The world houses the good and the bad alike, which explains why there are some people who are unscrupulous enough to represent themselves as disabled so as to derive benefits from the government. These are the people who actually make the government be more rigid with their disability determination test, which makes the claims processing cumbersome and slow. The law is quite harsh on them and takes a very strict approach.
Under the law whosoever makes a false disability claim himself alone or in collusion with others is guilty of fraud. To explain it further, if one makes a false claim of having undergone a disabling injury or of being disabled by birth or having been disabled by some illness, he may not only be sued but may also be prosecuted under criminal law. Similar is the case with those who assist others in filing such false claims.
A person making such a claim is not only disqualified from receiving any further payments but is also made to cough up as much as 30% more in penalty on what he or she might have received in payment from the Social Security Administration.
The medical practitioners are also not spared under the law. Thus, any one of them who falsely certifies a person as having disability may also have to pay 25% in penalty over the received amount. Criminal prosecution is also possible under which a person may receive a severe penal sentence.
There are governmental institutions in place that are enjoined with the duty to find and prosecute such defrauders. If you suspect that anyone whom you know is fraudulently siphoning off the money meant for the disabled, it is your duty as a responsible citizen to report it to the authorities. Most of the time the authorities tend to keep the identity of the informant secret, so that the complainant is not put in any danger on account of the complaint. There are many governmental websites that enable such anonymous reporting. So, rest assured there are no dangers involved in exposing a cheat. Having done that you’ll have helped the cause of the disabled.
