DISABILITY BENEFIT RECOVERY

If you are a disabled veteran don't neglect to check out Social Security disability benefits, in addition to your VA benefits.  If you served in the US Armed Forces after 1954, you have paid into the Social Security trust fund and are covered by Social Security disability insurance (SSDI).\ SSDI is payable in addition to any VA benefits you may receive and will not reduce your VA disability award.  In fact, veterans may be able to collect Social Security disability benefits even while on active duty and receiving military pay.  They key factor is not whether you are receiving military pay but whether or not you are able to perform your duties.  The Forsythe Firm in Huntsville works with veterans to be sure they maximize their disability benefits, collect all back pay due and receive the largest monthly award to which they are entitled.  Consultations with a disability specialist are always free and without risk or obligation.  You never pay a fee for an...

Medicare and Medicaid are both health insurance plans provided to individuals who have met certain requirements for coverage.  Medicare is a federal health insurance program administered by the US Government, while Medicaid is a state health insurance program which may also receive some federal funding.  Medicare and Medicaid share some similar characteristics but have other characteristics that are very different. Medicare eligibility may be achieved in one of two ways:  By reaching January 1 of the year in which you will become 65 years of age; OR by receiving a Social Security disability award (SSDI) earlier than age 65.  Medicare coverage does not begin, however, until you have been eligible for a Social Security disability payment for 25 months.  Here is an example:  If Social Security finds you were disabled as of 1/1/13, you must wait 5 months from that date to receive your first payment because of a mandatory 5 month waiting period.  So your ...

An approval letter from Social Security is not only relatively rare but it can be a very happy occasion--especially after months or years of financial hardship caused by a sudden disability and loss of income.  An approval letter will come from Social Security if your initial application has been approved, or more likely, if an administrative law judge has heard your appeal and granted a favorable decision.  The approval letter will state your "onset date," meaning the date you first became disabled.  The earlier the onset date, the more back pay you will receive. Within 60 days after receiving the approval letter, you will get a second letter that gives some more details about your benefits.  This second letter will tell you the amount of your monthly benefit check, the date you will receive your first payment, and the day of the month your monthly payments will arrive.  It will also state the amount of your past due benefits and the approximate date that the...

Most claimants who are approved for Social Security disability benefits qualify for retroactive benefits and/or back pay.  Retroactive benefits depends on two things: date disability began date the application was filed  Under the regulations, you are entitled to collect benefits for each month after the month you became disabled (under Title 2, SSDI).  The regulations limit you to recovering 12 months of retroactive pay, plus the 5 month waiting period.  Thus, it is possible to collect up to 17 months of retroactive pay.  You are also entitled to collect one month of benefits for each month it takes Social Security to reach a decision on your case.  For example, if you waited 15 months to get a hearing, then win, you would be eligible for an additional 15 months of "back pay." It's confusing, but there is a difference between "retroactive benefits" and "back pay."  Retroactive benefits are those payable from the date the disability began to t...

Social Security has identified more than 200 diseases that qualify for a "compassionate allowance" of disability benefits. Being diagnosed with one of these diseases will usually expedite an award of benefits. These conditions include, for example, many forms of cancer and auto immune disorders, as well as other conditions. Some diseases on the list may be well known.  Others, such as the recently added HOYERAAL-HREIDARSSON SYNDROME, may be virtually unheard of by the public. If a claimant has a disease that qualifies for a compassionate allowance, how does it affect his claim?  The claim will usually be expedited.  Once Social Security is able to verify from medical sources that the claimant actually has the disorder, a benefit may be awarded quickly.  How long the process takes depends on such factors as how long it takes doctors to respond to requests for medical records. The claimant may speed up this process by asking their doctor to provide information quickl...

SSDI stands for Social Security Disability Insurance.  When you first began working, the Government deducted a percentage of your wages, called a FICA tax.  This continued as long as you worked, in most cases.  This money was set aside in a government trust fund to help you if you later became disabled and could not work. SSDI is a type of insurance program, usually called "Social Security disability."  To get benefits out of SSDI, you must prove  that you have a medical disability so severe that you cannot work any full-time job; that this disability has lasted, or is expected to last, for at least 12 consecutive months. That sounds simple but Social Security has made it rather difficult to prove that you are disabled.  One reason is that their definition of 'disability' is so strict.  You usually must prove that you cannot perform even simple, unskilled work at the sedentary (sitting) level.  On top of that, the application proc...

Fraud prevention seems to be Social Security's new top priority.  In November 2014, the Social Security Administration set up a new division called the Office of Anti-Fraud Programs (OAFP) .  The OAFP works closely with the Inspector General (the investigative and prosecution office) to combat fraud and waste.  Congress has allocated billions of dollars to the anti-fraud campaign. Acting Commissioner of Social Security, Calvin Colvin, said her office will take a stern stand against anyone found to be trying to abuse or defraud the system.  Ms. Colvin said:     “We will find you; we will prosecute you; we will seek the maximum punishment allowable under the law; and we will fight to restore to the American public the money you’ve stolen from the American people.”  There have been a few isolated incidences of fraud that have made national headlines.  Social Security admits that these cases were rare and isolated. The vast majority of So...