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
When a claimant is a “working supervisor,” such as a lead carpenter on a construction site, Social Security may have additional questions about that supervisory, managerial, clerical or administrative work:
Transferable skills are getting attention across the board in Social Security disability claims. I am particularly seeing transferable skills analyzed more frequently in DDS determinations.
At the DDS level, transferable skills are assessed with reference to POMS DI 25015.017
The POMS treatment of transferable skills is a great starting point for your review. If the concept of transferable skills is new to you, or you need a refresher, read the POMS section on transferable skills first. At the hearing level, see Social Security Ruling 82-41.Continue Reading Transferable Skills
An important aspect of your past relevant work is the skills you may have learned on the job. In the context of Social Security disability, the touchstone for job skills is Social Security Ruling 82-41. That Ruling states:
A skill is knowledge of a work activity which requires the exercise of significant judgment that
Social Security’s Program Operation Manual Series (POMS) states that an RFC must reflect the claimant’s ability to work on a sustained basis. See POMS Section DI 24510.057
RFC represents the most a claimant can do despite his or her limitations or restrictions. Ordinarily, RFC is the individual’s maximum remaining ability to do sustained work