Should You be Concerned About a Continuing Disability Review
If you have been approved for Social Security disability benefits during the past year, you may have noticed that your favorable decision contains a statement from the judge directing Social Security to conduct a case review in either one year or three years from the date of the decision.
These orders for short term reviews are something of a new phenomenon. Prior to 2012 I think I saw this type of directive only once or twice. Now these orders are in almost every decision.
Social Security disability is running out of money. SSA administrators are addressing this shortfall by:
- encouraging judges to only approve cases where there is objective evidence of disability
- carefully reviewing the approval/denial statistics of judges
- moving to terminate the contracts of judges with extremely high approval rates
- informally encouraging judges to keep approval rates to a 30 to 40% range
- increasing funding for continuing disability reviews [Read more…] about Should You be Concerned About a Continuing Disability Review
Simple Steps to Avoid Wasting Time at Your Social Security Disability Hearing
If you have requested an administrative law judge hearing in your Social Security disability case, you want to take every step possible to present a clear and convincing argument to your judge. Since disability hearings typically last only about 45 minutes to an hour, there is little time to waste. Read more from me about disability hearings – click here.
Generally the first 15 to 20 minutes of your hearing will involve procedural and background material. Vocational witness testimony at the end of your hearing will take 10 to 15 minutes, which means that the judge will expect you and your attorney to present the main points of your case within 30 to 40 minutes.
As the claimant – the person seeking disability benefits – you can and should rely on your lawyer to prepare a thoughtful argument and direct examination questions that he can ask you to help the judge get a sense of your credibility and honesty. It goes without saying that your lawyer should request and submit medical evidence so that your file will be complete. [Read more…] about Simple Steps to Avoid Wasting Time at Your Social Security Disability Hearing
Paper Checks from Social Security Now a Thing of the Past
If you are used to receiving your benefit check by paper check, you will soon be advised by SSA to sign up for either direct deposit into a bank account or for a debit card to receive your payment. Because paper check processing costs over $1 per check vs. about 8 cents for an electronic deposit, SSA estimates it can save $1 billion over the next 10 years.
There are very few exceptions to SSA’s requirements for electronic deposits. Elderly retirement recipients born before May 1, 1921 will continue to receive paper checks automatically and those without ready access to a bank can apply for a waiver, although SSA’s “800 number” system requires a waiver applicant to navigate through multiple levels of voice mail before it allows you to talk to a live person about a waiver. In other words, SSA wants to make it very difficult for beneficiaries to continue to receive paper checks. [1. See article from GoErie.com website about waivers.]
There are obvioulsly many benefits to an electronic payment system aside from cost savings to SSA. In theory payment issuance should become more secure and payees can avoid the problems associated with stolen checks and theft of cash. [Read more…] about Paper Checks from Social Security Now a Thing of the Past
PTSD in Female Soldiers – a Hidden Problem Likely to get Worse
This past January, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta announced that the Department of Defense has removed the ban against women serving in combat. While it remains to be seen how this new policy will be implemented, this news story made me think about several female military veteran Social Security disability clients of mine who are alleging disability not for combat injuries but for PTSD arising from physical and sexual harassment that occurred while they were serving in the military.
I am glad to see that this issue – sexual harassment of female soldiers – is being reported. The New York Times ran a story on February 27, 2013 entitled Trauma Sets Female Veterans Adrift Back Home and the examples set out in this story reflect the experiences of my clients. One of the soldiers profiled in the NYT story describes a brutal rape on a U.S. Military base on South Korea. The emotional scarring arising from this incident has left the victimized soldier suffering from PTSD, living out of her car and beset by homelessness. [Read more…] about PTSD in Female Soldiers – a Hidden Problem Likely to get Worse
Will an Opinion from my Chiropractor help my Social Security Disability Claim
Many people with back pain seek treatment with chiropractors as a lower cost and non-invasive form of treatment. Many mainstream medical organizations dispute the effectiveness of spinal manipulation techniques, while practitioners cite numerous scientific studies and patient testimonials to argue for the benefit of this type of therapy.
At this point, however, Social Security considers chiropractic to be an alternative form of health care treatment and it assigns no weight to the opinion of its practitioners. In my experience, disability adjudicators will not request chiropractic records and judges will not assign these records any weight at hearings.
A functional capacity form completed by a licensed practitioner will not carry any weight with a Social Security judge. If you are treating with a chiropractor who has a working relationship with a medical doctor who recognizes the clinical effectiveness of non-invasive spinal adjustments, it can be useful to have the medical doctor complete the functional capacity form based on his own observations and treatment in concert with the treatment of the chiropractor. [Read more…] about Will an Opinion from my Chiropractor help my Social Security Disability Claim