A Sign of the Times

It is no secret that it has become increasingly more difficult to get Social Security Disability Insurance (“SSDI”) benefits and/or Supplemental Security Income (“SSI”) benefits. The programs have been under attack by politicians and the media alike. Part of the attack is warranted. There have been some instances of fraud in the last few years. Most notably, there was a scheme being run by certain former New York City police officers and firefighters. For more information, please read: http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303880604579404893769824188. Thankfully these individuals have been caught and they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent that the law allows.

However, there is a growing perception that there are many individuals receiving SSDI/SSI who do not meet SSA’s stringent standards. I disagree with this perception. I can only speak about the area that I practice in, which is most of California, but it is truly difficult to navigate the SSDI/SSI process. If you do not have supportive objective evidence, and the support of a reputable doctor, you will not be awarded SSDI/SSI. Reputable SSDI/SSI attorneys only take cases after they look at the medical evidence and determine a case is meritorious, because if a claimant is NOT disabled, SSA will deny the individual. Of course, there are always despicable human beings out there who try to work the system and these few apples spoil the barrel. However, these crab apples usually get caught.

In spite of the fact that I do feel that disabled claimants represents the lion’s share of individuals receiving SSDI and SSI, there is clearly a backlash taking place against these programs. Judges are denying cases in record numbers. Disabled Americans are being denied benefits, even when they meet SSA’s strict standards.

We learned this week that the largest Social Security Disability law firm filed for bankruptcy and is expected to significantly reduce its staff over the next two years due to the changing climate in the Social Security Disability sector: http://www.wsj.com/articles/social-security-disability-firm-binder-binder-files-for-chapter-11-1418965824.

In all honestly, I do not expect the SSDI/SSI skepticism to improve anytime soon. As always, I recommend that before you even consider applying for this program, you have a talk with your doctor to see if he/she thinks your impairment and/or impairments prevent you from working.

Got a question about SSDI or SSI that you need us to answer? Please check out our website at www.westcoastdisability.com . We try to provide you with helpful information on our website that will allow you to successfully navigate the Social Security Disability process. Also, feel free to email me your questions at megan@westcoastdisability.com or call me at (800) 459-3017 x 103.

How Does SSA Assess Physical Versus Mental Impairments?

People often wonder if the Social Security Administration (“SSA”) assesses physical impairments differently than they do mental health impairments. The bottom-line is that you can receive Social Security Disability and/or Supplemental Security Income benefits for either a physical or a mental health impairment, or you can receive benefits for a combination of both physical and mental health impairments.

 Age is a very big factor for SSA when it comes to assessing physical disabilities. In general, in order to get Social Security Disability and/or Supplement Security Income if you are under 50 years of age, you will have to show that you cannot perform your past work or any other work in the national economy. Once you are over the age of 50, however, SSA will start to look at your work experience and the degree of physicality your past work required. If your physical impairment prevents you from performing your past work and you lack transferable skills to other work, SSA may find you disabled if the medical records and opinions from your doctor show that you have a limited capacity for lifting, carrying, standing and/or walking. This is referred to as “gridding” and SSA has a series of medical/vocational guidelines through the Code of Federal Regulations which explains how to apply these “grids, available at http://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/cfr20/404/404-app-p02.htm . Unfortunately, the grids only apply to physical impairments.  

 When it comes to mental health impairments, age is never a factor.  SSA assesses every claim the same way. Even if your mental health impairment prevents you from performing your past work, if you still have the ability to perform simple, repetitive tasks or follow one to two step directions, you are not disabled in SSA’s eyes. Thus, if you still have the ability to perform low stress and unskilled jobs, you are not disabled from a mental health standpoint based on SSA’s rules and regulations.

 Please keep in mind that when SSA is assessing one’s disability, they do not take into account how much money the individual used to earn. SSA expects individuals to work, even if the person’s disability prevents him or her from earning income at the level he or she is used to.  

 Got a question about SSDI or SSI that you need us to answer? Please check out our website at www.westcoastdisability.com . We try to provide you with helpful information on our website that will allow you to successfully navigate the Social Security Disability process. Also, feel free to email me your questions at megan@westcoastdisability.com or call me at (800) 459-3017 x 103.

Does My Disability Qualify Me For Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits?

We are frequently asked by potential claimants if their specific impairments qualify them for Social Security Disability Insurance (“SSDI”). People have the impression that it is a diagnosis alone that qualifies an individual for benefits. This is not the case.

 While the Social Security Administration (“SSA”) does highlight common impairments that can be disabling to an individual in SSA’s Bluebook Listing of Impairments (see http://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/AdultListings.htm), SSA is more concerned with the severity of the impairment and the limitations the impairment imposes on an individual’s ability to work. Thus, it is not the specific diagnosis that determines whether an individual will be granted disability, it is the impact that the disability has on a person’s ability to work and function.

 Frequently we receive calls from claimants asking us to determine whether they are eligible for disability. Though claimants will confirm their diagnosis over the phone with us, we must always review medical records and reports to determine whether a claimant meets SSA’s definition of disability before we can assist in filing a claim. Reviewing the medical records is the only way we can verify if a claimant’s impairment arises to the level of severity that SSA requires for SSDI. For example, cancer that responds to treatment and does not reoccur is not usually considered disabling in SSA’s eyes. However, cancer that has reached a stage 4 designation is almost always found disabling by the government.

 Got a question that you need us to answer? Please check out our website at www.westcoastdisability.com . We try to provide you with helpful information on our website that will allow you to successfully navigate the Social Security Disability process. Also, feel free to email me your questions at megan@westcoastdisability.com or call me at (800) 459-3017 x 103.

SSA Settles Discrimination Lawsuit with Disabled Employees

The Social Security Administration (“SSA”) has settled a decade long lawsuit that was filed against them by disabled SSA employees who were denied promotions throughout their tenure with SSA.  These disabled employees had made the “best qualified” promotions lists at the Administration, but were routinely passed over for promotions. The disabled workers who were passed over for warranted promotions suffered from disabilities like deafness, blindness, epilepsy, missing extremities, paralysis, and mental and psychiatric difficulties.  

 SSA has promised to overhaul their equal opportunity program. However, it is frightening that an agency responsible for administrating disability benefits would discriminate against their own disabled employees. Hopefully, the $9.98 million compensation package SSA has been saddled with will serve as a reminder that their disabled workers must be treated equally to their nondisabled peers.

 For more information on the settlement, please read: http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-eeoc-social-security-disability-20141107-story.html

 Got a question that you need us to answer? Please check out our website at www.westcoastdisability.com . We try to provide you with helpful information on our website that will allow you to successfully navigate the Social Security Disability process. Also, feel free to email me your questions at megan@westcoastdisability.com or call me at (800) 459-3017 x 103.

SSA announces a Cost-of-Living Adjustment (“COLA”) for 2015

The Social Security Administration has announced a 1.7 percent benefit increase for 2015. This cost-of-living (“COLA”) adjustment will begin on December 31, 2014 for Supplemental Security Income (“SSI”) beneficiaries. Social Security Disability Insurance (“SSDI”) and Social Security recipients will see this COLA adjustment in their January 2015 benefit payments. This COLA adjustment will affect the nearly 64 million Americans who receive monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits.

 Additionally, the maximum amount of earnings subject to Social Security tax will be increased from $117,000 to $118,500. This means that approximately 10 million people will pay higher taxes as a result of this increase in taxable maximum.

 For more information on the 2015 COLA adjustment, please see http://www.ssa.gov/news/#!/post/10-2014-2.

 Got a question that you need answered? Please check out our website at www.westcoastdisability.com . We try to provide you with valuable information on our website that may help you navigate the Social Security Disability process. Also, feel free to shoot me an email at megan@westcoastdisability.com or call us at (800) 459-3017 x 103.

Video Teleconferencing Procedures

If your Social Security Disability Insurance (“SSDI”) or Supplemental Security Income (“SSI”) claim is pending at one of the Social Security Administration’s courts, which are formally known as Offices of Disability Adjudication and Review (“ODARs”), you may have received a letter from them recently addressing their video teleconferencing (“VTC”) procedures.

 Due to the increased backlog of claims in recent years, the wait for a hearing in front of an Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) has increased drastically. In most jurisdictions, a claimant will wait 12 to 18 months to have a hearing in front of an Administrative Law Judge. This wait time does not include the processing time periods from initial application and reconsideration either. The 12 to 18 month waiting period begins once any individual request a hearing following the lower level denial and appeal. SSA recognizes that these timeframes are problematic for individuals whom are unable to work, unable to earn an income, and in many cases, unable to put food on their tables. Thus, SSA has been utilizing video teleconferencing to help decrease the backlog. The process involves having ALJs appear by VTC from other jurisdictions that are not as backlogged at the hearing level. Often these VTC ALJs are from states that are not as populated, and therefore do not have as many claimants in their jurisdictions. Thus, these VTC ALJs have time to hear cases from other jurisdictions, which can help to decrease the backlog of claims.

 The ODARs have started sending out letters notifying claimants that they are utilizing the VTC process to help improve the efficiency of the hearing process. If a claimant does not wish to have a VTC hearing scheduled, the claimant has 30 days from the date that he/she receives the VTC notification to object to it. If the claimant does not object within the 30 day period, and later decides he/she does not want to have a VTC hearing, he/she must have good cause for missing the deadline.

 In many instances, a VTC hearing makes sense.  Permitting a VTC hearing may mean that you will get your hearing months in advance of when it normally would be scheduled. However, a VTC has its drawbacks. You may be assigned to an ALJ that we have never met and therefore lack familiarity with his/her protocols. The VTCs can be blurry and have slight delays between communications. Thus, if you are hard of hearing, have difficulty with speech, or if you have an impairment that has physical manifestations (i.e. tremors, skin disorders etc), it may be best do elect to have an in-person hearing, even if it means you will be waiting extra months for that hearing.

Electing to utilize a VTC needs to be decided on a case by case basis. We certainly will weigh all the pros and cons before we decide to elect or object to a VTC hearing. For more information of changes to VTC hearings, please see http://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/hallex/I-02/I-2-3-10.html.

Got a question that you need answered? Please check out our website at www.westcoastdisability.com . We try to provide you with valuable information on our website that may help you navigate the Social Security Disability process. Also, feel free to shoot us an email at megan@westcoastdisability.com or call us at (800) 459-3017 x 103.

Expediting Social Security Disability Insurance Claims

Applying for Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income (SSDI/SSI) benefits is a lengthy process. It can take anywhere from 6 to 36 months to get a claim resolved, depending on how many stages of the process your claim must go through. People often ask us if there is a way to shorten the timeframes. While the Social Security Administration must follow due process and not expedite one individual’s claim over another individual’s claim for arbitrary reasons, SSA does expedite certain cases if a claimant meets certain criteria. Below is a list of cases that receive critical designations.

 

1.       TERI Claim – A TERI case is a case that is expedited because an individual has a terminal illness that is irreversible, untreatable and expected to end in death. A claimant must present objective and clinical evidence proving his/her illness is terminal to receive this designation. Stage 4 cancer cases often receive TERI designations.

2.       Compassionate Allowance Claims – SSA has published a list of diseases and impairments that are so inherently severe that SSA deems them as disabling. Disabilities that comprise the Compassionate Allowance list represent the most serious disabilities that affect individuals. If an individual has one of the listed illnesses on this link https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0423022080, and fits the stated criteria, he/she will be awarded benefits, as long as he/she meets the technical requirements for the SSDI/SSI program.

3.       Wounded Warrior/100% Service Connected Veterans – Veterans who were either wounded in the course of active duty OR who are rated 100% Permanent and Totally (“P&T”) disabled by the Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) will have their claims expedited. SSA will still require that the veteran meet SSA’s own definition of disability. However, the veteran will not have to wait the normal average timeframe of 120 to 270 days it takes SSA to process a claim.

4.       Potentially Violent Claims – Claimants who are homicidal, suicidal or potentially violent may have their claims expedited. There must be some legitimate indication that a claimant is violent. For example, records from hospitalizations of repeated suicide attempts can demonstrate the claimant has a real threat of violent behavior.

5.       Dire Need Claim – A case can be flagged as critical if a claimant can show that he/she lacks food and is unable to obtain it, lacks critical medication or medical treatment, or lacks shelter. A claimant can submit eviction notices, foreclosure notices, shut-off notices, and other items to substantiate the claim that his/her case meets the “dire need” standard. Due to the poor economy, many individuals meet this standard currently and request a “dire need” designation.  While the increase of “dire need” requests has meant that SSA is not always able to reduce the timeframes as much as we desire, SSA may be able to reduce the waiting timeframes by several months.

Got a question that you need answered? Please check out our website at www.westcoastdisability.com . We try to provide you with valuable information on our website that may help you navigate the Social Security Disability process. Also, feel free to shoot us an email at info@westcoastdisability.com or call us at (800) 459-3017.