"Government Gets Tough on the Disabled," the Miami Herald said on its front page on Jan. 16, 1983. "Vietnam-Era Hero Falls Victim to Cuts in Social Security," the Washington Post reported in a May 27, 1983, article about a Medal of Honor winner who was dropped from the disability rolls. The veteran's benefits were later reinstated by a judge who considered the case on appeal.

Suicide Threats

In 1983, the Social Security Administration developed guidelines for handling beneficiaries who threatened suicide if their aid was cut, the New York Times reported at the time.

Congress reversed the cuts in 1984 and expanded benefits beyond what had been previously offered.

Both parties are steering clear of the issue. Neither President Barack Obama nor U.S. House Republicans in their proposed budgets has addressed the disability program's shortfall.

"We're not trying to fix every problem in America with this one document," said House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican. "We're trying to prevent a debt crisis and this is not a driver of our debt."

"The administration believes that disability insurance is a vital lifeline for millions of Americans," Kenneth Baer, a spokesman for the White House budget office, said in an e-mail. "The president remains willing to work with Congress on a bipartisan basis to strengthen Social Security and protect the millions of beneficiaries."

Screening Beneficiaries

He added that lawmakers didn't fully fund the administration's request for more money to screen beneficiaries.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, whose committee sets Social Security policy, said the program's finances are less dire than they may appear. Congress can funnel revenue from elsewhere in the government to cover the program's shortfall, he said.

That's what happened the last time the disability program faced insolvency. Congress voted in 1994 to increase the share of the Social Security payroll tax that supports disabled workers, which shored up disability payments at the expense of the retirees' program.

Baucus said lawmakers won't consider broader changes any time soon. First, they must sort out what to do about George W. Bush-era income tax cuts scheduled to expire at the end of this year, automatic spending reductions that begin taking effect in January and overhauling the tax code, he said.