A recent study illustrates the grim situations in which many Americans find themselves. The study concluded that many Americans who have exhausted their unemployment benefits are seeking to receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits, as a financial life preserver.
The study, as reported in the Wall Street Journal, found that 10 percent of Americans between the ages of 50 and 65 who did not have assets of at least $5,000 applied for (SSDI) benefits just before their unemployment benefits ran out.
The number of people applying for SSDI benefits increased as they exhausted their unemployment benefits. A mere one percent of the unemployed in the 50 to 65 age range applied for SSDI benefits when there was 50 weeks left in their unemployment benefits.
]]> Relation of SSDI and Unemployment BenefitsUnemployment benefits and SSDI benefits are two types of benefits for two different types of situations. Unemployment benefits temporarily compensate those who lose their jobs, typically through no fault of their own. SSDI benefits, on the other hand, are intended to compensate adults and minors who are unable to work because of an illness or injury.
The two benefits can overlap, as people who collect unemployment benefits are eligible to collect Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits as well. In order to be eligible for benefits, the applicant's condition must meet the Social Security Administration's definition of disability.
According to the Social Security Administration's website, a person is considered disabled if he or she is unable to "engage is any substantial gainful work activity because of medically-determinable physical or mental impairment(s):"
If you cannot continue working because of a mental or physical impairment, you might be eligible for disability benefits. It is important to seek the assistance of a disability attorney, as the process can be quite complex.
]]>Work History
One of the first things the SSA will look at in an application for SSDI benefits is whether the applicant has worked long enough to qualify for benefits. SSDI functions similarly to a traditional insurance program in that people pay premiums in order to insure themselves against future disability. The premium payments come out of a person's paycheck in the form of Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) payroll taxes.
An applicant needs to have worked a certain amount of time to be insured for SSDI benefits. The current requirement is an applicant needs to have worked for 20 quarters of the past 40 quarters prior to the application date. This works out to be five of the past 10 years. Additionally, a person needs to have earned a minimum amount of money during each of those quarters. The current minimum for 2011 is $1,120.
SSA Definition of Disability
The SSA then looks at an applicant's medical condition after it has determined that a person has worked enough to qualify for SSDI benefits. In order for the SSA to grant SSDI benefits, it needs to find a person:
How the SSA Decides if an Applicant Is Disabled
The SSA first looks to see if the applicant is currently working and if so, how much the applicant makes. The SSA considers an applicant who makes over $1,000 per month as able to perform SGA and therefore not disabled.
If an applicant is not working, then the SSA looks to see if the applicant's condition is severe enough to interfere with work-related activities. If the condition is severe, the SSA looks to see if the condition is one of those on the Compassionate Allowances list of conditions that are so disabling that they have a fast track application process. If it is, then the SSA will expedite the application.
If the condition is not on the list, the SSA looks to see if the applicant can do the work he or she did previously. If not, then the SSA looks to see if there is other work that the applicant could do instead of his or her previous employment in order to make SGA. Only after the SSA has determined that there is no other work that an applicant could do, given his or her skills, education and age, does the SSA grant SSDI benefits.
An Attorney Can Help
The SSDI application process is long and can be arduous. The SSA demands a lot of information in its applications and there are several ways that an applicant can fail to qualify for benefits simply by not including all of the information in his or her application or not providing the right kind of information.
It is often helpful for applicants to have the assistance of an attorney who has filed SSDI application in the past. Such an attorney can ensure that the application is complete and contains all of the information that will clearly present how the applicant's condition prevents him or her from working.
]]>Work Incentives
The SSA offers people receiving SSDI and SSI incentives to try to go back to work. Some of the incentives that those on SSDI or SSI may qualify for include:
The SSA established the Ticket to Work program to assist people receiving disability benefits find jobs and have more options in the types of jobs they hold. When the SSA issues a person a Ticket, he or she can redeem the Ticket with an Employment Network (EN) that he or she chooses. The EN will provide the person with services such as vocational rehabilitation and other support services with the aim of obtaining and holding employment. The EN coordinates the services and assists the person with finding and keeping a job.
Both SSI and SSDI beneficiaries are eligible to participate in the program, as long as they are over 18 years old.
As an added bonus for those who participate in the Ticket to Work program, the SSA does not conduct continuing disability reviews for those involved.
If you receive Social Security disability benefits and are wondering how going back to work might affect those benefits, talk to an experience attorney who can advise you of your options.
]]>How Often the SSA Reviews Conditions
When the SSA awards an applicant disability benefits, they place the person in one of three categories for review timelines, based on the applicant's condition:
The SSA will inform the recipient by letter when it is time for his or her review. An SSA representative will then contact the recipient and request records from any healthcare providers that the recipient has seen and information about any employment that the recipient has done during the time since the award of benefits. The SSA representative then forwards that information to a disability review team consisting of a doctor and a disability examiner.
The team reviews the applicant's file to determine whether the applicant still meets the SSA's definition as a disabled: "the inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity (SGA) by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment(s) which can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months."
After the Review
After the team makes a decision, the SSA sends a letter to the recipient informing him or her of the outcome. If the disability review team decides the recipient is still disabled by the SSA's definition, the recipient continues to receive benefits as before.
If the team decides the recipient is no longer disabled, the recipient may appeal the team's decision in the same manner a person appeals an initial denial of benefits. If a person chooses not to appeal the decision, then he or she will stop receiving benefits three months after the decision.
The rules governing Social Security disability benefits are complex and can be confusing. If you have been denied benefits or the SSA has stopped your benefits, contact an experienced attorney who is familiar with the rules governing disability benefits and can help you navigate the maze of SSA regulations.
]]>It is one way legislators can technically cut Social Security Disability benefits without facing an outright public assault for doing so. Formally proposing Social Security cuts would be an unpopular move with many disabled Americans, senior citizens and aging baby-boomers.
]]> The Adjustments to the Consumer Price IndexThe CPI controls cost-of-living adjustments by calculating the impact inflation has upon the cost of consumer goods. The change that some politicians support would modify the calculation of the CPI, effectively lowering cost-of-living adjustments. The cost-of-living modification would initially seem minor to most Social Security Disability (SSD) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients, but its effect would grow each year.
The debt-reduction packages are just proposals at this point, but they are being taken seriously. It is important for the public to know the true impact of changes to the CPI: that they will lower the SSD and SSI benefit payments to millions of Americans. Contact your representative to let him or her know your opinion on changes to the consumer price index and cost-of-living adjustments.
If you need assistance applying, expediting or appealing your SSD claim or determination, contact an experienced disability claim advocate.
Source: usnews.com. "Debt Ceiling Could Mean Social Security Cuts" June 28, 2011.
]]>The New York Times reports that "[p]rograms intended to steer people with more moderate disabilities back into jobs have managed to take only a small sliver of beneficiaries off the Social Security rolls." The Times continues by referring to a prediction that many commentators have been trumpeting for awhile now: that in 2018, just a handful of years from now, the Social Security Disability fund will be out of operating cash.
]]> The New York Times also observes that "lawyers who solicit clients on television and on the Internet probably play a role" in the increasing numbers of people on the Social Security Disability rolls today. But lawyers are facilitators and advocates for those who are legitimately disabled. Marketing has little to do with whether or not someone is disabled.Moreover, the person's underlying disabling condition - the condition that originally qualified them for benefits - has little to do with whether the person is using the program as a "shadow safety net," as many commentators have argued.
Has anyone considered that the reason "back-to-work" programs haven't been successful is, perhaps, because the people are actually disabled and cannot work? Even if afflicted with so-called "moderate" disabilities?
If it's hard enough for people with reasonable physical or mental fitness to find a job in the economic downturn of the last few years, it's certainly harder for those who have been collecting Social Security Disability benefits, because it has already been determined that they could not work for 12 months or longer (or the condition was likely to result in the person's death) - which is how someone qualifies for disability benefits in the first place.
So, in other words, anyone who qualifies for Social Security Disability benefits must have a pretty serious disabling condition, and picking yourself up by the bootstraps is a notion that can carry you only so far.
Source: Disabled, but Looking for Work
]]>In making its comparison, NPR quotes Ronald Reagan: "The poverty-stricken, the disabled, the elderly, all those with true need - can rest assured that the social safety net of programs they depend on are exempt from any cuts."
]]> This was in March 1983, exactly 27 years ago, when Reagan sought to cut government spending and programs, much like what many newly-elected Congressional politicians are seeking to do today.The difference between then and now is that there are few quotes similar to Reagan's in today's rhetoric. (This does not mean Reagan didn't make cuts. As NPR reports, Reagan's budget affected food stamps and welfare and Medicaid.)
But that's precisely NPR's point: there is little to no public support of those who wish to see continued survival of the social safety net. This is an ominous sign.
As an online commenter writes, "The crucial difference of a 'Ponzi' scheme is the promise of big returns. Nobody expects to get rich on Social Security." The commenter makes a good point: those who oppose "big government" tend to characterize the Social Security program as an entitlement, or welfare, or a kind of fraudulent Ponzi scheme.
These characterizations are dangerous because they inspire opposition in the very same people - the working poor, the disabled, senior citizens, and voters young and old - who all stand to benefit from the social safety net when they are struck by unfortunate circumstances.
By that time, however, the social safety net as we know it could be a thing of the past.
]]>But some predict that a rent cap keeping people in stable housing would actually save New York $16 million by avoiding the costs associated with evictions, not to mention the benefits of stable housing: a place to live, do one's best to stay healthy, and avoid risky behaviors.
After all, HIV/AIDS is the number one cause of death for those who must turn to shelters for housing.
As housing advocate Sean Barry says, "It's a communicable disease. It affects your immune system. It's deadly for homeless people with AIDS to enter the homeless shelters."
Housing advocates are hoping to pass the rent cap bill under current Governor Andrew Cuomo. Barry says, "Cuomo's record on affordable housing is one of his biggest assets with progressives and low-income African-Americans and Latinos."
The bigger issue is stable housing for all. As reported by City Limits News, one recent study indicated that chronic illness is the root cause of half of all home foreclosures.
]]>Orszag opines that the longer a person remains separated from the workforce, whether because of job loss or because of disability, the harder it will be for that person to return to work. Job skills "atrophy," he writes. This spells trouble for an economy that continues to be hampered by high unemployment. Orszag is probably right.
]]> He goes on to write that "a drastic rise in applications for disability insurance suggests we may be headed for more long-lasting trouble," based on what Orszag characterizes as permanent dependence on the SSDI program once a person leaves the workforce because of disability.Orszag says that people aren't less healthy -- it's the bad economy, which has caused people to apply for SSDI benefits when they otherwise would not have applied.
But as SSDI attorneys, we know that simply filling out an application for SSDI benefits is a long way from a guarantee that a person will actually receive those benefits. There is a process. First, more than half of all initial applicants are turned down, and then there is the level of reconsideration and the appeals process in escalating venues. The process, which disfavors applicants, isn't likely to change.
The rise in applications may indeed be a function of the bad economy, as Orszag writes, but the rise in applications in no way indicates that those who apply aren't genuinely disabled.
Source: Making Disability Work
]]>A large part of this participation is a disabled person's ability to make ends meet through a social safety net - Social Security Disability benefits, for example - and even those with depression and affective disorders and anxiety-related disorders (who would have been dismissed in the past) have access to benefits.
But prior to stating that Brignell herself feels fortunate to be living as a disabled person in the early 21st century, she first describes a long and brutal history of segregation and maltreatment of disabled people over the last couple hundred years. It's quite difficult to read.
]]> Money and DisabilityBrignell, who in her columns examines both her own life as a disabled woman as well as the broader disability rights movement, clearly feels fortunate: "The greatest benefit of becoming tetraplegic is that it's made me realise what's important in life." She goes on to write about a "comfortable flat, a rewarding job and enough money to meet all my needs."
In the past, those without the ability to live independently - generally without money and sufficient familial resources - were segregated in institutions. Most of these institutions were extremely abusive.
Brignell writes of children, lacking enough food, eating toothpaste and grass. She writes of medical experimentation, such as a child born with deformed hands and feet undergoing repeated and painful corrective surgeries ("torture"), which apparently did nothing to correct his condition. She writes of the absence of control, the absence of choice, and the absence of basic human dignity.
As Social Security Disability lawyers, we understand that money (or lack of money, to be precise) and those particular living conditions in which a disabled person finds herself are inextricably linked.
Money buys food. It buys housing. It buys help.
Sources: When the disabled were segregated
]]>The HIV-baby generation is made of those who were born in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when treatment of HIV was relatively primitive. Those of the HIV-baby generation have now entered their late teens and early twenties. They must follow a complex drug regimen with varying degrees of success and complication. Many of them must rely on Social Security Disability benefits for HIV/AIDS.
]]> As the New York Times reports, Cosgrove and other HIV-positive people can experience any of the side effects listed below due to their medications (and the fact that they've dealt with their HIV-positive status their whole lives):Though HIV is now generally considered a chronic disease that can be managed, the Social Security Administration (SSA) grants Social Security Disability benefits on a case by case basis when it comes to HIV/AIDS.
The SSA website states, "Individuals with HIV infection who are asymptomatic, or who have less severe HIV manifestations, may be found not disabled."
That is what happened to Davi Morales, who was born with HIV. He lost his Social Security Disability benefits because he was determined able to work. Yet he suffers insomnia and diarrhea from his medication and has great difficulty holding down a job.
The author of the New York Times piece may refer to the disease as "manageable," but to the many people affected by chronic illness, especially one as difficult as HIV, that word does not do justice to its impact on their daily lives.
Sources:
As HIV Babies Come of Age, Problems Linger
Providing Medical Evidence for Individuals with HIV Infection
]]>Fritzky, a writer, is blessed because he still has one half of one finger with which to type and earn a living after neisseria meningitis nearly killed him. Neisseria meningitis is a bacterial infection estimated to cause death in roughly 10 percent of cases, according to Wikipedia, and causes the well-known disease of meningitis.
]]> As a result of his infection, Fritzky suffered strokes and lack of oxygen to his extremities, leading to the amputation of most of his fingers and legs.Fritzky was president of a New Jersey chamber of commerce prior to getting sick.
At first Fritzky accepted Social Security disability benefits because it made sense; now, after finding work teaching online courses for two colleges and freelance writing for The NFL Alumni, Inc., which profiles former NFL pros and commissions 'what they're doing now' stories, Fritzky "works because he can".
That is the key message for our clients: You work because you can. Frankly, our clients would prefer to work. But the varieties of disabilities we see in our practice--from debilitating muscular dystrophy to post-traumatic stress disorder--prohibits our clients from working. In those cases, Social Security disability benefits are necessary to help make ends meet.
People like Rich Fritzky are making the best of a tough situation. We help our clients do the same.
Source: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/10/nj_quadruple_amputee_holds_sev.html
]]>To qualify for FERS disability benefits, you must first have been in your federal civilian job for at least 18 months prior to the onset of your disability. You must have become disabled in the course of that job, and your federal employer must prove that, due to your disability, it can no longer accommodate you in your original position (or any other job at the same level). Like SSDI, your disability must be expected to last for no less than one year.
]]> Qualifying for SSDI benefits is more difficult, and in the majority of cases SSDI benefits are available only to those who have earned 40 work credits. (In 2010, you receive one credit for each $1,120 of earnings, up to the maximum of four credits per year.) Since 20 of those work credits must have been earned in the 10 years prior to the onset of the disability, you must have had a relatively consistent work history prior to your becoming disabled in order to qualify for SSDI benefits.Due to the specialized and complex nature of obtaining government benefits, having an experienced attorney on your side can help you determine what types of benefits you qualify for and how best to maximize outcomes.
]]>The income and resource limits for SSI vary from state to state. The determination of a qualifying "disability" is much the same as Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). In short, a person is considered disabled if he or she has a condition that has or is expected to last at least twelve months, and prevents someone from engaging in "substantial gainful activity."
]]> There are differences between the two programs, though people often receive both types of benefits at the same time. SSDI benefits are tied to a person's work credits; in other words, how much the disabled worker has put into Social Security through their paychecks. SSI, in contrast, is a program intended specifically to help people with financial difficulties who are of a certain age or have a disability, and is not tied to the amount he or she has worked.As of yet, one cannot apply for SSI online. Each application must be done in person and is scheduled at a local Social Security office. The best thing to do is call the local office for an appointment, and then be prepared to provide documentation such as a Social Security number (if you have one), proof of income, proof of other economic resources, and a birth certificate. You will also need documentation verifying citizenship or residency.
]]>While a disabled person might be eligible for both types of benefits, SSDI benefits will be offset, or reduced, by the amount of workers' compensation benefits one receives. Finding a lawyer with a practice in the fields of Social Security disability and workers' compensation can help you ensure the best possible outcome when seeking benefits.
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