Social Security regulates the fees paid to those repesesenting disability claimants before the SSA. A contingency fee of 25% is permitted, and charged by pretty much everyone who does this type of work.
For those using the fee agreement process that allows quicker payment of the fee, Social Security imposes a cap on the fee
I will be attending the annual NOSSCR Conference in Austin, Texas this week. NOSSCR is a critically important organization for those of us who represent clients before the Social Security Administration, and I am happy to be a sustaining member.
If you are attending the conference, please say hello.
Disability claimants over the age of 55 who are unable to perform their past relevant work and are limited to Light exertional work (or less) will be found disabled at step 5 in the absence of readily transferable skills (and in the absence of recent education providing direct entry to skilled work), by operation of
Cooking in a commercial kitchen is a demanding job. You are constantly on your feet, using your hands frequently, and lifting and carrying stuff around the kitchen. The Dictionary of Occupational Titles characterizes the job of “Cook” as a Medium exertional, skilled job. That means that if the person seeking benefits is no longer able
SSA has released the “waterfall” chart for fiscal year 2021.
The chart show what percentage of disability claims were granted and denied nationwide at each level of review:
Starting Thursday, April 7, the Social Security Administration will restore in-person services, including for “walk-ins” who do not have appointments, in their field offices.
This is great news for the general public.
Social Security has begun sending out Form SSA-4547, Advance Designation of Representative Payee, to certain disability claimants. I got a call last week from a client who received the form in the mail, and inferred that her Title II disability claim must have been granted at Reconsideration. But no. Her claim is still pending
Almost all the hospital groups now have patient portals, which give patients online access to their medical records, test results, upcoming appointments, and more.
When developing a disability claim, I find that I am asking clients more and more frequently to provide me with the user name and password for their patient portal account.
Those seeking Social Security disability benefits often contact a lawyer after they receive a notice of disapproved claim in the mail. That denial letter offers some explanation of why the claim was disapproved, but it is often too vague to be much help to the lawyer developing the claim.
After an appeal of that initial
Lately Social Security has been sending initial disability claims filed online to a Workplace Support Unit (WSU), instead of the local field office. There are several of these WSUs around the country, set up to do overflow work. I have had initial claims filed online sent to various WSUs, including Boston, Tampa, and Birmingham.
Once