A person is more likely to become disabled as that person ages. Among

Question

A person is more likely to become disabled as that person ages. Among adults in the country of East Wendell, however, the proportion receiving disability benefit payments shrinks from 4 percent among 55 to 64 year-olds to 2 percent for those aged 65 to 74 and 1 percent for those aged 75 and older. The explanation of this discrepancy is that the proportion of jobs offering such a disability benefit has greatly increased in recent years.

Which one of the following, if true about East Wendell, shows that the explanation above is at best incomplete?

(A) The treatment of newly incurred disabilities is more successful now than in the past in restoring partial function in the affected area within six months.
(B) Some people receive disability benefit payments under employer’s insurance plans, and some receive them from the government.
(C) Medical advances have prolonged the average lifespan beyond what it was 20 years ago.
(D) For a person receiving disability benefit payments, those payments on average represent a smaller share of their pre-disability income now than was the case 20 years ago.
(E) Under most employers’ plans, disability benefit payments stop when an employee with a disability reaches the usual retirement age of 65.

please leave your explanation~

Kurtosis · Answer

Premise: Increase in age --> More likely a person is disabled.
There has been a decrease in the proportion of people receiving the disability benefit program.
A reason for the above discrepancy is --> Proportion of jobs offering such programs has increased.

Question asks us to find another reason.

(E) Under most employers’ plans, disability benefit payments stop when an employee with a disability reaches the usual retirement age of 65. - Correct. This leads to a decrease in the number of people who get qualified into the disability benefit program, directly influencing the decrease in the proportion of people receiving the disability benefit program after the age of 65.

YangYichen · Answer

understood~at first i just didn't get the meaning of "at best incomplete"

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

let us take a look at the argument.

P1:-  Increase in age --> likely to be disabled. 
P2:-  however, the percentage of people claiming disability benefits reduces with age.

Conclusion/Explanation:-  the proportion of jobs offering disability benefits has greatly increased.

We have been asked to  weaken the conclusion. This implies that we must find an   alternate explanation . 
(One assumption that the argument makes is that a higher percentage of people from the age group 55-64 are employed in such jobs than people from the age group 65 and older.)

A - Incorrect.
this fact then should apply to all age groups, including 55-64 and 65 and older. Hence, this answer option does not explain why the percentage declines with age.
Secondly, "restoring partial function" does not mean that the person is completely healed. (S)he might still claim disability benefits.

B - Incorrect.
This answer option does not explain why the percentage declines with age. The percentages quoted refer to the combined percentage - from government and employers.

If the answer option had said that after 65 years of age, people shift to government benefits and the criteria to avail disability benefits from the government are more strict, then this would have been a viable choice.

C - Incorrect.
This answer option does not explain why the percentage declines with age.

D - Incorrect.
Does not mean that disability benefits are NOT desirable to people who are aged 65 years and older. Disability benefits might still be a significant amount even though they represent a smaller share. (especially since such people might be retired and may not have other sources of income). Hence, this does not provide an alternate explanation.

Furthermore, the answer option says "smaller share". How much smaller? If the benefit's share of income has reduced only by a small bit, then this does not weaken the argument.

E - Correct answer.
this implies that many people who are aged over 65 cannot claim disability benefits even though they have some form of disability.

prabugmat · Answer

This is weaken question and E weaken the conclusion perfectly.

Gladiator59 · Answer

Adding official explanation  & bumping for discussion.

“The explanation…is at best incomplete” signals a weakener (if “at best” it’s incomplete, then “at
worst” it’s disproven).

The author sees a discrepancy in the fact that while each of us runs a greater risk of disability as
we age, the proportion of those receiving disability benefits is reduced with each older age group. He
explains it by suggesting that the proportion of jobs offering such benefits is a relatively recent
phenomenon. But if (E) is true—if most disability payments stop at age 65—then it would be small wonder
that the older one gets, the less likely it is that one receives such payments. (E) in and of itself would
explain the so-called discrepancy.

(A)’s assertion that disabilities are better treated now than “in the past” affects all of East
Wendell’s people across the board. So even if the improved care explains why the elderly suffer less
disability, it would leave the shrinking-proportion phenomenon untouched. The difference in the payer of
benefits, (B), also has nothing to do with the alleged discrepancy. That science extends the lifespan, (C), is
nice, but so what? That says nothing about East Wendell’s payment policies. (D), like (A), presents a fact
that affects all of East Wendell’s disabled people across the board and hence cannot be what question 18
is seeking.

Best,
Gladi

VerbalBot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot: 

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

 This post was generated automatically.

A person is more likely to become disabled as that person ages. Among

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

A person is more likely to become disabled as that person ages. Among

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards