's also a 24-month waiting period even with SSDI benefits but there are some exemptions (ESRD, ALS) for the waiting period to qualify for Medicare.

  • @lauravanimpe3173
    @lauravanimpe3173 11 часов назад +5

    For everyone who thinks marriage is not necessary: A. That's not the point. Disabled people want marriage just as much as not-yet-disabled people. It's about equality. B: it very much can be necessary! Marriage gives certain protections when you have children, when you buy a house together and when one of you is in the hospital.

  • @nickit8871
    @nickit8871 11 часов назад +5

    I am a single mom on disability raising a young adult who is also disabled. I have navigated both SSI and SSDI over the years. Now I work with people (part time, of course) who are in a similar situation and help them find programs and services to supplement their benefits. When I hear others complain about inflation, I can't help but notice how the formula social security uses to allow for cost of living increases doesn't account for the actual cost of living.

  • @jasontechlord
    @jasontechlord 12 часов назад +6

    Hey John. As a network engineer I need to subnet your joke to /32...

  • @justinmas299
    @justinmas299 11 часов назад +6

    2k in assets, so a couch, bed, and crappy kitchen set basically. Phones cost 2k.

  • @mordsythe
    @mordsythe 12 часов назад +5

    We got my grandmother in law on the program.
    We had to get a lawyer to fill out the paperwork and run the gauntlet of yes/no.
    Thankfully he was amazing and didn’t charge an arm and a leg.
    Shouldn’t have had to do it and am thankful that the family put together the funds for her.
    This red tape is ridiculous

  • @user-df3jq5tr8c
    @user-df3jq5tr8c 11 часов назад +5

    These are not mistakes. This is the system. The government put in place and it’s working just as they designed it.

  • @punkyroo
    @punkyroo 11 часов назад +14

    We need Universal Basic Income.

    • @jennieschuttler8334
      @jennieschuttler8334 11 часов назад

      The Forward Party

    • @user-hs7ry4nx7l
      @user-hs7ry4nx7l 11 часов назад +5

      Also UBI should be an addition and not a replacement for the existing safety net.

    • @ryanthorne5432
      @ryanthorne5432 11 часов назад +3

      We need to stop taxing people who don’t have enough money to live

  • @nicholashaugen1815
    @nicholashaugen1815 11 часов назад +5

    My mom receives disability benefits but doing the math on her yearly income including food stamps, she isn't even close to the federal poverty line. It's kind of cruel how we pay into this our entire livworbut we get less than the bare minimum when we need it

    • @cassiusvoidkin
      @cassiusvoidkin 10 часов назад

      I've never been able to make more than $20k per year because of chronic illness, and now that I'm fully disabled I make $0 per year and still don't get any help.

  • @hyperflares2879
    @hyperflares2879 11 часов назад +6

    Some jobs I was told to I could do, proving I wasn't disabled:
    Tennis ball tube filler ( part time )
    Golf ball sorter ( part time )
    Coffee bean quality checker ( part time )
    And these are, I quote, "Solid factory jobs anyone could do."
    yeah man, those are totes jobs that are around the inner chicago area.

    • @Dameworth
      @Dameworth 11 часов назад +5

      Ah you must not have heard about the new Tennis Tube and Golf Ball production facilities in wrigleyville

    • @jennieschuttler8334
      @jennieschuttler8334 11 часов назад +1

      Right? In rural Iowa, where would I be finding these jobs? Lol

    • @PhotonBeast
      @PhotonBeast 10 часов назад

      Sound like jobs a dude relaxing at a country club would think up. "See? I see servers around me. Why can't they just come here and do that?"

  • @Fiddlers-Green42
    @Fiddlers-Green42 11 часов назад +5

    My case has been ongoing since 2018... Got my penultimate denial due to speaking too well and the judge ignored the social security occupation expert who said I was disabled... Now onto the absolute final one that involves suing social security
    Now I don't technically qualify because I lack work credits (need to work 5 out of the last 10 years) and would need to work full time for 5 years straight in order to qualify for SSDI again. Stopped working in 2015 and they delayed the case to time me out of receiving benefits.
    I am a stay at home crippled, I barely leave the house because my body is breaking down and I cant even do something like streaming games I play online because I cant sit vertically for long enough for the algorithm to care. Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, my joints dislocate and hurt all the time. I've had ribs out of place for half a year before..

    • @jennieschuttler8334
      @jennieschuttler8334 11 часов назад

      Wait...WHAT?!

    • @Fiddlers-Green42
      @Fiddlers-Green42 10 часов назад

      @@jennieschuttler8334 which part? having to work to get SSDI? how long its taking? why I was denied?

  • @ragnarokda206
    @ragnarokda206 11 часов назад +4

    Just recently had to move in and take over my mother's house before she lost it because she's been waiting for disability for almost 2 years now. I love when a particular group of people like to act like disability is just handed out to people like candy on halloween.

  • @Gremlack13
    @Gremlack13 11 часов назад +4

    I worked in social work for the state of Indiana for a few years, and was always told that people are automatically denied disability on the first application. I was told they want to weed out those who don’t really have disabilities and only those who truly need it would put the effort in to apply multiple times.
    That’s really messed up.
    I had also read an article before I moved to Indiana stating that they are the hardest state to get approved for disability in.

  • @TuftyTaltan
    @TuftyTaltan 11 часов назад +4

    Got genuinely so excited seeing Jim Adler *The Texas hammer*

  • @andrewkearsley5977
    @andrewkearsley5977 11 часов назад +4

    The lengths and measures the USA take to not have free health care but even affordable health care for all is mind boggling.

    • @wonderstuck-gg
      @wonderstuck-gg 11 часов назад

      They don't see benefits to healing or helping people, they make more money forcing people to go through hoops.

  • @tipulsar85
    @tipulsar85 11 часов назад +3

    As the comments can attest, calling SSI and SSDI application process a "nightmare" is sugarcoating it. And if the GOP leadership had their way with it, the programs would cease to be. The amount of times I was worried about the Trump presidency getting rid of SSA's budget was a yearly nightmare to begin with. They instead chose to cut the funding lin chunks as if it were a slasher film that knew it was getting an NC-17 rating.

  • @jessecuddy8121
    @jessecuddy8121 11 часов назад +3

    Thank you, John, for covering this topic. I'm a Special Education Transition Teacher and SSI/Medicaid is something we talk about with students and families often. Even if they do receive benefits, they might be receiving $900 a month with a $2000 cap. Honestly, who is able to live on $900 per month, especially if you require medications or adaptive equipment? The lack of programming for adults with disabilities is a whole other topic as well.

  • @AsmodeusHax
    @AsmodeusHax 11 часов назад +3

    My mother was denied for 8 years. She had COPD, degenerative disc disease, severe asthma, and mobility issues. They said she could work in a factory standing all day. WTF. She finally got it, but only had it for a few years before she passed from lung cancer.

  • @MsSherrick
    @MsSherrick 11 часов назад +3

    Once again, thank you for speaking truth about bullshit while letting me laugh! I waited 3 years to be approved for SSDI. It felt like the promiseland for my family, as we struggled to raise 3 kids on one full time income. The reality is that nobody can survive on what SSI/SSDI pays. The reality is also that I have to continue to work part time, in positions that are more physically taxing (worsening the spinal degeneration I have) and lower paying than the career in the medical field I had to give up. I cannot take a position that pays what my experience and training normally would, because I would quickly be over my income limit. I feel so marginalized by a society.

  • @saintlotus93
    @saintlotus93 12 часов назад +5

    My husband got denied for disability because I made too much money. I make around $2,400 a month. I have friends who haven't gotten married because they would lose their benefits, because their partner's income would be counted as theirs.

    • @scifirealism5943
      @scifirealism5943 11 часов назад +3

      Blame Americans who think disabled people are a burden that the government shouldn't take care of.

    • @Styphon
      @Styphon 11 часов назад

      Can you do him a favor and get divorced? Sometimes people get married for the benefits, sometimes you need to end a marriage for the same reason.

    • @scifirealism5943
      @scifirealism5943 11 часов назад +1

      @@Styphon blame the government for thinking disabled people are a burden that shouldn't get taken care of by the state, not disabled people wanting better lives for themselves.

    • @scifirealism5943
      @scifirealism5943 11 часов назад

      @@Styphon no

  • @MasterOfViewership
    @MasterOfViewership 11 часов назад +4

    As someone who had to get it due to severe IBS and early onset arthritis, I couldn't watch this because it would just upset and terrify me

    • @thisisnotachannel
      @thisisnotachannel 11 часов назад +1

      Same. I'm turning this off now.
      I've been denied twice.

    • @colleenpeck6347
      @colleenpeck6347 10 часов назад

      ​@@thisisnotachannel Get a disability lawyer. Many you don't pay unless you get approved. They they take it out of your back payment.

  • @rebasack21
    @rebasack21 11 часов назад +3

    as a disabled adult i was lucky to have parents that fought for me and got me on SSI and medicaid. Without my medications for both physical and mental disorders i wouldnt even be alive today. I am so terrified of the possibility of losing my SSI and medicaid because i dared to budget and saved to much. doesnt matter what i was saving for.

  • @kellirae3221
    @kellirae3221 12 часов назад +3

    They took mine away and then changed the date. They didn't pay what they should have paid and disallowed my appeal, lied about what my calls were about, and terminated me after giving only 30 days for my doctors to respond about a life long condition.

  • @Carmela_Falco
    @Carmela_Falco 11 часов назад +4

    John Oliver is a legend

  • @flszen
    @flszen 11 часов назад +4

    7:07 Why does this look like bad lip sync?

    • @mykeljewell
      @mykeljewell 11 часов назад

      Yup saw that too. I had to rewatch like 5x. I wasn’t sure if this was a bit from earlier in the show but I think he just mispronounced it soooo badly that they re-dubbed it before uploading to RUclips?

  • @john976431
    @john976431 11 часов назад +4

    Love John Oliver, keep up the good work

    • @antcommander1367
      @antcommander1367 10 часов назад

      to keep up info of how f*cked up america really is

  • @thomaskerkhoff579
    @thomaskerkhoff579 11 часов назад +3

    The approval system being inconsistent, and dependent upon reviewers who have not medically managed the applicant, is replicated in the health insurance industry where denial of benefits is a method for generating profits. SAD

    • @scifirealism5943
      @scifirealism5943 11 часов назад

      Poor people will still be shamed for wanting healthcare.

  • @hsihdbssbcjtzksk7426
    @hsihdbssbcjtzksk7426 12 часов назад +3

    Woohoo, early for the first time. Time to get sad again.

  • @Ficus1493
    @Ficus1493 11 часов назад +2

    As someone who is currently going through the disability approval process (I just got my first denial and I've lawyered up for the appeal), this was both surreal and a peak behind the curtain. "Oh THAT'S why they said that they thought I could work some kind of nonspecific job even if I'm disabled!" "Oh THAT'S why the woman in charge of my case had the enthusiasm and helpful demeanor of a narcoleptic sloth!" "Oh THAT'S why the one doctor they sent me to was entirely unqualified and tested me for things I did not claim to have!" Haha our country is a joke

  • @laurab.9609
    @laurab.9609 11 часов назад +2

    You can lose benefits if they consider you, "pretending to be married." My boyfriend makes six figures, but I have 10 medical conditions. Epilepsy that sends me to the hospital about once a year. Need therapy, a dietician for my hypoglycemia. I'm so happy they did a video on this. I was happy I didn't need to appeal it. I can't get ssdi because I'm 27, I don't have enough work hours and I can't work at all right now. I'm thinking about getting an able account. I'm terrified to lose Medicare if I live with my boyfriend. Vote blue for everything. Republicans messed this up for us. I'll die if I don't have medical insurance and I know so many will. I need seizure medication which is 1,000 dollars a month. If I don't take the meds, I have three seizures at least. 10 at most. Bad ones. That will kill me.

  • @pepelucho1751
    @pepelucho1751 11 часов назад +2

    My buddy was dying of kidney failure, and was hospitalized for months. When he got out, he was worse than when he went in. He couldn't walk, and would sometimes shit himself. We went everywhere during covid that we could to get him disability. He was only 60 so we couldn't get him social security. They kept jerking us around, and one day my girlfriend came into the room and said, I think ricky is dead. I said no way, but I'll check. I went into his room, and I said, ricky is dead. I called 911, and they took him away. A month later, we got a letter saying that his disability was approved. Fuck all of this shit

  • @bsedhs
    @bsedhs 11 часов назад +2

    Can you imagine if we stopped spending so much on ways to kill others? And actually focused our money and effort on helping....imagine the way the world would see us if we really were the country we say we are................

  • @HassansTravel
    @HassansTravel 11 часов назад +2

    I applied in 2015 and even gave up but was approved 7 years later after appeals and federal appeals. They said I can be a laminator 🤣🤣.. like sure. It’s so sad. Even their dr said I’m fked towards the end and they gave it to me. Also when I was approved they said I owe them 70k for overpayments which I never received. I didn’t receive 1 check 🤬🤬 and after 8 years and getting my congressman involved I finally got paid my first check. SSA is just a sht show.

  • @sodaikitsune
    @sodaikitsune 11 часов назад +2

    I overworked my body into broken uselessness over two decades trying to survive in this country and now that I'm incapable of working, I've been denied any sort of benefits, despite all the money I've paid into SS from being a productive member of society, I don't deserve any of it back, and, I'm fact, now that I'm no longer contributing to the workforce I'm getting harassed by the government and collection agencies over debts I've either never had or had paid off ages ago. The unemployment office turned me into the IRS saying they overpaid me for a couple thousand, but their own records show that just factually isn't true. They actually turned out to have underpaid by a few hundred but because they don't have to release their records to me without a warrant, yes, they said that, and the IRS requires me to provide the records that prove my innocence, they just keep sending the ever increasing bill back to me. I've taken to sending back the little mail-in ticket thing as an origami penis since the postage is billed to them. It's the only thing I can do at this point.

  • @calebrobinson6406
    @calebrobinson6406 11 часов назад +2

    Social security sucks ass? Thank a Republican 😄

  • @newtpollution
    @newtpollution 11 часов назад +2

    My dad nearly died from lupus complications at 25. He lived with lupus, a dangerous blood clotting disorder, cancer, one leg, a thyroid disorder, and survived several strokes. Despite all of this, he once had his disability benefits revoked because he coached my softball team. They thought that because he saved up his spoons and medicated his pain enough to spend two hours at a softball field 14 nights a year, he was well enough to work. It's a bullshit system, and I've never forgiven the people who put us through the fear and uncertainty of that decision.

  • @Kitsuneguma
    @Kitsuneguma 11 часов назад +2

    I had my disability taken away when i was 19. They said i was fine and i was committing fraud. They sent me a 7 page document that i couldn't understand because I'm autistic and needed a more straightforward way of them saying "you're normal and you're committing fraud" i try to get it back, but they gave me a test for a 6 year old and when i didn't understand the assessment. They failed me and I'm not allowed to apply anymore. Apparently because I'm not completely retarded. I'm not autistic. Oh i also have suicidal depression and ADHD. The only work i can get is factory work. Do you have any idea how hard it is to run a giant 5 headed saw machine and be treated like you're retarded and not want to throw yourself in? I was bullied into quitting. That's how hard

  • @melvinthomas6383
    @melvinthomas6383 11 часов назад +2

    To the social security administration
    THIS IS SPARTA!

  • @astralinesleepyhead
    @astralinesleepyhead 10 часов назад +2

    thank you for talking about this, i went homeless waiting. it was fucking horrible, traumatizing nightmare.

  • @kc0jtl
    @kc0jtl 11 часов назад +2

    From my understanding, they deny every SSDI claim automatically the first time you apply.

  • @George-fu9vu
    @George-fu9vu 12 часов назад +3

    Omg in the first 10 comments

  • @laalaa99stl
    @laalaa99stl 12 часов назад +8

    I'm glad that lady cracking about not wanting a Fred Flintstone car still has her sense of humor.
    I probably wouldn't were I in her situation.

  • @ClayDunks
    @ClayDunks 12 часов назад +2

    Disability to benefit from seeing this video as soon as they post it

  • @indiaveal9835
    @indiaveal9835 11 часов назад +2

    SSDI denied me 3 times after me dying, spending 4 weeks on a ventilator and learning how to walk again. They told me i was too young and that i was only taking 9 pills a day. I had to hire a lawyer.

  • @tompabreza6487
    @tompabreza6487 11 часов назад +2

    30 plus years as a caseworker trying to help mentally ill people get benefits. This is spot on. Denials are a weeding out process to see who has the stamina to go through an appeal. That process usually takes an average of two years!

  • @abstrusepaladin
    @abstrusepaladin 11 часов назад +3

    I feel seen, like roadkill.

  • @laalaa99stl
    @laalaa99stl 12 часов назад +40

    Is this a bad time to advocate for a Universal Basic Income? No? OK I'll come back later.

    • @scifirealism5943
      @scifirealism5943 12 часов назад

      Capitalists oppose UBI because it empowers workers.

    • @TheRealWinser
      @TheRealWinser 11 часов назад

      We got the free trial during the pandemic and look where inflation is right now. We need to take money out of the economy, not shove more at it.

    • @scifirealism5943
      @scifirealism5943 11 часов назад +5

      @@TheRealWinser inflation is an acceptable risk.

    • @scifirealism5943
      @scifirealism5943 11 часов назад +1

      @@laalaa99stl I can't see my replies.

    • @chibiparadox
      @chibiparadox 11 часов назад +6

      yes, it was. now is the right time

  • @A.Filthy.Casual
    @A.Filthy.Casual 11 часов назад +2

    13:25 can't help but feel they'd save a lot of money by just doing their fuccin job correctly

  • @joeym5243
    @joeym5243 11 часов назад +2

    I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority but I actually enjoy mimes

  • @daleksec01
    @daleksec01 11 часов назад +2

    My friend has been trying to get on disability for *years* the system is fucked

  • @RheaStorm
    @RheaStorm 11 часов назад +2

    That website is so old they would gladly deny it disability benefits.

  • @SPQRKlio
    @SPQRKlio 12 часов назад +2

    The Alan Turing line is maybe the best line ever lined.

  • @DaveSomething
    @DaveSomething 10 часов назад +1

    $2,000? no, it was $1,999.99... $2k is bad! Living on disablity is a miserable EXISTENCE, not a life.

  • @corycru8442
    @corycru8442 11 часов назад +2

    The sign language lady is wild 😂😂

  • @tylerlloydboone
    @tylerlloydboone 11 часов назад +2

    Jim Adler is the fart monster

  • @BernicePanders
    @BernicePanders 10 часов назад +1

    Besides that, I've been disabled since childhood & spent my whole life since just watching my siblings & cousins & family all go to theme parks, concerts, conventions, etc. While I've begged, dreamed about, faught for the right to experience anything at all my whole adult life apart from Walmart or Dr office/hospital. I've begged for my birthday every year to just be allowed to go swimming & go to a few yard sales so I can get the badly needed clothes & household items I otherwise can't afford, but my family decided to stick me in a toxic Michigan HUD prison cell & throw away the key, expecting me to just quietly exist here with no need or want for anything, especially going anywhere. I went thru years when I spent months dreaming, saving, preparing, to go to events like concerts, geek conventions, medical cannabis festivals where I would have walked out with 3-4 months worth of meds in free samples. I also got more into Bernie Sanders' political campaign & would have been life-changing to experience, just being around so many ppl sharing my passions. Not a once did anyone offer to take me to either of these things, less than an hour's drive away...
    Difference is, actual prisoners (who actually committed felonies) have all their needs met & get paid on top of that for any work they do, while meantime I get punished for trying to get a $250/month job by having $190 taken away by the govt...

  • @adaminfinity1733
    @adaminfinity1733 11 часов назад +1

    An universal basic income for anyone making under $70k a year with no strings attached would make everything easier. It would cut down on bouracacy and actually help people

  • @LKelz
    @LKelz 11 часов назад +1

    Thank you for making this
    I am disabled . Only gets paid 1200 per month, I can not make more than 1400 per month .
    Trying to get an apartment but rent here is around 900 for a studio .
    Stuck in poverty all my lifw

  • @Teh-Penguin
    @Teh-Penguin 11 часов назад +2

    That mime was exquisite!

  • @Hei_Darkfire
    @Hei_Darkfire 11 часов назад +1

    Yeah, my brother was waiting for his disability to get approved for years. And then he died a year and a half ago. And guess what? His disability was approved and supposed to be turned into survivor's benefits because they didn't approve it until AFTER HE DIED.
    Oh... And the best part is that my family still hasn't gotten the benefits we were supposed to get. They told us all they were waiting for was to settle on the amount they'd pay us. It's been a year and a half since he died by the way.

  • @Iffy350
    @Iffy350 11 часов назад +1

    I live in right to work state.
    No such luck with disability unless you’re partially nonfunctional.

  • @Sir.GeorgeG
    @Sir.GeorgeG 12 часов назад +2

    The US in a nutshell

  • @idontwantahandlethough
    @idontwantahandlethough 11 часов назад +1

    @0:00 those proportions are WAY OFF.
    That's just so much... VOLUME!

  • @blackm4niac
    @blackm4niac 11 часов назад +7

    Once again I have learned, that the USA has a baked in disgust for those who cannot earn 6 figure salaries per year.

  • @leerubin4303
    @leerubin4303 11 часов назад +1

    Cancer & stroke, was surprisingly approved, after seeing 1 Dr. and a shrink. Friend with brain tumor DENIED. Why? How?

  • @R_C420
    @R_C420 11 часов назад +1

    I'm sure Uncle Sam gets off knowing disabled people in poverty probably can't organize a protest.

  • @z.s.7992
    @z.s.7992 11 часов назад +1

    I live in FL.The GOP very cynically did not expand medicaid. I cannot get medicaid. Most of my disability pay goes into my healthcare

  • @Dandiflip
    @Dandiflip 10 часов назад +1

    Nice to see a spotlight on SSI that my family might actually pay a shred of attention to. Ive been on SSI for 8 years, went thru most of these hoops (and more), and im considered by my own family to be a lazy nobody who doesnt wanna work and just suck up free money. This life sucks.
    As of typing this, my SSI is on suspension because u cant leave the country for more than 30 days for any reason. Rip 💸