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Hill v. Colvin, a case from the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, deals with appeals from a Social security Disability Insurance (SSDI) denial of benefits at a hearing before an administrative law judge.

1078874_word_work_on_the_dicesThe claimant, who was 56 years old at the time of the appeal, worked for more than a dozen years at a steel factory. She was responsible for lifting and transporting steel sheets that were extremely heavy. According to court records, some of the steel sheets weighed as much as 100 pounds. Continue reading

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With the days getting shorter and the weather getting colder, many are getting ready for the cold Boston winter by unpacking their winter coats, buying rock salt, and making sure their cars have good tires for the snow. While all of these things are important, a recent news feature from Wicked Local Duxbury reminds us that we should also be preparing for possibility of suffering from a mental or physical disability.

609764_playing_it_safeAs the author discusses, most people are unaware of the actual risk of being stricken with a disability. Statistics from the United States Social Security Administration (SSA) and other government data show that approximately 56 million Americans are currently living with a disability. This translates to one in five Americans living with a disability. Nearly 40 million, or one in ten Americans, are living with what the agency defines as severe disability. However, it should be noted that this does not mean all of these people are receiving either Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. Depending on how the estimate is calculated, there are currently somewhere between 9 million and 11 million Americans currently receiving Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security benefits. Continue reading

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There is no question that applying for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits can be a long and difficult process, especially for the claimant who is not represented by experienced disability counsel. Once a claimant finally gets declared disabled and is deemed eligible for Social Security benefits, he she will obviously depend on those benefits to make ends meet and help take care of his or her family. If those benefits were to stop being deposited in claimant’s bank account without warning, that would not only be inconvenient, but could subject a claimant to a significant hardship.

wealthAccording to a recent news article form Kiro 7 News, thousands of Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries were shocked to discover the monthly direct deposit for their disability benefits was not made last month. The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) has stated that there was some kind of problem with the Supplemental Security Income benefits payment file. Continue reading

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The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is the federal agency responsible for the oversight and administration of the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs. These are two different programs. While both programs are designed to provide benefits for disabled Americans, they operate differently and have different requirements for qualification for disability benefits.

question-mark-1323680-mIn a recent news article from Public Opinion, a manager from a local SSA office explained the difference between Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income. As the manager describes, Social Security Disability Insurance is based upon the prior earnings of a disabled claimant. This program obtains funding by taxes workers pay into Social Security taxes, which are withheld from each paycheck. Continue reading

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When a claimant applies for Social Security disability benefits, it can be a somewhat lengthy process. The first step in the process is to submit an application for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits, or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. Regardless of the type of benefits applied for, you submit the application to the United States Social Security Administration (SSA), as that is the federal governmental organization responsible for administering the Social Security disability programs. SSA also administers the Social Security Old Age and Retirement fund, with which most people are familiar.

flip-calendar-1-1281977-mOnce you submit the application, there is a good chance SSA will deny it, because they deny more than half of all applications without much regard to the merits of the application. Once an application has been rejected, claimant can submit it for reconsideration. This first appeal is typically done as a part of a peer review process, and it is a coworker of the employee who made the initial denial that is responsible for evaluating whether the denial was warranted or not. As one could imagine, it is not very likely that a denied application will be approved at this stage in the process.   Eventually, a claim will be given a hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ). Continue reading

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According to recent news article from Fox News, a woman has recently been sentenced to life in prison for allegedly holding Social Security disability benefits hostage, mistreating them, and stealing their disability benefits.

desperationThe defendant was arrested about four years ago in Philadelphia when authorities discovered four adults locked in her basement. There was no food in the basement, and there was no bathroom either. The four victims were forced to share a single bucket as their toilet. Prosecutors said during the sentencing that defendant and a few others beat these victims and kept them chained up, locked in closets and in that basement and an attic. They were not given medical care and were taken back and forth between Pennsylvania, Virginia, Florida and Texas.   The reason they were doing this, according to prosecutors, was to steal these victims’ Social Security disability benefits.   The now 55-year-old woman who was the ringleader of the criminal conspiracy was sentenced to life plus 80 years in prison.   While it may seem strange to sentence someone life plus 80 years, in the federal system, life may only be 36 years, but after that, she would have to serve 85 percent of 80 years, so she will never be able to get out of prison. Continue reading

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According to a recent news article from Huffington Post, Representative Paul Ryan is not at all happy with the bipartisan budget bill his staff helped draft to provide funding to the Social Security disability fund. This is the fund the United States Social Security Administration (SSA) runs to provide Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits.

freedom-1-889853-mIf the budget legislation, which provided a few more years of funding to the disability fund, was not approved, around 10 million Americans would face a 19 percent reduction in their benefits checks each month, and this would be devastating for these Americans, as they would no longer be able to make ends meet and take care of their families. Continue reading

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Veteran’s Day is a national holiday to honor the United States service members who have bravely risked their lives in the name of the United States.   Many towns and cities across the county choose to honor the veterans by throwing parades and giving out civic awards, but the real question of how well we are honoring these brave men and women can be measured in how well we take care of them when they return home from the battlefield.

peacekeeping-soldiers-1202476-mAccording to recent news article from the Palm Beach Post, wounded warriors may be able to turn to Social Security Disaiblty Insurance (SSDI) benefits for help, even if they are still on active duty status with the United States military. The interesting thing is that the determination made by the United States Social Security Administration (SSA) as to whether you are qualified for benefits deals with whether you have a disability, and if that disability is preventing you from doing work activity. The determination is not whether your employer is paying you. Continue reading

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For the past six months or so, the news has been flooded with reports that United States Social Security disability fund would run out of money in the later part of 2016. This would mean that, for those receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, they would face a roughly 20 percent cut in their monthly benefits checks. This is a major, deal since we are talking about anywhere between 9 million and 11 million people, depending on how the estimate is calculated.

wealthThe crisis was recently averted when congress members worked together on a bipartisan budget bill that would provide funding for the next few years while making some changes to the Social Security disability applications process, such as adding more administrative law judges (ALJs). ALJs are the hearing officers the Social Security Administration (SSA) employs to adjudicate whether a claimant gets benefits after the initial application has been denied. While it would seem that the program is out of trouble for the near future, a recent news feature from CNBC is suggesting this may not be the case. Continue reading

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A 56-year old disability benefits recipient was first very pleased when she got a letter form the Untied States Social Security Administration (SSA), because she was finally receiving an increase in her monthly benefits, according to a recent news article from the Mail Tribune. For many years she had been living off $766 a month in Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits plus another $350 in EBT benefits (food stamps).

selfportrait2However, when she read more of the letter, she learned that she was not receiving an additional $260 in benefits each month as she had originally thought, but instead was being told she owed SSA $260.40. This amount of money she is told she now owes comes from an overpayment made to her mother over 40 years ago when claimant was still in high school. The problem had something to do with the fact that her mother allegedly improperly claimed her as a dependent, and this allowed for the overpayment to occur. Continue reading

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