Massachusetts Social Security Disability Lawyers Blog

With the upcoming war in Congress over whether to increase funding to the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program, the issue is getting a lot of press. Recently, according to a news article from MSNBC, Senator Rand Paul has gone on record claiming many SSDI beneficiaries are gaming the system and not really disabled.

Paul is quoted as suggesting many disabled Americans receiving SSDI income do not deserve the benefits they are getting. He said while there some in the program who deserve benefits; there are many who do not. Specifically, Paul said, “if you look like me, and you hop out of your truck, you shouldn’t be getting your disability check.”

Paul further asserted more than half of disability benefits recipients are getting money by claiming their back hurts or they are anxious.
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With all the troops forward deployed to places like Iraq and Afghanistan during the global war on terror, we are seeing more and more young men and women returning home from the battlefield with severe and permanent disabilities.

Some of these disabilities are physical in nature and involve loss of one or more limbs, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and other health issues caused by fighting in the Middle East. Many others were lucky enough to return without suffering physical injuries, but now suffer from debilitating mental conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

When these wounded warriors return home, many of them will be given a medical discharge while others will simply separate from their military service with no benefits at all.
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Much of the news coverage about the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program deals with the upcoming budget shortage, which may reduce benefits by 20 percent by 2016 should congress fail to act. However, a recent news article from Huffington Posts looks at how the system works for claimants and what you need to do to qualify for benefits.

Social Security Disability Insurance is a federal benefits program administered by Social Security Administration (SSA). SSA also manages the Social Security retirement programs, but those funds come from a different budget than SSDI benefits.

SSDI was created to provide those who disabled, and thus unable to engage in gainful employment, with a source of benefits on which they can live. A disability can be defined as physical or mental in nature or a combination of both. The disability must be expected to last more than 12 months or likely to result in death of claimant. While this may seem straightforward, the application process is anything but straightforward. For this reason, the author recommends you contact an experienced Social Security disability benefits attorney before applying for benefits, as this will greatly increase your chance of obtaining an appropriate award of benefits from SSA.
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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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