Every other Friday, I publish articles of note regarding Social Security disability.
Photo: Bridget at 16 months
I had a stretch of time this summer where our little Social Security disability law firm had very few hearings scheduled, due to slowdowns at the Portland, Maine and Manchester, New Hampshire hearing offices. I devised a four-point strategy to use the extra time of our two lawyers, our paralegal, and our legal assistant.
Now that Labor Day is around the corner, we are back to a more normal hearing schedule. I thought it was worth taking a look at how the strategy worked out. Each of the four points is discussed below:
1. Get a head start on the claims that will be scheduled in the Fall
We are in great shape for our September and October hearings. But as it turned out, it was not much of head start on what we would have done anyway. We were prepared a little earlier than usual. So no big deal on this item.
2. Write "on the record" requests for every appropriate claim
We filed several on the record requests, but only a few of them were granted. I don't know why more of the OTR requests were not granted, but the claims that were not approved are basically now all set for hearing. We will continue to focus on these OTR requests, because they are a very efficient use of our time. I feel pretty good about this item.
3. Redouble our efforts to communicate frequently with our clients
We talked with our clients, updated them on status (and received updates from them), and put a medical source statement form in the hand of everybody with an upcoming doctor's visit. We also captured as many client email addresses as possible, so that we can stay in touch that way as well. This was time very well spent, and is an ongoing effort. As a result of our efforts, we are making progress earlier in the case, and even more claims are ready for an OTR request.
4. Focus on outreach
Our excellent ebook, 10 steps to prepare for your Social Security disability hearing, was released in July, and has been downloaded hundreds of times since then. Regular visitors may have noticed some minor changes to the look of this blog, and there is a new New Hampshire Social Security Lawyer website. Our outreach efforts continue apace.
Summary
Overall, it wasn't as big of an activity gap as I feared back in June. We stayed busy, enjoyed our Summer, and made good progress in the four areas described above.
There has been quite a bit of chatter about a recent report and subsequent Associated Press article stating that the Social Security disability trust fund is running dangerously low. My strong advice to you is not to worry about it. The sky isn't falling.
Negative headlines about Social Security get repeated over and over these days, often by those who simply disagree with the Social Security disability insurance system.
There were also some unfortunate comments from SSA Commissioner Astrue in that AP article, suggesting that those out of work due to a poor economy "take a shot at disability" due to economic desperation. That certainly has not been my experience with clients applying for disability benefits, and Commissioner Astrue really should know better.
Those with Social Security disability claims have enough to worry about without adding concerns about Social Security's solvency. My advice to those applying for disability benefits is to spend your energy managing your health and making your claim stronger prior to your hearing.
I frequently talk, or trade emails, with people who are thinking about applying for Social Security disability but are still working (and earning more than the SGA amount of $1,000 per month).
Sometimes people are surprised that they cannot still work and apply for disability benefits. Sometimes they want to discuss the likelihood of success for a disability claim, should they stop working and apply for benefits.
Often people want to know if their particular medical condition can provide a basis for disability. My answer is always yes, so long as the symptoms are severe enough to prevent them from working, and there is good medical support for the severity of the symptoms. It is not the diagnosis, but rather the severity of the symptoms that determine the success of a disability claim.
I invariably also say that stopping work should be a last resort. There are good reasons for this.
First, the path to Social Security disability benefits can be a winding one. It can take longer than hoped. These days in Maine, if a hearing is necessary, the better part of twenty months can pass (and if you take 60 days to appeal your initial and reconsideration denials, it can be two years). It is quicker in New Hampshire, but is still likely to be a 16-month process if a hearing is required.
Second, even if the disability application is granted right away, there is still a 5 full-calendar-month waiting period for benefits. As a result, it can often be almost 6 months before your are eligible for benefits, and the first check comes the following month. So that's almost 7 months from your last day of work. You have to be prepared financially for that gap in income.
If you have any choice about it at all, please think carefully before stopping work. However, when work becomes too much, you should apply for the disability benefits for which you have paid a premium through your FICA taxes over the years.
You can gain further insight into the Social Security disability claim process by downloading the free ebook below.
**************************
Download free ebook:
Ten steps to prepare for your Social Security disability hearing
Every other Friday I publish links to articles of note on the topic of Social Security disability:
Some Social Security disability claimants do not hire a lawyer because they believe they cannot afford one. However, the SSA-approved contingency fee process means that it does not cost a penny to hire a lawyer, and there is no fee unless a disability or SSI claim is successful. We do not get paid unless you get paid.
I speak with prospective clients regularly, and many do not realize that fees for a Social Security disability lawyer are almost always contingency fees. This also means we talk with you a bit about your claim before we represent you. That way, you have a lawyer that believes in your claim as much as you do.
There is a permanent page on this site About Attorney Fees, which provides further detail. The bottom line is that you should seek help with your disability claim regardless of your current ability to pay for a lawyer.
The Social Security Appeals Council tracked the reasons for the remands from the 102,062 claims it reviewed in FY 2010, and compiled a list of top reasons for remands. The summary was published in the July Social Security Forum, a newsletter for NOSSCR members. Download Top Remand Reasons (link opens a 1-page pdf file).
The Appeals Council continues to remand about 22% of its cases. When you consider how many perfunctory AC requests for review are made, that strikes me a significant percentage. But you can increase your odds of a remand by focusing on high percentage reasons. We will take a look at the top 5 reasons here.
So there you go. Depending upon the facts of your particular case, be sure to highlight the errors that are most likely, statistically speaking, to result in an Appeals Council remand.
Every two weeks, I publish links to notable articles on the topic of Social Security disability. This week I published a rebuttal to a paper suggesting that Social Security administrative law judge decisions were inherently flawed, and that the entire ALJ system should be abolished. Please take a look, because I spent some time writing it.
Photo: Lunch on a summer day
The latest statistics for processing times for Social Security hearing offices around the country have been released by the SSA, and reprinted in the July 2011 NOSSCR Social Security Forum newsletter.
In Maine, the average wait for a hearing decision is now 365 days – exactly one year. Processing time runs from the date of the hearing request to the day a decision is issued. The 365 days is an average. Some disability claims are resolved more quickly, but a disability or SSI claim that requires a hearing and a written decision may take longer.
The bottleneck with claims seems to be staffing and budget concerns. I am seeing this in other ODARs as well. There seem to be enough judges to handle the claim volume, but many hours of staff time are required to get a claim ready for hearing, and staff hours are definitely down. The Portland, Maine hearing office has farmed out a small number of claims to other hearing offices to help manage its backlog.
**************************
Download free ebook:
Ten steps to prepare for your Social Security disability hearing
A 28-page working paper entitled What Should We Do About Administrative Law Judge Disability Decisionmaking? was recently published by Richard J. Pierce, Jr., who is currently a GWU law school professor.
Pretty much all you need to know about the author’s perspective on the issue of ALJ disability decisionmaking is contained in the first sentence and last sentence of the paper.
First sentence: The 1400 Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) who work for the Social Security Administration (SSA) are making a significant contribution to the economic problems the US is now experiencing.
Last sentence: My preferred solution would be to abolish the ALJ-administered part of the disability decisionmaking process and to use at least part of the resulting savings to implement a system of reviewing past decisions to grant disability benefits to determine whether each beneficiary actually suffers from a permanent disability so serious that he can not perform the functions needed to hold any job in the US economy.
That’s nice. So, not only should we abolish those pesky ALJs who are granting disability claims, but let’s use those savings to review the decisions of those disability claimants who have already been granted benefits.
A working paper is not a law review article. It is an essay, a work in progress. So maybe we should not judge it too harshly. But this essay is just so slanted, it is surprising that is being described as “legal studies.” It reads like a policy paper from the Heritage Foundation.
The paper discusses four areas that demonstrate the problems with ALJ decisions. Let’s take a look at each.
Continue Reading Administrative Law Judge Disability Decisionmaking
