Blog

A huge sigh of relief usually follows the notification that a claimant’s Social Security disability hearing is scheduled. Finally, it gives a claimant a chance to have their “day in court” to prove they deserve either Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. Sometimes that relief is soon replaced with trepidation… Read more »

As a case manager, when I have to inform our clients at Greeman Toomey about hearings before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), a common question that is asked is if a claimant has to speak at the hearing. The answer is, if the ALJ wants to hear from you, you are going to have to… Read more »

 Social Security has, for quite some time now, attempted to provide more services online so that people don’t have to face long wait times standing in line at a Social Security office or on hold when they call Social Security. Not everyone has Internet access, but most people do and would rather attempt to access… Read more »

When you are young and in the prime of your life one of the last things you are probably thinking about is old age and retirement, but it’s really never too early to think about securing your future. Today’s Millennial Generation is finding it difficult to get a career started, so topics like retirement and… Read more »

Social Security will begin an “Augmentation Strategy” where it will allow the Appeals Council to start conducting hearings on disability cases after decisions have been issued by Administrative Law Judges (ALJs). Using this as a strategy to reduce the number of hearing requests before ALJS, Social Security will utilize Administrative Appeals Judges (AAJs) to conduct… Read more »

Earlier this year the Senate Special Committee on Aging reported that Social Security closed more than 20 local field offices within the last year thus reducing access to retirement and disability services the agency provides. Many other organizations picked-up on this story and suggested this was a master plan by Social Security to, in the… Read more »

Wait times for disability hearings before Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) at the Social Security Administration have never been worse according to Inspector General Patrick O’Carroll Jr. There are more than 1 million people across the country that are waiting for hearings before ALJs and the national average wait time to process disability claims for hearings… Read more »

Nothing may be more important to a Social Security disability case than the Alleged Onset Date (AOD). This is the date a claimant contends that impairments they suffer from have become disabling enough that they are unable to maintain gainful employment. Now, gainful employment may mean different things to different people, but for the purposes… Read more »

Social Security has been around for more than 80 years to provide millions of Americans with retirement, disability and survivor’s benefits every year. The program has had its critics over the years and the Republican Party has always seemed to launch attacks on the disability program, but party officials have also gone after agency’s old-age… Read more »