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 »
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Hearing Wait Times Vary Depending on Hearings Office
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 »
What Are the Social Security Listing of Impairments?
Social Security disability attorneys and representatives are very familiar with the Listing of Impairments, which is the basis for disability evaluations under the Social Security Administration. The Listing of Impairments describes, for each major body system, impairments considered severe enough to prevent an individual from doing any gainful activity. This is a bit different for… Read more »
Enjoying Retirement While Working
Millions of Americans work day-after-day for decades with the hopes of one day being able to save enough money to retire. For some this dream becomes a reality, but for others they never get a chance to retire and end up working until the day they die or until they are much older than past… Read more »
Who Knew The Program Existed?
Social Security announced it was extending a pilot program that allows the agency to set the date and time for a disability hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) if Social Security deems it necessary. Prior to the pilot program the ALJ assigned the case had the only authority to determine when a hearing would… Read more »
Disability Trust Fund Better Than Expected
A recent blog post discussed the solvency of Medicare and Social Security. We informed that the Social Security trustees announced in their annual report that the Medicare trust fund would be insolvent by 2028 and the Social Security retirement and disability trust funds would be insolvent by 2034. It is important to note that insolvent… Read more »
Adjusting The Solvency Of Medicare And Social Security
The latest estimates on the solvency of Medicare, Social Security retirement and Social Security disability were released by the Social Security trustees and it is a little bit more concerning than expected. Each year the Social Security trustees release estimated dates in which Medicare and Social Security will be unable to meet 100 percent of… Read more »
I Received an SSA Notice of Overpayment
A notice of overpayment sent by the Social Security Administration can be one of the more deflating pieces of mail to receive. Basically, this notice indicates that you received too much money from Social Security and now they want the money back. According to Social Security, “an overpayment occurs when Social Security pays you more… Read more »
Why does Social Security consider my age in determining whether I am disabled?
Social Security must consider age and are required to do so. As people get older, many become less flexible, having difficulties switching to different jobs in order to cope with health problems. For example: a severe foot injury which causes a 30-year-old to switch jobs where he or she can sit down during an 8-hour… Read more »
Immigration Status And SSI
Many times there is a lot of confusion about all the technical requirements of the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. Because SSI is a needs-based program for American citizens, generally non citizens will not qualify for SSI payments even if they are disabled, but there are exceptions. According to the Social Security Administration, if you… Read more »
