Articles Posted in Social Security Disability Insurance

In Minnick v. Colvin, an appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, claimant saw his doctor in January of 2009 with complaints of lower back pain radiating down both legs. His doctor opined the pain was muscular in nature. He also found a secondary cause to be deconditioning and obesity. Doctor suggested claimant may have fibromyalgia.

When his condition did not improve after some time, doctor ordered an MRI of claimant’s lumbar spine. MRI scan revealed lumbar spondylosis, a bulging disc, and hypertrophic degenerative spur formation. Doctor made a diagnosis of lumbar spondylosis and recommend claimant walk to lose weight and also prescribed Vicodin to help with pain.
In December of 2009, claimant had another series of X-rays and MRIs which showed disc space narrowing and mild spinal stenosis. There was also evidence of disc protrusion and moderate mass effect on two nerve roots.
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With changes in Congress we are seeing following this past election, it is hard to watch the national news or use the internet without hearing about what the next big fight will be. One of the issues that must be decided soon is what will happen to the Social Security Disability budget.

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is essentially a government-run insurance policy. Employees and their employers pay taxes into the Social Security fund. Some of that money is used to pay for SSDI. Much of it is used to pay for Social Security retirement insurance. The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) runs both programs.
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According to a recent article from Media Bistro, a comedian passed out on the platform of a New York City subway station and was hit by a train. This occurred while she was coming from an audition to be on Saturday Night Live.

The South Carolina comedian is still recovering from the accident, which occurred this past February. She is now in Greenville as she tells her story of what happened. In 2014, she came to New York City to pursue her comedy career. She was homeless, but was doing well professionally. She had an agent and an interview with Saturday Night Live. After fainting and falling on the tracks where she was hit by a train, she found herself recovering from the serious accident at Belleview hospital where she was accruing huge medical bills. She did not have health insurance. Her friends helped raise around $75,000, but that was not enough to cover her medical bills, which were approaching $500,000.

She has applied for disability benefits on two occasions and was denied both times. The article does not go into the reasons for her being denied, other than people telling her she was too young for disability benefits.
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Applying for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is long and complicated process that often proves too much to handle for unrepresented claimants. One of the major problems is that the United States Social Security Administration (SSA) has created a system that is essentially designed to deny most claims. In fact, more than half of all applications are initially denied. There is often no connection to whether the claims for benefits had merits or not. It is more a matter of agency policy.

After the initial application is denied, claimants can appeal this denial in writing. When an appeal is submitted, a co-worker of the SSA employee who denied the application will determine if the denial was appropriate. Basically, this is a peer review process whereby the person in the next cubicle will rubberstamp their co-worker’s denial.
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Contrary to what we see on a regular basis, congressional representatives are claiming the Social Security Administration (SSA) is “wasting billions” because their administrative law judges (ALJ) rubberstamp applications for approval on a regular basis. Some of these applications, as noted, have already been denied at least two times before being approved by ALJ. It is claimed the reason is because SSA encourages ALJs to hear as many appeals as possible.
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When someone is injured on the job, they may be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits. When someone is disabled, but the disability is not the result of a workplace injury or illness, they may be able to apply for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits through a program run by the United States Social Security Admiration (SSA). What happens if a person applied for benefits under both programs?

According to a recent question and answer feature in Courier Journal, the author discuss the effect workers’ compensation benefits can have on someone who is already receiving SSDI benefits.

As noted in the article, when a person receives Social Security Disability Benefits, they cannot earn more than 80 percent of the wages they were earning before receiving disability. This is basically a provision congress created so a person cannot earn more money from not working than he or she would earn from working.
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Receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits normally means that person will never work again, but what happens if a person wants to return to work in some fashion? One of the biggest impediments to returning to work is a fear that you will lose your current SSDI benefits and your new income from work will not be enough to support you.

In effort to help those who want to get back into the workforce (and ease the Social Security Disability Insurance budget), the United States Social Security Administration is sponsoring a program known as “Ticket to Work.”

According to a recent news article from Fox, the Ticket to Work program allows a person to be retained in a new occupation, such as data entry, and return to work while still receiving benefits for a 45-month transition period. The hope is you will be able to get back to work, get settled into your new working life, and earn enough to support yourself without SSDI benefits. The fact you could be promoted and are allowed to earn more than 80 percent of your pre-disability income (a limitation placed on all SSDI recipients) may be motivation to get back to work.
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For more than a year, we have heard on the news about how funding is set to run out on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits unless Congress does something fast. According to a recent news article from the Buffalo News, it seems we are still headed down this dangerous path, which may affect millions of disabled Americans.

It is believed the SSDI fiscal cliff, as it is being called, could cause a 20 percent cut in benefits for millions of people. One representative quoted in the story said he is eager to work with the next Congress to prevent this from happening. As a member of the House Subcommittee on Social Security, he hopes to have such a chance.
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