When You Apply For Disability Do You Get It From The Day You Were Disabled Or The Day You Apply?

From the standpoint of the social security administration, disability is synonymous with the inability to engage in work activity; in other words, an individual's state of disability begins when they become unable to perform substantial gainful work activity due to the effects of a disabling condition or conditions.

However, and this can be confusing for applicants, this does not necessarily mean a person who has filed for disability will be paid disability benefits back to the day they became disabled. This is because the date of application and the date of disability onset (when you became unable to work according to SSA) both play an important role in determining when you will be able to receive disability benefits. It is also because the two disability programs administered by SSA treat the issue of retroactivity differently.

A couple things to keep in mind with regard to SSD, or social security disability:

1) If you are entitled to Social Security disability, you are allowed twelve months of retroactive disability benefits from the date you file your disability application, provided, of course, that you have not been able to perform substantial work activity for at least seventeen months and that your medical records will support an early enough onset date.

2) Social Security disability has a five-month waiting period (in which no disability benefits are paid) that begins with the onset date and lasts for five full months. This means, if you became disabled on January 15, you would not be entitled to receive disability benefits until July.

Conversely, Supplemental Security income disability, a.k.a. SSI, begins with the month of application for disability.

Although Supplemental Security Income disability, or SSI, beneficiaries do not receive retroactive benefits prior their application date, they have the advantage of no waiting period. Consequently, if you are filing for SSI and are found disabled per your application date, you will receive disability benefits from the month you made your application for disability benefits provided that you meet the SSI program income and resource limitations. And if your case has been in the system for quite some time, as is often the case, you may be eligible for a considerable amount in back pay, or past due benefits (which people often get confused with retroactive benefits).

It should be said, of course, that most applicants who are approved for social security disability or SSI disability do end up receiving at least some amount in back pay ---though, as was indicated earlier, "retroactive benefits", or benefits that may be owed to a claimant prior to the filing of a disability claim, only apply to social security disability and not SSI.

A couple things to keep in mind with regard to SSI disability:

1) You may remain entitled to both disability programs if your Social Security disability (monthly) benefit amount remains lower than what is currently the full, or maximum, SSI monthly benefit amount.

2) Even if your Social Security disability benefit amount is more than the SSI monthly amount, you still may be able to receive SSI disability benefits for the five-month Social Security disability waiting period provided you meet the SSI disability income and resource limits.





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If I get disability benefits, will my family or kids get benefits?

If I get disability benefits, will my family or kids get benefits?. Well, FMAX or family max, is all the money that is payable on an individual's record. From the FMAX amount, the disabled individual must be paid their benefit (PIA). The remainder, if there is, any will be divided amongst their dependents.

The most a dependent beneficiary can be paid is one half of the disabled individual's PIA. If there is enough money remaining on the record, all dependents will be paid a benefit equal to half the disabled individual's PIA. If there is some money but not enough to pay half the PIA amount, then the money remaining on the record will be divided equally between dependents.

Additionally, if FMAX = PIA, there will be no money payable to dependents.

Now, to answer the question with which we began a bit more plainly, if an adult is approved for disability benefits under the social security disability program, their dependents may receive benefits. However, it really depends on how much the disability claimant has paid into the system via their work activity. Remember, a person's eligibility for disability benefits is based on their work history and what they've "paid in" through fica.

Now, if an adult is approved for disability benefits under the SSI disability programs, there is no provision for the claimant's dependents because SSI is a "needs" program, and even though the medical eligibility for disability requirements are the same, the program is nonetheless designed to help those do not qualify for social security disability, or who do qualify for SSD but receive a very small monthly benefit check.






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Can You Apply For Disability If You Used To Get Disability But Went Back To Work?

Social Security disability is available to an individual even if they have received disability benefits in the past. Many individuals receive disability benefits more than one time in their life, especially if they suffer from some chronic medical and/or mental condition (s).

Contrary to what many mistakenly believe, Social Security disability benefits do not replace an individual’s total income, and most individuals who receive disability benefits suffer some financial hardship. Consequently, at some point after being approved for disability, many individuals make an attempt to return to work in order to better provide for themselves and their families, even if their disabling condition continues to affect them.

There are a couple of possibilities open to an individual who had received disability in the past...but had returned to work and then found themselves unable to work due to their impairments.

The most common possibilities are a new disability claim or an expedited reinstatement. If an individual’s disability was terminated due to work activity (without a finding of medical improvement) and the disability termination month is less than five years in the past, they may be eligible to receive an expedited reinstatement of their disability benefits.

An expedited reinstatement gives an individual six months of provisional benefits while Social Security determines if they are still disabled according to the rules and guidelines of the Social Security disability program. Additionally, they must be alleging the same medical impairment (s) as their previous disability claim to file an expedited reinstatement.

Unfortunately, expedited reinstatements are not allowed for disability applicants whose disability benefits were terminated more than five years in the past or individuals who were found to have medically improved. If this is the case, the individual will have to file a new disability claim in order to be awarded disability benefits again.

In summary, there is no limit to the amount of times an individual can file for disability and be approved for disability. If an individual had disability benefits in the past but lost them for whatever reason, they are allowed to file a new disability claim with Social Security.




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What Happens If You Apply For Disability And All You Have IS Old Medical Records?

If you only have old medical source records when you apply for disability, Social Security will still request the old records. Social Security prefers to have at least twelve months of records to establish a longitudinal medical history for your physical and/or mental impairment (s); however, current medical treatment records (medical records that are no more than ninety days old) are also needed to make a medical disability determination.

So what happens if you only have old medical records when you apply for Social Security disability or apply for Supplemental Security Income disability?

A disability examiner will evaluate your medical records to see if there is anything current to address your disabling conditions. If you have nothing current, the disability examiner will schedule a consultative examination (examinations performed by medical professionals who are paid by Social Security) to address your disabling condition or conditions. If your disability claim involves both mental and physical impairments, you may have to attend more than one consultative examination before a decision can be made.

Consultative examinations are often a hurried affair with very little interaction between the medical professional and disability applicant. As an examiner I received many complaints from claimants that the examination was too short and not thorough. In fact, many applicants felt they were not even examined. Frankly, it seems these examinations are often just a way for Social Security to make their medical determination (i.e. for a disability examiner to have what is technically required to get a case closed and get it off his or her desk) and not necessarily a true evaluation of an individual's disabling condition.

Nonetheless, if you are scheduled for a social security medical exam --

A) Make sure that you attend the appointment,

B) Be truthful about your limitations, and

C) Give your best effort.

It really does not matter what anyone thinks about the legitimacy of consultative examinations because, the truth is, you have to attend the examination. If you do not attend or do not reschedule the consultative examination (which can happen if the appointment time is not convenient for you), your disability claim may be denied on this basis.

Things to keep in mind if you have to go to a consultative exam, or CE:

1) When you go to your consultative examination, remember you are being observed from the moment the doctor enters the examination room (I once read a consultative exam report that mentioned what a disability applicant did when he got out of his vehicle in the parking lot -- obviously, this doctor did not confine his observations to those that could be made inside his examination room).

2) Do not overstate or understate the effect your disabling condition has upon your daily life including work activity.

By giving a truthful portrayal of your limitations, you will not be labeled a malingerer (faker), a label that can be devastating to your chances of winning disability benefits.





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If You Have A Lawyer Will He Gather The Evidence For Your Social Security Disability Case?

When individuals initially file for Social Security disability there is no absolute requirement to have a lawyer or representative. However, since most initial disability claims are denied, disability applicants typically have to begin the Social Security appeal process in order to be eventually approved for disability benefits and this, in and of itself, generally necessitates a need for representation at some point.

In most states, the disability appeal process begins with the request for reconsideration appeal and may end in Federal Court. Generally, though, most disability claims that are approved after entering into the appeals system end with an administrative law judge hearing or--to a far lesser extent--an Appeals Council review. Once your initial disability claim has been denied, it can reasonably be argued that you should consider the services of a Social Security disability representative.

Social Security representatives can be lawyers or non-attorney representatives. Social Security does not require that you use a lawyer to represent you at your disability hearing, or at any level of the process, and there are many competent non-attorney Social Security representatives.

When choosing a representative, an attorney or non-attorney, the most important thing is that you trust and have confidence in them (having said that, though, one of the best ways to choose a representative is by the recommendation of someone who has actually used their services, i.e. a former client whose case was won by the representative and who received satisfactory service from the representative).

So, when should you get a representative for your disability claim? Well, if you are able to complete a small amount of paperwork and return it to Social Security within the sixty-five day appeal period (sixty days plus five days for mail time) you may not need a representative to file your reconsideration appeal. However, if your reconsideration appeal is filed and is then denied, you should seriously consider obtaining the services of a representative to represent you at your disability hearing. Competent Social Security representatives know disability rules and guidelines that most ordinary people are not aware of and can gather the evidence needed to support a disability claim, including medical records, physicians statements, and vocational information.

My own opinion as to when a person should seek representation is after their claim has been denied at the disability application level, without waiting for a reconsideration appeal to be filed. Why? Because reconsideration appeals are overwhelming denied in most states and typically a person who has filed for a reconsideration will later need to file a request for a hearing. And at the hearing level, you are best prepared if you have representation. My opinion on this matter, however, is also drawn from observing gazillions of cases in which individuals failed to do something as simple as A) submit appeal paperwork within the required timeframe, B) go to a scheduled social security medical exam, or C) respond to a call-in letter from a social security field office or a disability examiner (this type of letter requests that you call them back as soon as possible to provide information that they need). In such cases, simply having representation could have made the difference as to whether or not a case "stalled out" along the way. Sometimes stallouts waste months of a claimant's time, which may really be precious time with regard to financial concerns.

You may be wondering "how do I pay my lawyer or representative, I don't have the money to pay attorney fees". Because the social security disability and SSI disability system is administered by the federal government, the means by which representatives are compensated is regulated. Social Security disability representatives work for a fee that represents 25 percent of any back payment of benefits up to a maximum amount (set by Social Security that can be increased periodically).

For instance, if your back payment of benefits was $1000.00, your representation fee would potentially be $250.00 dollars (I say potentially because you may have agreed to pay other expenses to your representative, such as reimbursement for the cost of obtaining medical records).

When hiring a representative, it is important to read your fee agreement thoroughly, because the agreement is a legally binding document. Some representatives include allowable expenses such as travel, copying, mailing, or any expense incurred in preparing your disability case, and some representatives charge these incidental expenses whether they win or lose.

However, back to the title of this post, in exchange for the agreed upon fee amount your lawyer or representative should gather all the evidence needed for your Social Security disability case. However you should remember that you and your representative are a team and that they depend upon you to provide them updates regarding new medical treatment (for instance, new doctors, new tests, new diagnoses) and continued medical treatment, as well as other information pertinent to your disability case.







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Employed But Have Trouble Doing My Job, Can I Apply For Disability?

There are times when an individual can be employed and still apply for disability benefits. In these cases, an individual must be earning under the substantial gainful activity, or SGA monthly amount.

What is SGA? Each year Social Security sets an amount that it considers equivalent to substantial gainful work activity, a work activity level at which the social security administration no longer considers an individual to be disabled.

To apply for disability an individual who is engaged in work activity must be below the monthly substantial gainful work activity amount. Of course, Social Security will not prevent anyone from filing for disability even if they are working full time.

However...if an individual files for disability with Social Security and they are working over the SGA amount, their claim will be denied at the Social Security office. This means that the individual’s disability claim will not be sent to the state disability agency for any kind of medical determination. Social Security calls this type of denial a technical denial, and even though the individual has the right to appeal a SGA denial it will most likely do no good even if they stop working the very next day (think about it: the basis of the denial would have nothing to do with any medical issues since a medical determination had not been made, so what would be the point of filing an appeal?).

Social Security makes all SGA determinations based upon what work an individual is performing the day they make their disability application. To better understand why Social Security does SGA denials, one just needs to review the Social Security definition of disability.

Social Security defines disability as any medical or mental condition that A) has prevented an individual from performing SGA for twelve months, B) is expected to prevent SGA performance for twelve continuous months, or...C) may be expected to result in the individual’s death.

In summary, Social Security is not concerned that an individual may be having a hard time performing their job as long as they are performing that job and earning at least the SGA amount. Basically, this means that even if an individual has a severe medical or mental impairment but they are still somehow able to work at a substantial gainful work activity amount they are not disabled according to the rules and guidelines of the Social Security disability program.









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Will Social Security Disability Benefits Stop If I Work?

Social Security defines disability as the inability to engage in substantial work activity for twelve months, the expectation not to be able to perform substantial work activity for twelve months, or the possibility of death due to a medically determinable mental or physical impairment. As you can see, Social Security considers work activity to be a major factor in determining your continued eligibility for Social Security disability benefits.

So will your Social Security disability stop if your try to work? The answer to this question is not a simple yes or no. If you try to work and you stay under the Social Security substantial gainful activity (SGA) monthly amount, your work activity will not stop your disability.

However even if your work is under the SGA amount it could still count as a trial work month. All individuals who are approved for disability are entitled to a nine month trial work period in which they are able to earn whatever they want for nine months without it affecting their ability to receive their monthly Social Security benefits.

These nine months of unlimited earnings do not have to be consecutive. In fact, these nine months can occur anytime in a five year period. However, if you are working in the tenth month above the SGA monthly amount, your benefits will be suspended and your period of extended period of eligibility begins.

The extended period of eligibility (EPE) is a 36-month period in which you can begin your disability benefits again if, for whatever reason, you are once again not earning at least the SGA amount. But if you do not stop work until after your 36 EPE months have ended, your Social Security benefits will be terminated and your case will most likely be sent to the state disability agency for a continuing disability review. If you are found to have medically improved your disability benefits will be terminated (and if in the future you find yourself disabled and unable to work, you will have to file a new disability claim.

However, if your disability was terminated strictly due to work activity and you were not found to have medically improved, you may be able to file an expedited reinstatement of your disability benefits should you have to stop working due to the same medical impairments you had in your prior disability claim.

An expedited reinstatement is merely a period in which you can receive six months of disability benefits while Social Security determines if you are still disabled by the guidelines and rules of Social Security disability.

If Social Security determines that you are not disabled, you will not receive any further disability benefits. If you still feel you are disabled you will have to file another disability claim and go through the disability process to be awarded benefits again. Conversely, if you are found to be disabled your expedited restatement will result in your receiving continued monthly benefits.

As you can see, "work" can be a very complex issue while on Social Security disability. If you are planning on returning to work, it may be wise for you to speak with a Social Security claims representative at a local social security office before you make or embark upon any decision.








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What does Social Security disability Consider to be Basic Work Activities?

Social Security Disability and SSI disability benefits are awarded on the basis of whether or not a claimant is able to engage in what is known as substantial and gainful work activity. And what that means is working and earning at least a certain gross monthly income amount, known as the SGA amount (for the current amount, go here: SGA, substantial gainful activity).

In a nutshell, the ability to work and earn at the least the SGA gross monthly earnings amount signifies to the social security administration that an individual is not disabled according to their definition of disability.

So, it's fairly obvious that, despite many misperceptions and misunderstandings as to how the social security administration views work activity, the simple truth is that an individual can, in fact, apply for disability or receive disability benefits if they are working.

Work activity is not a disqualifier for disability benefit eligibility, but how much a person is earning is.

Working and earning at least the substantial gainful activity amount each month can make an individual ineligible. However, for the sake of discussion, what does SSA consider to be basic work activity?

In the words of the agency, basic work activities include the use of judgment, the ability to understand, carry out, and remember simple instructions, adjusting to whatever changes may occur in one's routine work setting, making appropriate responses to one's fellow workers and supervisors, as well as the ability to employ abilities such as sight, hearing, and speaking and the ability to engage in normal physical activities such as the ability to walk, sit, stand, push, pull, lift, carry and handle objects, and reach.





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Every Classroom Has ADHD

Every teacher should aware that in a class of 40, at least two children are likely to have have ADHD symptoms. While there are some basic facts, included here, that all teachers should know, they should strive to educate themselves as much as possible about the condition to ease classroom life for all involved.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a condition in which an individual's brain has some structures that are smaller and neurotransmitters (chemical messengers) that may be inefficient or may work improperly, making ADHD a neurobiological disorder. ADHD has also been known as Attention Deficit Disorder, but the American Psychiatric Association has deemed ADHD the only proper diagnostic term.

Deficits in neurotransmitters are linked to specific difficulties, including poor executive functioning skills (such as memory and recall, starting and completing tasks, impulsivity, uncontrolled emotion, language and problem solving); forgetfulness and disorganization; inconsistent performance; trouble learning from punishment and rewards (therefore repeating bad behaviors); and poor time management.

Some individuals exhibit hyperactivity and impulsivity symptoms, while others simply have trouble concentrating or paying attention. Symptoms vary, and can range from mild to severe. Two-thirds of those with ADHD have also been diagnosed with another condition, which can present larger challenges for everyone, at home and school.

While children with ADHD may have varying levels of skill and maturity, they all typically lag behind normal childhood development in motor skills, independence, self-help, responsibility and relationships. It is also important to note that boys are more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD, and often display more aggression than girls.

As awareness and understanding of ADHD continues to grow, teachers should be aware of the ways they can work with their students who have the condition or who may exhibit symptoms. Everyone's interests will be served if students with ADHD are taught to tackle their difficulties in the classroom.




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The Chances Of Being Approved For Disability Will Depend On Certain Factors

The chances of being approved for disability depend upon your medical and/or mental impairment and residual functional capacity, as well as what level within the disability process your claim is at.

Lets start with medical impairments and residual functional capacity. Social Security defines disability as a medical determinable mental or medical condition that has prevented you from working for twelve months, is expected to prevent you from working for twelve months, or is expected to result in death.

Keeping that in mind, your chances of being approved for disability are greatly increased if your disability condition or conditions are expected to result in death. In fact, Social Security expedites all disability claims that involve conditions in which death is expected. Of course, if your medical and/or medical condition is not expected to end in death but still does meet the criteria for a disability impairment listing, your chances of being approved for disability are nearly 100 percent.

That being said, most disability applicants find themselves in the position of not meeting a disability impairment listing, nor having a condition that is likely to result in death.

If you do not meet a disability impairment listing, your disability claim hinges upon your residual functional capacity. Residual functional capacity simply means what you are able to do despite the limitations of your medical and or mental impairments (s). If Social Security finds that your residual functional capacity is so restrictive as to preclude any of your past work or any other work in the general economy (performed while receiving earnings equal to the SGA, substantial gainful activity level), your disability claim will be approved through a medical vocational allowance.

What does this mean? That Social Security will have considered your past work, residual functional capacity, education, and age in their disability determination process and found that you were not able to do or be trained for other work.

Unfortunately, being approved through a medical vocational allowance may take longer, because by and large most medical vocational allowances are achieved by following the Social Security disability appeal process.

The disability appeal process begins with the reconsideration appeal and could end in Federal Court, however most disability appeals end with the administrative law judge disability hearing.

Statistics indicate that about thirty-five percent of all initial disability claims are approved, while only ten to fifteen percent are approved at the reconsideration level. National statistics also indicate that close to two-thirds of all disability claims are approved at the administrative law judge hearing.






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High Hopes For A New Lupus Treatment

There has not been a new FDA approved drug for Lupus since the 1950s. Due to Lupus being a rare and quite misunderstood disease, commercials sponsors have had no (financial) interest in testing drugs for Lupus, leaving 1.5 million Americans in chronic pain and confusion about their disease. Thankfully, a new drug is being developed by Human Genome Sciences that may lead to Lupus treatment.

Lupus is an autoimmune disease that affects women more often than men, and is marked by chronic pain, fatigue, and in severe cases, organ damage. One of the issues with Lupus is that it has many different symptoms and may affect 40 different people in 40 different ways. There are four different types of lupus: discoid lupus erythematosus, drug-induced lupus erthematosus, systemic lupus erthematosus, and neonatal lupus.

The experimental drug is called Benlysta, and it is giving hope to patients and doctors. Benlysta is not a cure for Lupus, but it is an antibody to a naturally occurring protein (B cell lymphocyte stimulator – BLyS) that helps to regulate inflammation in the body.

A study involving over 800 patients found that half the patients were helped by the drug; they showed less fatigue, less skin rashes, and less joint pain when taking the drug. Although there are still many questions to be answered about Benlysta and how effective it may be, doctors and patients are very hopeful that in time this new, experimental drug may be approved by the FDA and able to help those suffering with Lupus lead normal, active lives.






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