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Among the questions asked to Greeman Toomey attorneys and staff, the most frequent one is “how am I supposed to survive until my hearing?” Unfortunately the average wait time for a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge is 12-15 months from the date of your appeal. If a claimant receives unfavorable decisions at the Initial… Read more »

Incarceration may impact your eligibility for benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA).  This depends on how long you are incarcerated for and what type of benefits you receive. If you are receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments and you are in jail or prison, your payments will be suspended after you have been incarcerated… Read more »

Social Security has an $800 billion annual budget, and is one of the government’s largest expenses. Best known for sending monthly payments to retired Americans, SSA also pays disability claims for 18 million people each year, with numbers increasing due to the recession. The Social Security Administration currently faces one of the largest backlogs in the… Read more »

For those who do not know, the Social Security disability process is a long, winding road that can take many applicants the better part of two years to navigate until a final decision is reached. There are a variety of reasons for this, but probably the biggest reason is it takes, on average, 12-15 months,… Read more »

This item recently came up in our office for a client we were representing. The Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) in one of the cases we were representing called a pre-hearing conference prior to the hearing on a disability case. This is a rare occurrence because Social Security does not call pre-hearing or post-hearing conferences very… Read more »

In yet another alarming trend, the U.S. House of Representatives, September 28, passed a bill that would cut off Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits to seniors and disabled people who have outstanding arrest warrants for an alleged felony or for an alleged violation of a probation violation. This move is unlikely to cause any sort… Read more »

The Social Security Advisory Board is a non-partisan, independent federal board that was established to advise the president, congress and Social Security’s commissioner on policy and administration related to Social Security retirement and disability programs. The board now it has a new member, who is likely to be an advocate for Social Security programs. Congresswoman… Read more »

Filing an application for Social Security disability may actually sound easier than it is. There are many ways to file an application, online, in-person at a Social Security office, or by phone. Applying is one thing, filing what Social Security considers to be a “valid” application is another. To make things clear, Social Security created… Read more »

The Social Security disability process can take well over two years or longer before a claimant is finally awarded benefits. Many disabled people are unable to work even part-time so finances are going to be stretched thin for anyone who has to wait that long. At Greeman Toomey Law Office, we advise our clients to… Read more »

Social Security benefits are available to children under the age of 18 if they meet the disability rules, these types of benefits are known as Supplemental Security Income (SSI). But, what if someone meets the disability rules between the ages of 18-22? Many young people do not have a long work history and many have… Read more »