DISABILITY BENEFIT RECOVERY

Eight former Commissioners of the Social Security Administration (SSA) released a letter on April 4 in which they express concern for "dangerous myths" contained in recent NPR broadcasts concerning Social Security disability programs.  As far as I know, this is the first time in the history of Social Security that former Commissioners have spoken in such a unified way in response to a media article.  Here is a very small part of the letter: We are deeply concerned that the series “Unfit for Work” failed to tell the whole story and perpetuated dangerous myths about the Social Security disability programs and the people helped by this vital system. We fear that listeners may come away with an incorrect impression of the program— as opposed to an understanding of the program actually based on facts. As former Commissioners of the agency, we could not sit on the sidelines and witness this one perspective on the disability programs threaten to pull the rug out from unde...

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...

I was contacted today (April 3, 2013) by an employee of an ODAR office in my Alabama jurisdiction.  The purpose of the call was to schedule a hearing for one of my clients.  After scheduling the hearing, I remarked to the ODAR employee about how glad I was to hear that we will be able to get the name of the administrative law judge assigned to our cases beginning on April 22nd. "Actually, we've already begun providing names," the ODAR employee said.  "Since you asked about it, I will go ahead and tell you."  She then gave me the name of the ALJ who is assigned to the case in question.  It's a remarkable policy shift by Social Security--and a good one. This corrects an absolutely awful policy that ODAR has been enforcing since 2011--that of keeping the name of the judge a secret until the representative and client walked into the hearing.  Beginning right now, representatives may ask for the name of the judge and the hearing office will provide it. ...

PBS claims many lawyers are getting rich off of Social Security disability insurance (SSDI) by helping claimants get their benefits.  That is true, perhaps, to the same extent that a few basketball players get rich, some actors get rich, and a few golfers get rich. Most don't. If your doctor had to follow the same rules your Social Security lawyer or advocate follows, here's the conversation you'd have with your doctor the next time you came down with a bad case of kidney stones: Doctor, I want you to fix me as soon as you can. (Man, this hurts)!  I will sign a contingency agreement with you.  If you completely cure me and the operation is a success, I will pay you.  If not, you operate for free.  Also, the American Medical Association must approve your fee before I can pay you.  It may take 18 to 24 months to get your fee--because the process is just, well, s-l-o-w.  Also, you may have to fill out a few hundred pages of forms before all this gets...