Increase in Kentuckians on disability shows need for system reform

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ) – There has been a drastic increase in the number of Kentuckians receiving disability benefits.

The state says it is now pushing for change in the way those benefits are granted.

The Acting Commissioner of the office that handles disability claims and benefits, Bryan Hubbard, says the report issued Tuesday proves it is time to re-think the disability system’s process for claims.

The report was released by Kentucky’s Disability Determination Services and covers a 35 year period from 1980 to 2015.

In that time, the state’s population grew by 21 percent, while the combined disability enrollment rate increased by nearly 250 percent. Enrollment for children alone went up by close to 450 percent.

Overall, Kentucky has the second highest disability percentage in the United States, with 11.2 percent of the state’s population getting benefits.

Commissioner Hubbard says he realizes one reason for the increase is that people abuse the disability system. He says that is easy to do because there is no official testing used to prove disabilities.

Hubbard says with kids, it’s even harder to prove they have a disability, which is evident in the large increase of child enrollment.

He says he feels that they system lets kids grow up thinking they don’t have to work for themselves.

“You’ve taught them to be helpless,” said Commissioner Hubbard. “That’s not how they come into the world. Every child wants to do for itself from the time it starts trying to hold it’s head up to the time that it starts saying, ‘I want to do it on my own.’ That has to be conditioned out of them and this system has worked overtime to condition children to helplessness.”

To see the full report and the proposed reforms to the disability system, click here.