[bitchypat]

I'd like to know how they are identified. Is it just because they've checked a box along the way?

I'm relatively certain these people will not be required to submit a doctor's written diagnosis of whatever causes their total and permanent disability.

It will probably be more like the gov sends a form to a list of people (aggregated somehow), and if they fill it out and return it, then they get to legally avoid their loan obligations.

[Sanddancer]

The article says that these people were identified by asking the Social Security department who in a list of people with outstanding college loans had already been diagnosed by a doctor with a permanent disability. They're basically taking out a huge pain in the ass of these peoples' lives in having to fight for this.

[niccaluim]

That is also explained in the article. They matched loan data with Social Security disability data.

[djloche]

From other discussions elsewhere, in order to qualify for this designation, it seems as if you have to have a significant disability that permanently disables you. Eg. It's not enough just to lose an arm and a leg, you have to be disabled in such a way that (current) prosthetics cannot restore your ability to work.

Of course, those are the standards/rules/regulations, but knowing the vast corruption within the US .gov, what actually happens is probably a different story.