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Disability Law

Social Security Disability Law Blog

News, information support and resources for Social Security and SSI disability claimants.

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Last Entry: May 15, 2009 at 14:14:08

Annual Farce: Social Security Running Out of Money

Posted on April 07, 2008
Reports that the Social Security system will soon run out of money have been greatly exaggerated. As surely as day follows night, the annual report from the board of trustees of the OASDI fund (Old Age Survivors and Disability Insurance, otherwise known as Social Security) has brought forth alarms that the fund will run out [...

Insurance Companies Clog Social Security System

Posted on April 01, 2008
The Social Security system is choking on paperwork and spending millions of dollars a year screening dubious applications for disability benefits, according to lawsuits filed by whistle-blowers. Jessica Ortiz of San Diego said her disability insurer called more than 10 times after she was hurt in a car crash, insisting that she apply for Social Security...

Social Security Delays Cheat the Vulnerable

Posted on March 25, 2008
From the Kansas City Star: For years you?ve paid insurance premiums to protect yourself against unforeseen health problems. Yet when an accident or serious illness strikes, the insurer refuses to pay up. That?s essentially theft, the kind of thing people expect the government to step in and stop...

Losing Disability Credits: When Women Leave the Workforce

Posted on March 17, 2008
individual who earned credits 20 years ago may find that not all of them count. For example, consider the case of a 42-year-old woman who worked full-time from age 21 to 31 and thus earned 40 credits. She has twice the number of credits required to receive benefits if she becomes disabled at age 32...

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Extensive Media Coverage of Backlogs at Hearing Offices

Posted on March 12, 2008
With waiting times ranging up into the 1000+ /day range in a few Hearing Offices, the backlog time has drawn extensive media coverage as the human suffering involved in these delays comes to light. Our national association of Social Security lawyers has posted this link, listing numerous TV, radio and newspaper stories on this [...

Social Security Benefit: Why It’s So Valuable

Posted on March 08, 2008
Critics of Social Security and some of its friends often ask why its return on our investment, the years of payroll deductions, is so small. That would be a fair question if Social Security were an investment program, but it's not. It's more than that, much more...

Social Security Hires 144 New Judges

Posted on March 03, 2008
Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, today announced that the agency has begun making offers to 144 of the 175 new Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) it will hire this fiscal year. Due to litigation and budget cuts, the agency has about ten percent fewer ALJs than it did a decade ago...

Disability Income Qualfies for Tax Rebates

Posted on February 25, 2008
... If you didn't owe federal income tax for 2007, you can still get a rebate of $300 (single) or $600 (married filing jointly) if you and/or your spouse had at least $3,000 in what the IRS calls qualifying income. Qualifying income includes earnings from a job or self-employment, certain Social Security benefits, certain railroad retirement [...

Social Security: Some Surprising Benefits

Posted on February 17, 2008
See this article in today's Baltimore Sun, discussing all the ways Social Security protects us: ....The program will provide financial support to your spouse and young children if you die early. It is disability insurance if you are seriously injured...

Coalition Calls For More SSA Funding

Posted on February 13, 2008
The American Federation of Government Employees and advocacy groups representing progressives and senior citizens called on Congress Tuesday to increase funding for the Social Security Administration and to pass legislation that would give lawmakers greater oversight of the agency's staff levels, office closures and budgets...

Washington Post: SSA Budget Inadequate

Posted on February 06, 2008
Today's Post reports on the effects of President Bush's proposed budget: ...But it may take more than that. It's clear that many federal programs can only run smoothly when properly staffed. Take Social Security. In recent years, the agency's field offices have lost staff, and waiting times for the public have increased...

Commissioner Feels Your Pain

Posted on February 05, 2008
Michael Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security: I know from personal experience how difficult Social Security?s disability process can be. When my father was 52, he suffered a severe cerebral hemorrhage caused by a rare form of brain cancer. As I took care of the application for him, it opened my eyes to the complicated [...

Senate Tries to Make Disablity Recipients Eligible for Tax Rebates

Posted on January 29, 2008
If you had no earned income and no tax liability in 2007, you would get no refund under the existing proposal. However, the Senate is trying to amend the bill so senior citizens living off Social Security could get a refund. See Kathleen Pender's Column here:

Ray of Hope for Disability Reform?

Posted on January 19, 2008
The Cleveland Plain Dealer Editoriailzes Today: After nearly four years, Social Security disability applicants can be forgiven for being cynical about the latest pledges to end the backlog that keeps their cases in limbo. This time, however, there is a ray of hope that the reforms will work...

Disability Backlog Must be Cut to Brace for Boomers

Posted on January 18, 2008
The Social Security Administration is making progress in reducing its backlog of disability claims, but without more resources, it will like fall further behind as aging boomers overwhelm the system, Comptroller General David Walker said. SSA needs more funding from Congress and it needs to hire more staff, Walker said...

CBS News Continues its Investigative Report on Denials

Posted on January 17, 2008
CBS reports: "It's a very tough standard," said Michael Astrue, commissioner of the Social Security Administration. "And you can argue whether that should be the standard or not, but I'm stuck with that." A two-month CBS News Investigation uncovered a system whose own standards have been called into question - a federal agency reeling [...

CBS Study Show 16,000 have Died Waiting for Benefits

Posted on January 15, 2008
Disability Pay Rejections A two-month CBS News investigation has revealed that many individuals who are disabled are either being rejected or waiting years for a decision on benefits. Armen Keteyian reports. CBS found that 16,000 people have died waiting for disability during the past three years...

Home Lost Waiting for Disability Benefits

Posted on January 14, 2008
He laments that he would have been able to keep the house had he received monthly checks from Social Security Disability Insurance. He first applied four years ago, then applied again, then again through a hearing, then through an appeal. His is one of 26,820 disability cases that are pending in Indiana -- and more than [...

Refugees Out in the Cold

Posted on January 12, 2008
A New York Times Editorial today reports that thousands of elderly and disabled refugees who have found safety in the United States in recent years may soon find out just how cold and equivocal America?s welcome can be. These vulnerable newcomers are subject to a federal law that cuts off their disability benefits if they [...

US to Impose Limits on State Medicaid Programs

Posted on January 04, 2008
The New York TImes Reports: The Bush administration is imposing restrictions on the ability of states to expand eligibility for Medicaid, in an effort to prevent them from offering coverage to families of modest incomes who, the administration argues, may have access to private health insurance...

Internet-Based Therapy Promising for Vets with PTSD

Posted on January 03, 2008
Internet-based cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) shows promise, according to a pilot study in the November issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry. The study found that 25 percent of U.S. military personnel assigned to an Internet-based, eight-week program of self-management CBT no longer had PTSD diagnosis after treatment or at [...

January 1, 2008: Many Numbers Shift for Social Security Payments and Deductions

Posted on December 29, 2007
Social Security changes many of its payments, financial eligibility standards and taxes each year. This link to the Social Security web site sets out all the changes that will take place January 1, 2008. Click here to go to ssa.gov

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