DISABILITY BENEFIT RECOVERY

An "on-the-record" (OTR) decision is one issued on an appealed claim without a hearing. These decisions are always fully favorable.  That means that the adjudicating official has accepted the date you claim to have first become disabled and is paying any benefit accordingly.   Fully favorable on-the-record decisions can be issued by administrative law judges or by attorneys who work for administrative law judges.   These decisions are relatively rare and occur mostly in cases that are "cut and dried."  An OTR decision reduces the waiting time and gets the claimant paid faster since no hearing is involved.  OTR decisions may come about as a result of a request from the claimant's representative or they may be initiated by the hearing official. ------------------------- For a free consultation about your Social Security disability claim, please contact the Forsythe Firm, serving all of northern Alabama and middle Tennessee. www.Get-SS.com Alab...

It is unlikely that a person will qualify for both Social Security disability (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) at the same time, but it is possible. That could happen if your SSDI monthly benefit was very low (below $710 per month).  In that case, SSI could add to your benefit, up to the maximum of $710 per month in 2013.  SSDI benefits could be low because you haven't worked recently or because you made low wages. Social Security disability payments count toward income for purposes of SSI eligibility.  If your SSDI benefit is $710 per month or greater, it will disqualify you for SSI payments. SSI also has resource restrictions, which are $2,000 for an individual or $3,000 for a couple. Certain types and amounts of resources may be excluded. Applying for both SSDI and SSI is called a "concurrent claim."  Your local Social Security office can tell you which type of benefit you may qualify for based on wages, income and resources. SSI claimants must...

Sometimes we get questions about a partial disability award from Social Security.   The VA will often award veterans a 30 percent disability, etc.  Some workers compensation claims are awarded on the basis that an individual suffers from less than 100 percent disability but still has some partial loss. In Social Security, however, it is "all or none."  You are either disabled or you are not.  There is no such thing as 30 percent or 50 percent disability.  You have to be 100 percent disabled or you not disabled - nothing between. What is the definition of "disabled" for Social Security?  You have to be disabled by a mental or physical impairment which is medically determinable.  You have to have such a severe impairment that you cannot perform any of your past relevant work (the work you have done during the last 15 years) - or any other work which exists in significant numbers in the national economy. There is also a duration ...

There are two programs administered by the US Social Security Administration.  Besides SSDI, also called Title 2 disability, SSA administers "Supplemental Security Income," or SSI. SSI is quite different from Title 2 or "regular Social Security disability."  Here are a few unique facts about SSI that do not apply to Title 2 or "SSDI" claims. With SSI There is no requirement that you have worked before or earned "quarters of coverage." You must have strictly limited resources and monthly income to get SSI. The federal basic or maximum benefit for 2013 is $710 for individuals, $1160 for couples. You cannot receive benefits for periods prior to the date of application. There is no five-month waiting period.  You can begin to receive benefits in the month following your application if approved. Social Security will consider living arrangements along with resource and income levels to determine your eligibility for SSI. The medica...

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. ...