by geverett Sun Jun 12, 2011 6:02 pm
This is a peculiar question.
It tells us that the percentage of people receiving disability payments decreases incrementally - 4% for 55-64 year olds to 2% for 65-74 year olds to 1% for 75 or older - even though a person has a greater chance of becoming disabled as they grow older. Then the reason given for this discrepancy is that the proportion of jobs offering this disability benefit has increased in recent years.
If you were to read this sentence, and not look at the question stem afterwards at all then a proper response would be: "How does this resolve the discrepancy? If anything it makes things more confusing, because conventional wisdom/non-LSAT mode would lead one to believe that an increasing proportion of jobs offering benefits would lead to an increasing proportion of jobs paying benefits as the population gets older. Even if it did not lead to an increase the last thing you would expect would be for there to be a decrease." However, the percentage of people receiving the disability payments decreases incrementally from the age of 55 and up. We can infer from this information that if there is an increasing percentage of jobs offering disability benefits in the population as a whole, but a decreasing percentage receiving disability payments from age 64 and up that there must be: 1. an increasing proportion of people age 54 and under that are receiving disability benefits or 2. People age 55 and above are working the same or more proportion of jobs that are offering the disability benefits, but they are not receiving payment from those disability benefit, either by their own choosing or because they have been denied payment, even though they are more likely to become disabled. It could also be a combination of these two things.
One thing to note is that it doesn't say there has been an increase in the number of jobs w/ disability benefits just that the proportion or percentage of jobs offering the disability benefit has increased.
I think a clearer way to re-word this question stem would be "The last sentence gives you only a partial way to resolve the paradox. Which one of the following answer choices if added to the last sentence would provide for a more complete explanation of the paradox?"
So we are basically looking to resolve this paradox: even though the proportion of jobs paying disability benefits is increasing that the proportion of people 55 and up (all of whom are more likely to be disabled) receiving disability benefit payments is incrementally decreasing. It's a mouth full, and if you need any additional information on how I reached this I would be happy to provide it.
Prephrase: Okay so there must be a reason that those 55 and over are seeing an incremental decrease. Perhaps, the kind of job that people 55 and over work allows them to opt out of receiving disability payments in return for some other kind of financial compensation or perhaps one or both of the explanations offered above is occuring. Whatever it is there has to be some reason for an increase in the proportion of jobs offering such a disability benefit yet an incremental decrease in those 55 and over that receive payment on such a benefit. I go to the questions with this in mind.
(A) This is out of scope. We are concerned with resolving the paradox of increasing disability benefits offered for the population as a whole yet an incremental decrease in payment for those 55 and over. The effectiveness or ineffectiveness of medical treatments is of no concern to this argument. Get rid of it.
(B) This answer choice reeks of ambiguity. The use of some could be as little as 1% or as great as 100% of the population so it's impact on the conclusion cannot be known. We need to figure out why there is an increase in the proportion of jobs offering disabilities, yet the proportion of those most likely to be disabled who are receiving disability payments is incrementally decreasing.
(C) This also is out of scope, and does nothing to resolve the paradox. If anything, an average life span increasing would perhaps lead to more people working until an older age and the decreasing percentage of those being covered for disability benefits by their employers would make you think there might be some kind of age discrimination going on with disability benefits in the workplace. That is, however, way too much of an assumption. Not what we need. Get rid of it.
(D) This is a fancy way of saying that either 2 things have occurred: 1. People are making more money than they were 20 years ago on average, but the disability benefits they are receiving are staying the same or decreasing on average or 2. People are making the same amount of money as they were 20 years ago on average, but the amount of money they are receiving in disability payments is decreasing on average. However, none of this matters because we don't care about how much or how little they are receiving in disability payments. We care only to find a reason why the proportion of those 65 and over receiving disability payments are decreasing.
(E) This is what we've been looking for. It addresses the second explanation I gave up above for why there is a decrease in those 65 and over who are receiving disability benefit payments. Even though there is an increase in the proportion of jobs offering disability benefits, the benefit payments are decreasing incrementally for those 65 and over because most employers plans stop paying benefits when an employee turns 65.
Let me know if you need any further info. on this or if something in my explanation sucks. Thanks!