I had a lot of respect for Peter Orszag when he served as Obama’s budget director. He’s a smart, wonkish type who strongly advocated for the health care reform law and financial reform. But I’m not sure what to make of his latest Times arguing for a rethink of Social Security Disability Insurance. Like a lot of other policymakers, Orszag thinks that too many people have become dependent on SSDI and are thus forever severed from the workforce. I don’t disagree on that point, but Orzsag seems to think that the solution is to require employers to offer private disability insurance. It’s an interesting idea, but it seems that it could be susceptible to the same troubles that have plagued employer-based health insurance. Large employers might be able to afford such insurance without much trouble ,but small businesses could be in a weaker position. The quality of such insurance could also very greatly, with some insurers offering a variety of supports to help workers with disabilities stay on the job while others might do little more than write a check. I’d like to see more energy focused on reforming SSDI to make it more responsive to workers who, with the right training and accommodations, could continue working.
Then again, Orszag just accepted a multimillion dollar gig with Citigroup while I’m a lowly government bureaucrat, so what do I know?
