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Disability Insurance

Journal Article

Is the Rise in Illicit Opioids Affecting Labor Supply and Disability Claiming Rates?

Researchers examined how increased use of illicit opioids such as heroin and fentanyl affected labor market participation and claims for disability insurance.

Mar 10, 2021
Blog

How Americans Get the News, Iran, Caregiving: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on how Americans consume the news, U.S.–Iranian relations, how federal disability payments help caregivers, and more.

Dec 13, 2019
News Release

Federal Disability Payments Encourage More Caregiving Assistance from Family Members

Federal disability benefits can lead to increases in other support for beneficiaries, such as in-kind assistance from adult children. They also increase the likelihood that children are paid for their in-kind assistance and enable children who provide that assistance to reduce the amount that they work.

Dec 10, 2019
Journal Article

The Effect of Lower Transaction Costs on Social Security Disability Insurance Application Rates and Participation

We compare Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) application rates across counties with varying degrees of access to high-speed internet beforehand after iClaim, a 2009 innovation that streamlined the online application process.

Jan 23, 2019
Journal Article

Evaluation of the Work Loss Data Institute's Official Disability Guidelines

The Official Disability Guidelines (ODG) Medical Treatment Guidelines are an important resource for workers' compensation systems because they can be used to contain medical care costs while assuring appropriate care is provided.

Jan 24, 2018
Research Brief

California's 2012 Workers' Compensation Reforms Helped Replace Wages and Offset Earnings Losses After the Great Recession

Workers' compensation reforms (Senate Bill 863) have likely increased wage replacement rates for permanently disabled Californians by 21.4 percentage points since 2012. The bill is helping to offset the recession's lasting effects on earnings losses.

Sep 27, 2016
Report

Benefits and Earnings Losses for Permanently Disabled Workers in California: Trends Through the Great Recession and Effects of Recent Reforms

Following California's major reforms to the state workers' compensation system, RAND researchers assess trends in earnings loss and permanent partial disability benefits before the reforms, as well as how the reforms might affect injury compensation.

Sep 27, 2016
Journal Article

Disability Benefit Generosity and Labor Force Withdrawal

A key component for estimating the optimal size and structure of disability insurance (DI) programs is the elasticity of DI claiming with respect to benefit generosity.

Sep 12, 2016
Commentary

Accommodation for Disabled Workers: Knowledge of Rights a Good Start

With a 36 percent chance of becoming disabled at least once before reaching age 50, it is imperative that workers know their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the resources available to help them.

Aug 29, 2016
Journal Article

Employer Accommodation and Labor Supply of Disabled Workers

The authors examine the factors that influence employer accommodation of newly disabled workers and how effective such accommodations are in retaining workers and discouraging disability insurance applications.

Aug 16, 2016
Journal Article

Disability Insurance and the Great Recession

We estimate the effect of labor market conditions, as measured by the unemployment rate, on the number of SSDI applications, the number and composition of initial allowances and denials, and the timing of applications relative to disability onset.

Jun 19, 2015
Multimedia

RAND Behavioral Finance Webinar: Informative or Misleading? The Social Security Statement's Effects on Program Participation and Employment

This video talk provides an overview of how information interventions like the personalized Statements mailed by the Social Security Administration can affect behavior.

Jan 30, 2015
Commentary

Addressing SSDI's Looming Insolvency

Social Security Disability Insurance will be unable to cover 20 percent of its scheduled benefit obligations beginning in 2016. The lack of an evidentiary base to guide policy has been one of the major impediments to the consideration of changes that could modernize the program without jeopardizing its essential safety net function.

Nov 12, 2014
Research Brief

Will Heath Care Reform Affect Disability Insurance Claiming?

By enabling access to affordable private health insurance and expanding access to subsidized public health insurance, the Affordable Care Act alters the calculus of disability claiming decisions. Research offers empirical evidence that, on net, disability applications are likely to decrease.

Jul 10, 2014
Research Brief

Effects of Employer Health Insurance on Disability Insurance Claiming

National health reform makes it easier for disabled workers to stop working and apply for disability insurance. This study finds that some disabled workers continue working to keep their health insurance but disability applications do not increase.

May 22, 2014
Journal Article

Disability Insurance and Health Insurance Reform: Evidence from Massachusetts

We study the 2006 Massachusetts health insurance reform to estimate the potential effects of the ACA on SSDI and SSI applications.

May 1, 2014
Content

Philip Armour

Senior Economist; Professor of Policy Analysis and Director of Research, Analysis, & Design, Pardee RAND Graduate School
Education Ph.D. in economics, Cornell University; M.Sc. in econometrics, London School of Economics; M.A. in economics, Cornell University; B.A. in economics/literature/mathematics, Pomona College
Content

Kathleen J. Mullen

Senior Economist; Director, RAND Center for Disability Research; Editor-in-Chief, RAND Journal of Economics
Education Ph.D. in economics, University of Chicago
Content

Stephanie Rennane

Economist; Affiliate Faculty, Pardee RAND Graduate School
Education Ph.D. in economics, University of Maryland; M.A. in economics, University of Maryland; B.A. in economics, University of Michigan