Rand Paul: 'Over half of the people on disability are either anxious or their back hurts'
During a two-day tour of New Hampshire, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) stopped in Manchester to share his opinion on disability insurance, which he thinks is being ruined by people with anxiety and back pain.
"The thing is, in all of these programs, there's always somebody who's deserving," Paul said at a meeting of state legislators. "But everybody in this room knows somebody who is gaming the system."
Paul went on to say that "over half of the people on disability are either anxious or their back hurts."
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"Who doesn't get up a little anxious for work every day, and their back hurts?" Paul said. "Everybody over 40 has a little back pain."
His comments come as congressional Republicans prepare to push reforms to the Social Security Disability Insurance program. The program's trust fund is expected to run out of money by next year, which could lead to benefit cuts for enrollees. As for Paul's claims, according to the Social Security Administration, 14 percent of disability beneficiaries have "mood disorders," and 27.7 percent have diseases in their musculoskeletal systems or connective tissue (back pain would fall into this category).
