Posted on July 08, 2012 in Social Security Disability

The Social Security Administration (SSA) defines disability as "the inability to do any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment that can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months." A key component of this definition is that a claimant must have a "medically determinable impairment."

What does it mean to have a medically determinable impairment? In other words, Social Security will not award Social Security disability benefits purely on one's symptoms. If you have a bloody nose or bruises all over, SSA will not award benefits purely on symptoms alone. The government wants to know what is causing your problems. Do you suffer from severe debilitating pain because of arthritis or is it because of something else.

How do you prove what is causing your symptoms? The government regulations provide, "an impairment must result from anatomical, physiological, or psychological abnormalities that can be shown by medically acceptable clinical and laboratory diagnostic techniques." Some examples include: blood tests, x-rays, MRI's, discograms, and many other medical tests.

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 Posted on July 04, 2012 in Social Security Disability

Happy Fourth of July! Today we celebrate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, declaring independence from Great Britain, and honor people who serve(d) in the United States military. As a attorney who focuses his practice on helping people with disabilities, I particularly enjoy celebrating this day and thinking about all of my clients who help protect our fine country.  It is a great feeling being able to help our nation's veterans and guide them through the veterans' disability benefits process. I hope everyone has a wonderful day and hopefully gets to see some parades and fireworks.

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 Posted on July 04, 2012 in Social Security Disability

The Social Security Administration does not tell claimants nor their representatives who the judge will be prior to attending the scheduled court date. Whether the decision to hold claimants in the dark on this issue is the right thing to do or even legal is part of a separate and later discussion. The thrust of today's topic has to do with preparing for your upcoming hearing once you arrive at the hearing office for court. When you walk into the hearing office to check-in, the person working at the front desk will most likely finally tell you who the judge is.  What can you do with this information?

http://www.disabilityjudges.com/search is a wonderful website that can be used to learn more information about the Administrative Law Judges ("ALJ") throughout the United States.  Comments and approval ratings for each of the ALJ's can be found within the "Search for Judge" button found on the homepage of the website.  If you hired a Social Security disability attorney to help you with your disability benefits claim, any information you provide your attorney about a judge could be quite helpful.  Also, finding out more information about your judge could prove to reduce your anxiety leading up to the actual hearing.

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 Posted on July 04, 2012 in Social Security Disability

You just had a hearing in front of an Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ"). At the close of the hearing, you remember the judge saying something about having a new doctor appointment. What does this mean and how will this change the outcome of your Social Security disability benefits claim?

It is not all that uncommon for an ALJ to request for a claimant to be re-evaluated and attend another consultative examination post hearing.  This is typically the case when the medical records are not complete or it appears at the hearing that there are major discrepancies between the record and the claimant's actual medical condition.

Most claimants are terrified of going to a consultative examination.  The previous doctor evaluation was most likely not very thorough and the examiner in some instances may have failed to evaluate any of the past medical records, been rushed or even outright rude. My experience with post hearing examinations is often to the contrary.

Disability Determination Services throughout the disability process periodically schedules consultative examinations to get a better understanding of the claimant's medical conditions and resulting limitations. The examinations are often performed by non-specialists who have not reviewed the medical file.  However, post hearing examiners typically review much more of the medical file.  The examiner is often a specialist in the field. So, if you are applying for Social Security disability benefits because of back problems the post hearing examiner could very well be an orthopedic or neurologist. This is not always the case, but the likelihood of getting a specialist on a post hearing examination appears to be much higher than it would prior to the hearing level.

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 Posted on July 01, 2012 in Social Security Disability

For June's "Best Social Security Disability Blogs" of the month, we listed our top 4 blogs by Social Security disability lawyers nationwide:

Writing Effective Hearing Briefs for the ALJ -Maine lawyer Gordon Gates on Social Security Disability Lawyer Blog

Social Security Funding Is Easily Fixable -Florida lawyer David Magann on Social Security Blog

Surveillance-System Monitor and Disability Benefits -Illinois disability lawyer Aaron Rifkind on Illinois Social Security Disability Blog

Past Due Benefits Paid Up To One Year Prior To Application Date Only -Georgia disability lawyer Jonathan Ginsberg on his Social Security Disability Blog

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 Posted on June 23, 2012 in Social Security Disability

On April 23rd, 2012, the Social Security Administration released it's annual report on the financial status of the program. The release was followed by a number of articles pointing to the "death of Social Security."  Just how in trouble is the system?

The Administration stated that absent any changes to the program, the Social Security Trust fund would be exhausted in 2033. While this is over 21 years away from now, obviously this raises many concerns for the security of future generations. The first question that comes to mind is what does "exhausted" really mean?

Even if the funds are exhausted, it is clear the entire program would not be immediately shutdown. Rather, if no changes are made the program would begin paying three-fourths of the scheduled payments. The idea that Social Security will vanish in 2033 is not grounded on any actual figures.

Bottom line is that Social Security does not seem to be going anywhere any time soon. Even if no changes are made to the system, Social Security will continue. Realistically, I'm confident changes will be made so that future generations can enjoy the same long term security as did our predecessors.

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 Posted on June 05, 2012 in Social Security Disability

Are you applying for Social Security disability benefits? Did the government deny your disability benefits claim, stating that you are “capable of working?”