WASHINGTON -- A move by House Republicans to make major changes in Social Security's disability program took on a more bipartisan tone this week as Maryland Democrats called for a range of changes in the $65 billion aid plan.
Acknowledging that there is "fraud and abuse" in the program, Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, a Baltimore Democrat, asked the Senate Finance Committee to hold hearings on the program while some of her Maryland colleagues in the House -- both Democrats and Republicans -- urged various reforms.
A series of articles in The Sun last week described an explosion in the cost of Social Security aid for the blind, aged and disabled, which is expected to reach $96 billion by the end of the decade. It outlined problems in disability aid for children, immigrants, drug addicts and alcoholics.
In interviews, Rep. Benjamin A. Cardin, the Baltimore Democrat, said he favors substantial alterations in programs for addicts, alcoholics and children.
Rep. Kweisi Mfume, a Baltimore Democrat, wants a crackdown on drug addicts and stepped up anti-fraud enforcement, including stiffer penalties. Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest, the Eastern Shore Republican, is co-sponsoring a bill to drop drug addicts from the rolls.
Rep. Albert R. Wynn, a Prince George's County Democrat, also took aim at alcoholics and addicts.
"We should distinguish between those who are incapacitated through no fault of their own as opposed to those incapacitated by their own conduct," he said.
Rep. Constance A. Morella, the Montgomery County Republican, partly blamed the program's problems on Congress: "Obviously, are not monitoring it."
The articles in The Sun focused on shortcomings in aid for children and immigrants, both financed by the $25 billion Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.
The children's rolls have tripled to 900,000 in six years. The increase is partly the result of parents in some poor communities who have sought to have their children declared disabled for marginal mental and behavioral problems, thereby qualifying for $458 a month in federal assistence.
The immigrant rolls have doubled to 700,000 in five years as middlemen, in some cases, have fraudulently shepherded them onto the rolls.
And, a program financed by SSI and the $40 billion Disability Insurance program, has given thousands of drug addicts and alcoholics cash they use to support their habits.
Together, SSI and DI send monthly checks to 8 million people, several million of whom collect from both programs.
Saying she was "sickened by these articles," Ms. Mikulski wrote to Sen. Bob Packwood and Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, "I am sure that other Americans who work hard and play by the rules were equally angered by this litany of abuses.
"While I believe there are individuals who very much need and deserve to receive SSI benefits," Senator Mikulski wrote, "there are others who are bilking the system for every cent they can.
"I am outraged at this fraud and abuse and believe that we must act now to stop it."
Mr. Packwood is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over Social Security and welfare issues, and Mr. Moynihan is the panel's senior Democrat.
Trying to deliver on campaign promises, House Republicans are pressing for major welfare changes this spring. Their "Personal Responsibility Act" would curb the growth of SSI spending by eliminating the guarantee that anyone found eligible can get benefits. And, it would deny SSI benefits to foreign "aliens" while preserving them for "refugees."
House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Rep. E. Clay Shaw, chairman the subcommittee handling the bill, have said other SSI changes will be added.
Mr. Cardin, a Ways and Means member, expects the committee to tighten eligibility standards and limit or eliminate cash benefits for children. He favors a proposal by Rep. Gerald D. Kleczka, a Wisconsin Democrat, that would replace cash with the goods and services needed to cope with a child's disability.
And, Mr. Cardin added, the committee may decide to cut off addicts and alcoholics.
Rather than giving cash to addicts, Mr. Cardin said, the money should be used to finance treatment. "Otherwise," he added, "you might just cut it off altogether."
Even as Congress considers a further crackdown on addicts and alcoholics, the Social Security Administration is preparing to notify 167,000 of them that they face a loss of checks in three years under legislation adopted last summer. That law requires them to get treatment if it is available.
The law limits those drawing SSI checks to 36 months of payments, whether or not they get treatment. Those drawing from the DI program can get only 36 monthly checks after they get into treatment. And, all of them faces suspension if they fail to continue in treatment.
There was less enthusiasm in the Maryland delegation for
immediately dropping children from the rolls.