When you are awarded Social Security disability benefits, you do not receive benefits beginning on your disability onset date. Rather, there is a 5 month waiting period before benefits begin. As a practical matter, it is often a 6 month waiting period, because the waiting period is 5 full calendar months of disability. So if
Fibromyalgia – a Life of “Maybe”
A recent article, entitled A Life of "Maybe" With Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome notes that fibromyalgia patients live in a world of "maybes." Maybe you will feel all right on a given day, but maybe not. The "maybes" make it hard to maintain a job, a social life, relationships, you name it.
Living in
Disability Blog Roundup – 2/05
Here is a selection of recent articles from the Social Security disability blogs:
- It is no fun being disabled from the California Social Security Lawyer Blog published by Geri Kahn
- What medical sources are considered acceptable by the SSA? from the Social Security Disability Blog moderated by Jonathan Ginsberg
- 5 Questions About Social Security Answered
Failure to Follow Prescribed Medical Treatment
Every now and then at a Social Security disability hearing, the issue of failure to follow prescribed medical treatment is raised by the administrative law judge.
You don’t want this issue at your hearing. If a claimant has failed to follow prescribed medical treatment, and the prescribed treatment would restore the claimant’s ability to work
Portland, Maine Hearing Office Workload Data
The Social Security Administration just published current statistics regarding the workload of the hearing offices around the country, including the Portland, Maine hearing office.
The Workload Data Report shows the Portland ODAR received 976 appealed claims in Fiscal Year 2010, disposed of 771 claims, and has 2,989 pending claims as of December 2009. That is
ALJ Disposition Data
The SSA has just released, and posted on its website, a goldmine of current statistics regarding the Social Security hearing offices (ODARs) and judges.
Check out the ALJ Disposition Data. These Fiscal Year 2010 statistics, which run through December 2009, are the most current available. Notably, the data includes the disposition statistics for new ALJs
Disability Blog Roundup
Here is a sampling of the notable posts from the Social Security disability blogs:
- What’s new in Social Security in 2010? from Colorado Social Security Law published by Tomasz Stasiuk
- Importance of Specialist Care when Experiencing Chronic Pain from the Delaware Disability Law blog published by Steven Butler
- How important is it for me
Maine and New Hampshire Processing Times
The latest statistics for average processing times for the Social Security hearing offices just arrived. The average processing time for the Portland, Maine hearing office stands at 327 days – just about 11 months.
Processing time runs from the day the hearing office receives your hearing request to the day a decision is issued. The
Return of the Disability Blog Roundup
Back from its holiday hiatus, the Roundup returns! Here are some of the notable recent posts from the Social Security disability blogs:
- Sixth Circuit Says The DOT May Not Be Enough To Justify Denial from Social Security News published by Charles Hall
- I Have Breast Cancer, Why Was I Denied Social Security Disability Benefits from
SGA for 2010
The substantial gainful activity (SGA) amount for 2010 is $1,000 per month. You can see the SGA amounts since 1975 here.
The SGA determination is step 1 of Social Security's 5-step sequential evaluation. For Social Security disability or SSI, you must have (or expect to have) a 12-month period during which you do not have