Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) attacked the Social Security disability insurance program on Jan. 14 by saying there is widespread fraud and that millions of Americans are getting benefits they don’t deserve.

“Everybody in this room knows somebody who’s gaming the system,” he said. “Over half the people on disability are either anxious or their back hurts. Who doesn’t get up a little anxious for work every day and their back hurts? Everyone over 40 has a back pain.”

The increase in the SSDI rolls in recent years has led many conservatives to malign recipients and claim that widespread fraud exists within the program. Republicans have called for major reforms that could cut benefits for millions of Americans.

Henry Claypool, executive vice president of AAPD, says the increase in SSDI recipients can easily be explained by changing demographics — specifically, aging baby boomers and the increased role of women in the labor. Claypool doesn’t think fraud is problematic because many studies point to a fraud rate of less than 1 percent. “This isn’t an indication that people are running wild and applying for disability benefits willy-nilly,” he says.

Statistics from the federal government back up Claypool’s claim. The Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan agency that works for Congress, estimated in 2013 that about 1 percent of SSDI benefits were fraudulently paid to people who could work.

“Congress is blinded by these reports about fraud and people getting on who don’t deserve it,” says Michael Bailey. Bailey has served numerous disability rights groups for the past few decades, most recently as president of the National Disability Rights Network.

Bailey says SSDI is an easy target for conservatives because it’s such a large program. “They can portray it as a lot of waste that they’ve trimmed,“ he says. “That’s the kind of meat they like to take home to their constituents.