I recently had a client who suffered from an old wound from buckshot. He had been shot with a 12 guage shotgun about 10 years ago and the wound never healed properly. He still had BB size pellets lying in the soft tissue near his femur. The wound was open and draining. He had suffered past Staphyloccus infections in the wound. In addition to the open leg wound his school records indicate a performance IQ around 55, a verbal IQ of 60 and a full scale IQ of 57, clearly meeting a listing for mental retardation.
When I was appointed, this was already an old case. It had been lingering at the state agency for months. I filed a dire need petition based on the fact that the claimant needed an operation on the leg but could not afford medical care. He couldn't even buy pain medication. It was frustrating because Social Security basically ignored my request. After I contacted a supervisor and provided appropriate POMS instructions for handing dire need requests, however, the case was resolved in about ten days. It was denied but this at least gave me the option to file an appeal of the medical denial. When the case reached ODAR, it was automatically given expedited status and a hearing was scheduled within twenty-one days.
If you are a representative with clients who have "dire need," I recommend you find the POMS regulation for this and send it verbatim to a supervisor either at Social Security or the state determination agency. By being persistent, someone will recognize that they are required to expedite the case and give it a prompt resolution. I would also caution that we use the dire need petition only in true emergency situations where the claimant is in immediate need of food, shelter or medical care which cannot be provided. If we lose our credibility by misuse of the dire need provision, everyone suffers. But in those true emergency situations where dire need consideration is warranted, it can be a a life saver for the claimant.
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Contact an experienced advocate with the Forsythe Firm at one of these offices:
THE FORSYTHE FIRM
(256) 799-0297 for our Huntsville, AL office
(615) 732-6159 for our Nashville, Tn office
When I was appointed, this was already an old case. It had been lingering at the state agency for months. I filed a dire need petition based on the fact that the claimant needed an operation on the leg but could not afford medical care. He couldn't even buy pain medication. It was frustrating because Social Security basically ignored my request. After I contacted a supervisor and provided appropriate POMS instructions for handing dire need requests, however, the case was resolved in about ten days. It was denied but this at least gave me the option to file an appeal of the medical denial. When the case reached ODAR, it was automatically given expedited status and a hearing was scheduled within twenty-one days.
If you are a representative with clients who have "dire need," I recommend you find the POMS regulation for this and send it verbatim to a supervisor either at Social Security or the state determination agency. By being persistent, someone will recognize that they are required to expedite the case and give it a prompt resolution. I would also caution that we use the dire need petition only in true emergency situations where the claimant is in immediate need of food, shelter or medical care which cannot be provided. If we lose our credibility by misuse of the dire need provision, everyone suffers. But in those true emergency situations where dire need consideration is warranted, it can be a a life saver for the claimant.
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Contact an experienced advocate with the Forsythe Firm at one of these offices:
THE FORSYTHE FIRM
(615) 732-6159 for our Nashville, Tn office
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