Every other Friday I highlight articles of note for Social Security disability claimants and their representatives:
I have a hearing coming up with a judge who, historically, grants just 33% of disability cases. For both the disability claimant and for the Social Security disability lawyer, that is scary.
In general, I do not worry about ALJ disposition rates these days. I am more concerned with the match between the claimant
The Social Security Administration recently announced a cost of living adjustment (COLA) of 3.6% for Social Security beneficiaries. The COLA affects several different numbers in the Social Security ecosystem.
The monthly maximum SSI amount will be $698 in 2012. For a married couple on SSI, the "couples rate" will be $1,048.
The monthly amount for
A fully favorable ALJ decison usually contains a sentence like this:
The claimant's earnings record shows that the claimant has acquired sufficient quarters of coverage to remain insured through December 31, 2013.
Sometimes the successful claimant will read that sentence and think that it means that the Social Security disability benefits will terminate on
Photo: Bridget in Autumn
Every other Friday, I highlight articles of note on the topic of Social Security disability:
One more Social Security hearing office has been added to my short list of local ODARs. A new ODAR has been created in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and several of my clients have had their claims transferred from New Hampshire and Maine to that new hearing office.
The new ODAR is open and is scheduling hearings for
This question brought a visitor to my site recently: is it possible to get a on the record decision if you are under fifty-five?
The answer, of course is yes, it's possible, but there are a few things to bear in mind.
As with all on the record (OTR) requests, the medical evidence of disability
In Maine, the average wait for a hearing decision is now 412 days. Processing time runs from the date of the hearing request to the day a decision is issued. The 412 days is an average. Some disability claims are resolved more quickly, but a disability or SSI claim that requires a hearing and a
Like clockwork, every other Friday I link to articles of note regarding Social Security disability. This week alone has brought several excellent articles, however, and there is no reason to wait another week to highlight them. So here is a bonus edition of the Social Security disability roundup:
I counsel clients with a Social Security disability claim to be specific about their functional limitations. This is especially true at a Social Security disability hearing, where the administrative law judge is trying to assess your functional limitations to establish your residual functional capacity (RFC). It does not help the judge to say “I can’t