After years of promising to do so, the Social Security Administration issued its long-awaited ruling on how to evaluate disability claims for people with fibromyalgia. Prior to the issuance of this ruling, social security claimants had to make arguments under other, vaguely related disorders like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or pain disorders. SSR 12-2p will provide… Read more »
Categorized: Legal News
The Affordable Care Act and People With Disabilities
Interesting piece from Forbes magazine about the potential impact of the Affordable Care Act on people with disabilities. The article makes the rather dubious claim that once the ACA is fully implemented, people with disabilities who are currently covered by Medicaid will leave the public health market in droves because they would not be ‘held… Read more »
Proposed Reforms to Student Loan Debt Forgiveness Based on Disability
Earlier last week the Education Department proposed new rules to revamp its program for forgiving federal student loans of borrowers who become disabled. While the proposed reforms would not use Social Security disability findings as a basis for discharging loans – as many student borrowers’ advocates had hoped – they would streamline the application process… Read more »
Congressional Testimony by the Honorable D. Randall Fry, President of the Association of Administration Law Judges.
Click this link for Congressional Testimony by the Honorable D. Randall Fry, President of the Association of Administration Law Judges. He makes some more than fair points: noting the immensely short time judges have to review cases that are often hundreds of pages long, and that Administrative Law Judges have to do an immense balancing act… Read more »
Huntington’s Disease Added to Compassionate Allowance List
At present there are 113 medical conditions that qualify for ‘compassionate allowance’ status; an additional 52 conditions will be added in August 2013. Compassionate Allowances (CAL) include medication conditions that Social Security purportedly identifies and targets early in the process for expedited processing. The full list of conditions can be found here, and it includes… Read more »
Can I work and apply for Social Security disability at the same time?
Try going the better part of two years without the ability to earn a living and having no income to speak of. Many times this is exactly what someone who is going through the Social Security process is faced with. Because it can take a long time before an applicant is approved for Social Security… Read more »
“Slaves” Respond to Allen West
A couple of thoughtful responses to Congressman Allen West’s controversial comments that Social Security is akin to modern-day slavery can be found here and here.
Allen West: Social Security is ‘modern slavery’
Comments by Florida Congressman Allen West – comparing Social Security Disability benefits to ‘modern, 21st century slavery’ – are generating lots of chatter on the internet. Congressman West does not explain how, exactly, an insurance policy that American taxpayers have paid into through their own earnings is somehow analogous to forced labor secured by threat… Read more »
SSA Cutting Costs?
The Wall Street Journal published this article last November discussing how the Social Security Administration (SSA) is cutting costs generated by the doctors employed to review cases. Per the article, the doctors are receiving less money per case reviewed, have been pressured to review an incredibly large number of cases, and are reviewing cases outside of… Read more »
SSDI Testimony Before Congress
On June 27, 2012 the House Ways and Means Committee Subcommittee on Social Security held hearings on the Social Security Disability appeals process. I’m linking to two interesting statements, one from the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, and one from the president of the Association of Administrative Law Judges. I found the disparate opinions between… Read more »
