Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Social Security Disability, the Trial Work Period, EPE, and Expedited Reinstatement
"After my 9 month work window has depleted, what happens with my family's benefits next?"Kest,The nine month trial work period is a time that an individual can earn over the SGA limit and not have it affect their ability to receive a disability check. Remember, that nine month period does not have to be continuous, but can occur at any time in a rolling five year period. Your disability benefit will not stop as long as your work activity in the tenth month is not SGA (a monthly earnings amount established by SSA that they consider to equate with substantial gainful activity). If you are earning over the SGA monthly amount in the tenth month your disability benefits as well as the benefits payable to your family will be suspended due to your work activity and you will begin a period of extended period of eligibility known as the EPE. The EPE allows an individual to restart their disability benefits anytime they become unable to work at an SGA level. The EPE lasts for 36 months. Once the 36 month period elapses, then the first month you perform SGA your disability benefits will be ceased. At this point. You have an additional five years to file an expedited reinstatement of your benefits if you stop work due to the same disabling conditions, or you file a new disability claim all together. The expedited reinstatement will give you six months of provisional payments while they make a decision as to your disability status. A Social Security claims representative will go over your options with you. Sometimes if you can wait, a new disability decision will increase your monthly benefit amount.These are your options as far as what happens after the nine month trial work period. Anytime your disability benefit is stopped, your family's benefits stop as well. Return to:Labels: social security disability work
Friday, January 22, 2010
Should Social Security Disability Have A Separate Impairment Listing For Migraines?
Individuals who experience debilitating migraines have a difficult time being approved for Social Security disability and Supplemental Security Income disability benefits. Social Security has no specific impairment listing for migraines (in the listing of impairments referred to as the blue book). That means that individuals with migraines have their symptoms and residual functional capacity--what an individual is able to do in spite of the limitations of their disabling condition or conditions--evaluated under other impairment listings. This type of evaluation process leaves individuals with migraines at a disadvantage. Individuals with migraines may or may not meet or equal the listing criteria of the âotherâ impairment listing or listings. In fact, most individuals with migraines have their symptoms evaluated under the neurological or mental impairment listings which have criteria that are difficult for an individual suffering from migraines to meet or equal. This further means that most individuals suffering with migraines have to depend upon medical and vocational guidelines to be approved for disability benefits. Due to the nature of migraines, i.e. intermittent exacerbations, it is often hard to even meet the criteria for medical vocational disability allowances (note: medical vocational allowances are approvals based on the determination that a claimant's condition is so limiting that it prevents the ability to engage in substantial and gainful work activity).In my opinion, there should be a separate migraine listing and the criteria should possibly mirror, in approach, the Social Security asthma impairment listing.The criteria for a migraine impairment listing could potentiall be along these lines: A) Chronic migraines due to any cause with migraine headaches occurring in spite of prescribed treatment that requires a doctorâs intervention, B) headaches occurring every month or even every couple of months. Additionally, C) if an individual has to go to the emergency room and it takes a full twenty-four hour day to get the headache under control, it could count as two attacks within a consecutive twelve-month evaluation period. And D) if an individual has at least six migraines that meet the above criteria in a consecutive twelve month period they should be able to meet or equal the migraine listing.Unfortunately, under current disability evaluation guidelines, individuals with migraines are forced into trying to meet the criteria of another impairment listing. This fact causes many individuals with migraines to have a harder time being approved for disability benefits. Keep in mind, I am not implying that you should not file for disability on the basis of migraines if your migraines prevent you from maintaining employment, because statistics indicate a large percentage of individuals who apply for disability and follow the disability appeals process through to the hearing level will be awarded disability benefits. For instance, over sixty percent of all individuals who file a request for a disability hearing before an administrative law judge are approved for disability benefits. Return to:Labels: social security disability migraines
Monday, January 18, 2010
How Hard Is It To Sign Up For Social Security Disability?
I was quite amazed at the response that I found at a forum for this question.âAn attorney will only help out with paperwork. That may be worthwhile as they know how things should be worded for SSA to be able to understand how disabled the individual is. My child is blind and we have filed two times and have been turned down two times. Each time the soc sec office was full of people that seemed physically ok. Do not be surprised if you are turned down, I have been told that it is routine. Keep applyingâFirst of all, regarding the "physically ok" comment, please remember that Social Security offices take care of much more than disability program claims. Many individuals are there to apply for Social Security cards, get replacement cards, or to file for other benefits, such as retirement and widow or widowerâs benefits.This person goes on to state that a lawyer might be useful in filling out paper work because they know how to word things so that Social Security can understand how debilitated an individual is. She mentions that she has applied for her blind son twice and been denied. Well perhaps she should think of appealing her sonâs disability claim rather than continuing to file new initial disability claims. There is no doubt that it is more beneficial for a person to use the disability denial appeal process than filing a multitude of initial disability claims (and, yes, some people do file a multitude of new claims--as many as twenty--while never seeming to realize that they have the option to file an appeal). This person is correct in stating that it is routine to receive disability claim denials and that is true; however it is just as routine for individuals to be approved for disability. Depending on the state in which you live, about thirty to forty percent of all initial disability claims are approvals. And while that still means sixty percent are denied, it is not as grim as most individuals think. Unfortunately, many individuals who are denied initially do not file any appeals. And some never file again even when they have severe health problems. Social Security disability is not hard to sign up for, nor is it impossible to win disability benefits, but an individual has to take the step to file or sign up for disability and then follow the disability appeal process if they are denied. Using a Social Security representative or attorney can help with the filing of initial disability claims (especially for individuals with memory deficits and those with conditions of a cognitive or affective nature). And representatives can be especially helpful in filing disability appeals and, if necessary, presenting an individualâs disability claim in the most favorable manner at an administrative law judge disability hearing. To reiterate:1. If you get denied, don't keep applying. In most cases, if you keep applying, you'll keep getting denied. Instead, appeal the denial.2. Denials on social security disability and SSI claims are not a matter of standard procedure, meaning there is no "automatic denial system". A large percentage of claims do get approved at the initial claim level. On the flip side, more claims get denied than get approved which is why claimants should prepare for this possibility.3. Disability representatives at the hearing level do quite a bit more than simply "filling out paperwork". They assemble a presentation of the case that is optimized for winning a claim. Statistically, represented claimants have about a fifty percent greater chance of winning at a disability hearing than unrepresented claimants.Return to:Labels: applying for disability
Friday, January 15, 2010
What Are SSI Disability State Supplemental Benefits?
Supplemental Security Income or SSI is a federally funded need-based disability program that pays a set, monthly, monetary amount. The SSI disability benefit provided by the Federal Government is the same in all states. However, there are states in which SSI recipients receive higher benefit amounts. The reason some SSI recipients receive a higher disability payment is that some states offer an additional supplement to the amount paid by the Federal Government. If Social Security administers the state supplement, then an application for SSI is an application for the state supplement as well. However, if the state administers its own SSI benefit supplement program, the SSI beneficiary has to file a supplemental application with the state agency.There are ten states with Social Security administered supplemental payments and they are as follows: California, The District of Columbia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Many states offer small supplemental monthly checks to SSI disability recipients; however the supplemental benefit amounts vary from state to state. Additionally, there are states that offer no additional help to SSI recipients. You may wish to check with your Social Security claims representative when you file for disability.Return to:Labels: ssi disability claim
Saturday, January 9, 2010
After a Social Security Exam, How Long Does it Take for a Decision?
Someone recently commented that they contacted the disability examiner working on their case and were told that everything was essentially done and that the examiner was simply waiting on the results of a consultative examination that the claimant had been required to go to. The individual asked (I'm paraphrasing): "How long does it take to get a decision after you go to an exam?"It's difficult to give a concrete answer to this question because there are a number of variables that will differ from case to case. Generally, if you are sent to a CE, or consultative examination, this means that the disability examiner has received and evaluated all of your medical records from the doctors and hospitals you listed at the time of application. Therefore, in most cases, when the consultative examination report comes in from the examining physician or psychologist, there won't be much to do to get your case closed, i.e. get a decision made.How long does it take the results of the physical or mental exam that social security sent you to? The social security administration makes it clear to those who conduct exams for social security that the examination report should be sent in within 10 days from the date of the exam. This means basically two weeks.However...not every doctor gets their CE (consultative exam) report in by this time. Most, I would say, do. But there are cases in which doctors seem to have about as much trouble getting a report completed and submitted as having their teeth pulled.And, of course, there are, in certain cases, other extenuating factors that can slow down a case, even after a claimant has gone to a social security exam.1. The examining physician or psychologist may indicate that the results of the exam are in question. This can happen after a physical exam has been conducted. It can also happen after a mental exam has been conducted. In such instances, an exam may need to be rescheduled. I remember, as an examiner, a rare case of an individual being sent to an IQ test on three separate occasions because while it was clear that there was cognitive impairment, it was also apparent that the claimant had attempted to "steer the outcome of the testing".2. The disability examiner or his supervisor may discover, late in the process, that the case was not developed for a particular condition. In other words, it may come to light that the claimant has a condition that was not indicated and did not come to light in the previously gathered medical evidence. Delays of this sort on cases are somewhat rare, of course.3. The case may get "hung up" in technical review before exiting the disability determination services agency.4. The case may be intercepted by external quality control at the Disability Quality Branch where the decisions of disability examiners are reviewed for their accuracy. When a case is sent to DQB, it can stay there for an untold number of weeks.In general terms, however, after a social security exam has been conducted, a claimant can expect to receive a notice of decision on their case in just a few weeks.Return to:Labels: social security disability medical exam
