DISABILITY BENEFIT RECOVERY

Birmingham is one of the busiest ODAR offices in the state of Alabama.  ODAR stands for the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review .  It is a branch of the Social Security Administration that handles appeals of disability claims. If you took a photographic snapshot of the Birmingham ODAR office, here is what you would see: Average wait time to get a hearing - 15 months Total number of cases pending - 11,841 Number of judges in this office - 16 Percentage of hearings done by teleconference - 41% Average percent of cases that get approved - 57% Average percent of cases that get denied - 35% Percentage of cases that are dismissed (not heard) - 16% As in all other ODAR offices, award rates vary from one judge to another within the same office.   The judge who has the highest rate of awards approves 82 percent of cases.  The judge with the lowest rate of awards only approves 35 percent of cases.  That's a 47 point spread.   No, you do not get to pick your judg

Social Security disability benefits under Title II can be recovered back to the latter of-- (a) the onset of your disability, or (b) 12 months prior to the date of your disability application.  In other words, you can pick up retroactive benefits back to the date you became disabled but not more than 12 months prior to the date you filed your disability application. To maximize your disability benefit, you need to apply as soon as you become unable to work, if you believe you will be off work for at least 12 continuous months.   I recently represented an individual who was in his twenties and had a disability since birth.  Since he had never applied for Social Security disability before, I could only recover benefits from the date of his application, which amounted to a few months. Under Supplemental Security Income (SSI), another program administered by Social Security, the claimant becomes eligible for benefits on the first day of the month after  the application is filed.

The US Congress is looking into ways to keep the Social Security Trust Fund solvent.  One way is to reduce spending.  But no politician wants to cut Social Security benefits because that would likely be the death knell to their political career. What Congress has done is to mandate more "Continuing Disability Reviews" (CDRs).  The idea is, review the individuals who are getting Social Security disability checks and determine if they are still eligible.  If they have sufficient medical improvement they can be found "no longer disabled" and their benefits can be stopped.  Congress estimates that this will save 12 billion dollars. If you are a disabled individual, what it means for you is that you have to keep one hand on your wallet and one eye on Social Security. Nearly every beneficiary who is drawing a Social Security disability check is already scheduled for a review. These are scheduled at intervals of 1, 2, 3 or 5 years, usually.  So they are not a new id

A very highly trained professional approached me recently about getting disability benefits.  Her one reservation was, "I don't want to be on disability forever.  I want to get better and go on with my career." That is a worthy attitude and goal.  And Social Security disability doesn't have to be forever.  In fact, the SSA has a number of programs to encourage those who receive benefits to gradually move back into the workplace. Social Security has programs where a disabled person can try to work while keeping their disability benefit temporarily.  You continue to draw disability until you accumulate nine successful months of work.  The nine months do not have to be consecutive.  After 9 months of successful work your disability check (but not your Medicare) stops. If you become unable to work later, you have options to quickly start receiving disability benefits again without another hearing. Details on these back to work programs are available from your local

Often I get a question about working part time and applying for Social Security disability.  In many situations the claimant is not able to work but is trying to work part time while the disability application grinds through the process.  The question logically arises, will working cause Social Security to deny the application - even if the claimant's work does not each the level of substantial gainful activity (SGA)? The answer is - maybe.  In 2012 the standard for SGA is pretax earnings of $1010 per month. If an individual earns less than SGA he or she is not disqualifed for disability benefits because of the earnings.  But there is more to the story. I will quote from 20 CFR 416.971.   "Even if the work you have done was not substantial gainful activity, it may show that you are able to do more work than you actually did.  We will consider all of the medical and vocational evidence in your file to decide whether or not you have the ability to engage in substantial gainf

" Consider the case that came to my office last week.  A 42-year old female suffering from what she describes as panic attacks, chronic respiratory problems (possibly COPD), and severe low back pain.  She says she can stand 10 to 15 minutes at a time due to pain and is able to sit about 30 minutes at a time.  She cannot lift a gallon of milk due the back pain and cannot bend, stoop, kneel or reach overhead.  When walking, she must stop and rest about every 50 yards.  She suffers shortness of breath with minimal exertion. The problem?  This unfortunate lady has no health insurance, no source of income, no public assistance except food stamps and she hasn't been examined by a doctor in over five years.  That examination was by an out of state doctor who has since retired and the records cannot be found.  In short, there are no available medical records to support a disability claim.  What can be done? Frankly, some representatives would turn this claimant away, explainin

How to Know You Are Ready for a Social Security disability hearing A Social Security disability hearing is a formal procedure which takes place in front of a US administrative law judge (ALJ).  Witnesses are sworn and provide testimony under oath (including the claimant).  At stake is whether you will get all, part, or none of the disability benefits you have applied for.  If you get to the hearing stage, you have already been denied at least part of your benefits once, perhaps twice. Most claimants have little understanding of what happens at a disability hearing, the nature of the evidence required and how many things can potentially go wrong.  I have space here  for only a very brief Introduction to Social Security Hearings - the Basics. In a hearing that will last from 30 to 60 minutes, you will be asked dozens of questions about your life, your past work, how you spend your days, your hobbies and interests, and why you can no longer work.  The judge is required t