From State Welfare to Federal Disability

In an excellent report on disability NPR’s Planet Money notes :

A person on welfare costs a state money. That same resident on disability doesn’t cost the state a cent, because the federal government covers the entire bill for people on disability. So states can save money by shifting people from welfare to disability. And the Public Consulting Group is glad to help.

PCG is a private company that states pay to comb their welfare rolls and move as many people as possible onto disability.

…In recent contract negotiations with Missouri, PCG asked for $2,300 per person [moved from state welfare to federal disability].

In other words, money and real resources are being paid to redistribute wealth from one set of taxpayers to another.