The Social Security Disability Insur. (DI) program pays benefits to non-elderly adults (those younger than age 66) who are unable to perform ¿substantial¿ work because of a disability but who have worked in the past; the program also pays benefits to some of those adults¿ dependents. In 2009, the DI program paid benefits to 8 million disabled beneficiaries and 2 million of those beneficiaries¿ spouses and children. Between 1970 and 2009, the number of people receiving DI benefits more than tripled, from 2.7 mill. to 9.7 mill. The Social Security Admin. will not have the legal authority to pay full DI benefits beyond 2018, when the DI trust fund will be exhausted. This report discusses a number of changes which could be implemented to address this problem.

Provides a description and comparative analysis of the Social Security Disability Insur. (SSDI) and Veterans Disability Compensation (VDC) programs. These issues will be of particular interest to Congress because of the expected increase in the numbers of SSDI and VDC claims. The recent economic decline and aging baby-boomers have continued to place a strain on the Social Security Admin.¿s (SSA) resources. The aging of the veteran population and expansion of presumptive conditions policies have contributed to the increase in VDC claims. Contents of this report: Intro.; SSDI.; VDC; Distinctions Between SSDI and VDC Programs; Continued Divergence Between SSA and VA Disability Programs. Charts and tables.