On Friday, June 21, 2013, the Urban Institute convened a panel of experts for a candid discussion on Social Security Disability Insurance. The panel answered such questions as:

• What are the economic circumstances of Disability Insurance (DI) beneficiaries? What policies might improve these?
• What are the main challenges for the DI program?
• How should DI fit into Social Security reform discussions?
• How would DI beneficiaries be affected by alternate approaches to reducing Social Security’s long-range financing gap?
• How might the current political environment shape DI’s future?

Panelists

Howard Gleckman, Resident Fellow, The Urban Institute

Kenneth Apfel, Professor of Practice at University of Maryland School of Public Policy and Former Commissioner of the Social Security Administration

Lisa Ekman, Director of Federal Policy, Health and Disability Advocates

Melissa Favreault, Senior Fellow, Urban Institute

Gina Livermore, Senior Researcher, Mathematica Policy Research

Materials

Transcript
Biographies

Melissa Favreault's Presentation

Lisa Ekman's Presentation

Gina Livermore's Presentation