Paul Krugman, the Nobel prize-winning economist and Professor at Princeton University, recently wrote a New York Times column about mass unemployment entitled “The Forgotten Millions.” He says:
bear in mind that we’re looking at millions of human tragedies: at individuals and families whose lives are falling apart because they can’t find work, at savings consumed,
Every other Friday, I publish links to articles of note regarding Social Security disability and related topics:
It has been about a year since the SSA instituted a policy of not disclosing in advance of the hearing the identity of the administrative law judge assigned to a particular disability claim. The policy was aimed, it appears, at those declining video hearings with judges with a poor history of granting disability claims (an
Thanksgiving remains my favorite holiday. Here is a little reading for the holiday weekend:
Social Security field offices are starting to fall behind on their work. I am noticing it particularly with SSI payments, which are processed by the local offices. Some SSI claims are taking months to process.
There is a hiring freeze at local Social Security offices. So when an employee leaves due to retirement, promotion or
Education that "allows direct entry to skilled or semi-skilled work" is one of the variables used in the medical-vocational guideines. It rarely comes up, but I had a case last month where the claimant recently completed vocational training for medical billing (apparently, a growing field). That education allows direct entry to skilled work. If
Social Security must consider your combined impairments to determine whether or not you qualify for disability benefits.
At step 4 of the sequential evaluation process, Social Security evaluates your ability to do your past relevant work. At step 5, the SSA considers evaluates your ability to do other work.
You can use different
Every other Friday I highlight articles of note regarding Social Security disability:
Each month, I shine the spotlight on a previous post that discusses an issue regarding Social Security disability law that remains highly relevant today.
Social Security classifies the physical exertion requirements of jobs as sedentary, light, medium, heavy and very heavy.
The sedentary exertional level is an important landmark in the Social Security disability landscape.
The hearing with a Social Security administrative law judge is critically important, because it is the only time that you are in the same room with the person deciding your claim for disability benefits.
The primary purpose of the hearing is to take your testimony. Many clients do not realize this, and have an expectation that the