Back benefits can be one of the more confusing aspects of Social Security disability for claimants. Although back benefits are confusing, they are also extremely important to the claimant because these benefits can reach to the tens of thousands of dollars.

Back benefits accrue from the date of the application in supplemental security income (SSI) claims. Back benefits can begin to accrue 12 months prior to the date of application for Social Security disability (SSD) claims. To qualify for back benefits for a year prior to your claim, you must establish an "alleged onset date" at least 17 months prior to applying. This is due to the fact that the Social Security Administration will not pay benefits for the first 5 months that an applicant is disabled.

To establish an Alleged Onset Date (AOD), the claimant must not be working and must be able to medically prove that he/she was unable to work on the AOD.

Due to the amount of money at stake, it is crucial to speak with a qualified Social Security Attorney prior to filing your claim.

By far the most critical part of a Social Security Disability application is the medical documentation. This is important for two reasons. First, if the claimant has continued to treat for several months or years it establishes that the claimant is truly sick or in real pain. Using your doctor’s records you can prove to Social Security that you have suffered from Lupus since 2010 or that you had a spinal fusion in 2011 and your pain continued for example. The medical evidence is the foundation on which your application is based. The second reason is important because it allows the patient the best chance of recovering and returning back to normal life.

We all know that medical treatment can be expensive without insurance and that continuing treatment after losing your job may not be possible. For those circumstances Social Security will send applicants to their own doctors for what is called a Consultative Examination. This is not ongoing treatment but a onetime evaluation by Social Security’s doctor in hopes of medical documenting your condition. No matter how much medical documentation you have your case needs to prepared by a professional who can make sure that all of the relevant evaluations are completed. If you have been denied for Social Security Disability benefits you can call the attorneys at the LaBovick Law Group to help you receive the benefits you are entitled to.

The Social Security Office in West Palm Beach has been closed since February of this year. This has inconvenienced thousands of people who rely on the office service. The Office in West Palm Beach is one of the busiest offices in South Florida which has one of the highest concentrations of people on Social Security in the country. The office closed due to problems with the air quality and is expected to open sometime this summer. Social Security has not done a great job of notifying the public of the closure. If you go to the website the only thing that would indicate the closure is a small disclaimer at the bottom of the page. With the closure of the West Palm Beach Office I direct most of my clients to the Delray Beach Office which has been inundated with people from all over the county. Cramming staff and the general public into one office has caused longer lines than usual. The Palm Beach Post reported that a 70 year old woman fell while waiting outside in the heat at the Delray Beach Office. This closure and failure to remedy the problem quickly is just one in mounting reasons why those applying for Social Security Disability or retirement are unable to get the services they need from their government in a timely manner.

If you have been diagnosed with Epilepsy you may qualify for Social Security Disability if you are not working and you are unable to work due to Epilepsy. To qualify for Social Security Disability for Epilepsy you must have been diagnosed with epilepsy and be on anti seizure medicine for at least three months. If you are taking anti seizure medicine and suffer from either Daytime episodes (loss of consciousness and convulsive seizures) or Nocturnal episodes manifesting residuals which interfere significantly with activity during the day. To qualify these episodes must be Grand mal seizures. To qualify for Social Security Disability you need to suffer from at least one or more episode a month after you have begun taking anti seizure medication. The seizures must either occur during the day or may occur at night but must then affect you during the day. This is because Social Security is chiefly concerned about your ability to work and therefore you must demonstrate not only that you are diagnosed with epilepsy but that the epilepsy must affect your ability to work. If you do not suffer from Grand Mal seizures you may be able to apply if you suffer from Petit Mal at least once per week. If you are unable to work and believe that you are entitled to Social Security disability you should contact an experienced Social Security disability attorney to represent you before Social Security disability benefits.

The most frustrating part of the Social Security disability process, is waiting for Social Security to make a determination on your claim. When clients first come into my office and tell me that they would like to file an application for disability I begin the conversation by telling them to be successful they have to be patient. I tell clients that their claim will most likely not be resolved for more than 18 months. The process takes this long because first the claimant must file an application which can take Social Security 90 days or more to make a decision on. During this time Social Security is reviewing your application, requesting medical records, and sending you to see one of their doctors. After all of this work Social Security denies more than two thirds of applications at this stage.

If your application is denied it is not time to give up your claim. Most people who apply for Social Security disability are denied, this does not mean you are not entitled to benefits. Appealing denials is the single most important thing you can do to increase your chances of success. The fist appeal is reconsideration, during this stage you application is reviewed by the same office that denied your application. This step can often times take 3 more months. If you are denied at reconsideration then it is time to request a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. This is the stage that takes the longest, often times 12-13 months before you can see a judge. This is also the most important stage; applicants have the highest chances of success at the hearing. At the hearing is your chance to humanize your application. You will be face to face with the person making the decision on your claim. You will be able to bring a witness, be represented by an attorney, and provide testimony. In order to reach the hearing you must be patient and allow your claim to progress to this stage.

Being represented by an experienced Social Security Disability Attorney will give your claim the greatest chance of success. Your attorney will be able to assist you in timely responding to Social Security’s numerous questionnaires. Your attorney will also help you develop the evidence you need to prove your claim. The process is already long enough don’t take any chances that you will have to go through it twice because you weren’t represented the first time.

One of the more difficult types of applications for Social Security Disability comes from small business owners. Often times they call our office and have a fairly typical situation. Joe the small business man was doing well supporting himself and his family. He has had the business for sometimes 20 plus years. Then Joe is diagnosed with a disease, depression, bipolar, lupas, or neuropathy. All of a sudden Joe’s business declines. Joe does not close his business but instead just watches it shrink, a business that may have afforded Joe $100,000 per year in profits before his illness is now only earning $5,000 a year.

This can happen to a small business person because once they stop marketing for new business, or if they are unable to service existing clients, their business dries up. The hard part of these cases is that many small business owners keep the shop open and essentially work for free. In these cases it is important for the small business owner to speak with a Social Security attorney early on. The attorney will be able to evaluate your claim and craft an application and appeal to the Social Security Administration that conveys that your business declined due to illness, and therefore disability, not because of the economy.

With the sequester scheduled to take effect this Friday, March 1, 2013, the media has reported that Social Security will not be affected. This is not entirely true. Although benefits will not be cut, the agencies operating budget will be reduced. This is an agency that is already racked with budget cuts. Many of the local Social Security offices have reduced operating hours, closing at 3:00 PM. Lines at some of these local offices has been known to be out the doors, and being kept on hold for more than 30 minutes is common.

The Social Security Administration predicts that the sequester will mean the elimination of 5,000 jobs from the agency. This means that millions of Americans who depend on Social Security for retirement and disability payments are at the mercy of the agency that does not have the resources it needs to handle all the applications. This means that people who apply for disability will have less service, longer lines and longer processing times before they can receive the assistance that they need.

With a reduction of Social Security staff to answer your questions, being represented by an experienced Social Security attorney will make sure that you have someone knowledgeable to answer your questions and to shepherd your case through the process. With wait times for hearings expected to increase by up to two months, you want to make sure that when you do have your hearing, you have someone next to you who can present your evidence and prove your case in front of the judge.

Anyone who has ever applied for Social Security disability benefits knows how frustrating and cumbersome the process can be. It can take anywhere from four months to two years to have the Social Security Administration determine if you meet the qualifications for disability. In an effort to expedite the process for extremely ill applicants, the Social Security Administration created Compassionate Care Allowances. This list of conditions allows people who suffer from certain cancers and heart conditions, among other diseases, to be fast-tracked through the approval process. The Compassionate Care Allowances allow Social Security to grant you benefits if you have a medical diagnosis of the condition. You are spared the months or years it takes to pull all of your medical records and then have Social Security review them using their five-step system.

If you think you qualify for the Compassionate Care Allowance, you should speak with a Social Security Attorney immediately who can assist you with your application and make sure that you are fast-tracked to receiving benefits.

If you would like to read more from the Palm Beach Post, go to this article: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/business/consumer-advice/compassionate-allowances-provide-fast-track-to-ben/nWRr5/

The government safety net offers multiple programs for people who are unable to financially take care of themselves. Two of the most widely used programs are unemployment insurance and Social Security Disability Insurance. Unemployment insurance is paid to persons who have been terminated from their employment and is meant to bridge the gap until that worker can find another job. Unemployment is meant to be temporary and kicks in immediately. Social Security Disability Insurance or SSDI is a long term solution. SSDI is for people with disabilities who are no longer able to work due to either mental or physical disabilities.
To qualify for SSDI the claimant must either have been disabled for 12 months or it is likely that the disability will continue for at least 12 months. SSDI is long term disability insurance and is in place for people who are no longer able to work. If you suffer from a disability that has affected you for more than 12 months or if your doctor tells you that it will continue for more than 12 months then you should apply for SSDI. If you have been out of work for more than 6 months then you should apply immediately. If you hesitate to apply your benefits may be reduced by thousands of dollars. If you are interested in applying for SSDI contact the attorneys at the LaBovick Law Group to review your claim.

With millions of baby boomers retired and another 10,000 entering the ranks every day baby boomers need to evaluate the Social Security Disability. Many boomers who were laid off in the recession took early retirement at 62 instead of waiting till full retirement at 66. The decision to take early retirement will lead to financial consequences that will impact the person that took early retirement and their spouse for decades to come. That is because when you decide to take early retirement you receive a smaller monthly check for the rest of your life. Baby boomers who have not reached the full retirement age of 66 and who suffer from either a physical or mental disability need to consider SSD. Social Security makes it easier for older Americans to be deemed disabled. So if you are unable to work and believe that you are disabled, don’t short change yourself and take early retirement, apply for disability and receive what you are entitled to.

The Social Security Administration is expanding its program to fast track disability claims. The fast tracking of certain severe and often times fatal diseases means that people who are diagnosed with one of more than 200 disease can be approved for disability without jumping through the standard hoops that millions of applicants must negotiate in order to receive benefits from Social Security. "Why for someone who is going to die within 15 months do we need 15 years of medical records?" Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue said in an interview. "If somebody's got a confirmed diagnosis of ALS, you know that in essence, it's not only a disability, it's a death sentence, and there is no use in burdening them with paperwork." The companionate allowances means that some applicants can be approved for disability within just a few days. Expediting these deserving applicants will help reduce the back the Social Security Administration is facing. The amount of applications for Social Security Disability has increased by 20 percent since 2008. The compassionate allowance system is designed to award benefits within 10 to 15 days. Since the Compassionate Allowances program was started, 200,000 people have received expedited benefits, Astrue said. For those who are not eligible for expedited processing but nonetheless are disabled the process can drag on for more than a year before the applicant can come before an administrative law judge. Many applicants turn to attorneys to help guide them through the system and to represent them at the hearing. You may contact the LaBovick Law Group to discuss your claim with a Social Security Disability Attorney. The consultation is free and there is no fee if you are denied Social Security Disability.

The Social Security Administration is closing local offices and reducing the hours that others are open. This is leading to longer lines and even longer waits when you try to call their 1-800-number. For those of you that don’t deal with Social Security think of your last encounter with the DMV or your cable company and you will start to get the picture. Currently Social Security has an administrative budget of 11.7 billion dollars. Their newest cost savings tactic is to stop sending out yearly statements to the 154 million Americans who have paid into the system. Now if you would like to see your statement you must go onto Social Security’s website, create an account, and login to see you statement. For generation Y who does all of their banking on a smart phone this is not a problem, however for their parents and grandparents computer literacy is a little lower. So now American’s who have paid into the system for 40 years or more won’t be able to know what their expected benefit is unless they are able to log in and check. Social Security will not be notifying you of the change you will have to know that your yearly statement you have been receiving for 25 years will no longer be delivered to mailbox. If you have trouble accessing your online statement you can go to your local Social Security office. But now you may have to drive a little further and wait longer because there are less offices left and the ones that are, aren’t open as long as they used to be.

Social Security Disability may be under attack again. A Congressional report reviewed 300 cases where disability benefits were awarded, and found a lack of sufficient evidence for disability in more than 25% of the cases according to a Palm Beach Post article. Social Security Disability is under greater scrutiny from Congress as the number of people collecting benefits has grown. The problem arises every time the economy takes a plunge because disabled persons who were employed are laid off and turn to disability for income. Bottom line: The increase in Americans collecting disability causes trouble for Social Security. Social Security Disability is projected to become insolvent this decade.

What does this mean for those planning on applying for Social Security Disability? The scrutiny of new applications will be more rigorous to ensure that benefits will only be awarded to those who meet the agencies requirements. It will be more important than ever for disabled persons to document their injury or illness. Dissevering applicants will need to make sure that they meet all of Social Security’s requirements for disability and that they are able to document their medical condition. If you need help filing a Social Security Disability claim or if you have been denied you can contact the LaBovick Law Group for a free case consultation.

Reference: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/ap/ap/labor/report-social-security-lax-on-disability-claims/nR9S5/

Anyone with a money market account or mutual fund knows, that return on investment is down across the board. Although many Americans do not consider Social Security an investment, it is the foundation of retirement funding for most people in this country. What once was a great deal for elderly workers is no longer the case. In the past, workers paid far less in Social Security taxes, so they often received more back than they paid in.

According to a recent article by the Associated Press, a worker who retired in 1960 could expect to receive seven times what they paid in to the system as long as they lived to 78. Since the 1990’s high income earners have been receiving less than they have paid in because of the progressive structure of Social Security. Now more middle-income earners are in the same situation. A typical middle income couple that both contributed to the system will not receive the amount they paid into the system unless they continue to collect benefits beyond 85. The problem is occurring because of fewer workers contributing compared to the amount of retirees receiving benefits. Currently, there are only 2.8 workers contributing for each retiree.

This budget problem affects Social Security Disability payments as well since those payments are funded from the same source. Several factors have stressed that system including the aging of baby boomers, slowing of the economy, and the increase of women in the workforce. For more detail see our Social Security disability informational news blog.

For the full AP article: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5heZljyVLTuLty0r3nZ6KfiTVk_Mg?docId=68060b5bb4384d699b2e686f5f979b26

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) came out with a report recently that illustrates the growth of Social Security Disability as the population ages. Social Security pays cash benefits to persons under the age of 66 who are no longer able to work due to physical and mental ailments. Social Security Disability paid cash benefits to 8.3 million people in 2011; that is nearly six times the amount of disabled workers that received benefits in 1970. When you add in children and spouses, the number climbs past 10 million.

Much of this growth is attributed to an aging population as baby boomers enter their 50’s and approach retirement. According to the CBO report, from 1996 through 2009, "the approximate period during which the baby-boom generation entered their 50s -- the share of disabled worker benefits awarded to older workers (age 45 and older) rose from 67 percent to 76 percent." The amount of Americans receiving disability has risen to 4.5% of the work force, those between 21 and 64.

What this means for Social Security applicants is that the process has become more difficult. The rise in applicants has seen a rise in rejections, especially at the early stages of the claims process. It is more important than ever before to have someone guide you through the disability process. If you need disability benefits, you must prove to Social Security that you qualify. This requires compiling medical reports, prescription records, employment history and piles of biographical information. This can be daunting for someone unfamiliar with the system and dealing with the daily pains of disability. If you believe that you need disability you need to reach out to an experienced Social Security Attorney to assist you with your application.

If you would like to file for disability, you can contact the LaBovick Law Group for a free consultation. We do not charge up-front attorney fees for Social Security cases and are only paid if your claim is successful.

To read the entire CBO report, follow this link:
http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/43421-DisabilityInsurance_screen.pdf

1) If your treating physician says that you are disabled you will be granted disability benefits.
The truth is that a short letter from your doctor stating that you are diagnosed with a
disease or ailment will not go very far with Social Security. Social Security is not very
interested if your doctor thinks you are disabled. However, they are interested if your
doctor has done a detailed report of your condition, treatment and impact on your daily life. A well-written report by your treating physician will go a long way to having your disability application approved, but it will not guarantee that you will receive benefits. For your doctor's opinion to carry more weight their correspondence with Social Security needs to be as detailed as possible, chronicling your treatment over time, and how your condition has impacted your work and life. You should ask your doctor to draft a medical source statement. This will detail tests, x-rays and treatments. It will also explain how your condition has physical limitations on daily task. This report will be extremely helpful at the hearing stages. The medical source statement will fill in the gaps of your testimony and add creditability to your claim when you are before the Administrative Law Judge.

2) Social Security denies everyone in the first round.
Social Security approves about 30% of applications in the first round. These tend to be for
people who are more than 55 years old or who have been diagnosed with a life-threatening
disease that is one of the “listings” used by Social Security. If you are a younger worker or
if you do not meet a listing, you will most likely be denied in the first round of approval.
This is not the time to be discouraged. You do not want to abandon your application after
it is denied. If you are denied and file a new application, it will most likely be denied as
well. If you are denied, you should seek reconsideration of your application and proceed to
the hearing stage. It is at the hearing stage that you have the highest likelihood of
approval. That is the time that you will appear before an Administrative Law Judge. This is
the first time that you are interacting with the person who is handling your file. At the
hearing, the judge is able to speak with the applicant; this humanizes the applicant far
more than their paper file.

3) If I go to the hearing before the Administrative Law Judge and explain my disability they will grant me disability.
Your word alone will not be enough for Social Security to grant you benefits. You will need
to show to Social Security that you are treating all of your physical and mental conditions.
You will also need to have your treating doctor provide detailed information to Social
Security about your condition and how your conditions limit you at work. If you are seeing
more than one doctor due to multiple issues you should have a report from each of your
doctors. Social Security can grant you disability benefits for a combination of conditions
that theyacknowledge prevent you from working even if any one of the conditions on its
own would not be severe enough for you to qualify for disability.

4) If I am not receiving medical treatment Social Security will pay to have me examined.
It is true that Social Security quite frequently sends applicants to a “consultative
examination.” Recently due to budget constraints Social Security has been limiting the
amount of consultative examinations they have been ordering. This means that you may
have trouble proving that you are disabled due to lack of medical evidence. Also some
consultative examinations may not be in-depth enough to fully develop the extent of your
disability. These are doctors that you meet with once, and they are not able chart your
degeneration over time due to your condition. You are far better off to continue treating. If
you have been treating for an extended time and you are not improving this will illustrate to
Social Security that you are unlikely to improve in the near future (Social Security only
grants benefits for life-threatening conditions or those that are likely to persist for 12
months or more). Additionally, your treating physician can often times be your best
advocate because they have the unique combination of medical training and first hand
knowledge of your condition for an extended period of time.

A Maryland women is sentenced to five years in prison for defrauding insurers, banks and the Social Security administration of millions. Winnie Joanne Barefoot of Annapolis used stolen identities over a four-year period to perpetrate fraud on the government, private insurers and unsuspecting lenders. Ms. Barefoot defrauded Social Security by providing false information so she could collect disability benefits.

Cases like this are egregious, and perpetrators should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. With Social Security Disability headed for a budget shortfall in four years, fraud regulations need to be tightened to protect disability for the deserving workers who need the safety net of Social Security. The tighter regulations have a drawback for some deserving claimants who may be denied benefits due to increased regulations. Having an experienced Social Security Disability lawyer at your side will assist deserving claimants in receiving benefits. At LaBovick Law Group we know how to assist claimants in compiling medical records and proving your application for disability.

Reference: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/breaking/bal-annapolis-woman-sentenced-to-five-years-in-prison-for-26-million-fraud-20120619,0,507306.story

According to the Washington Post, Social Security disability is set to head over the fiscal cliff long before Social Security retirement. Social Security Disability Insurance is set to owe more in payments than it receives in premiums in just four years. This means that Social Security Disability will be forced to cut its average monthly benefits by 20% since it is not allowed to run a deficit. This would be a huge blow for millions of Americans who depend on Social Security Disability Insurance payments to survive.

This does not mean that you should not apply for benefits if you think you qualify for them. However, it does mean that Social Security is becoming more selective in the application process. As baby boomers age the amount of applicants has increased. Social Security has responded by denying a higher rate of claims. The increased scrutiny means having a Social Security Attorney on your side is more important than ever. Your attorney works for you and is only paid if you receive benefits. Your experienced attorney knows how Social Security works and understands how to build your case from the ground up with a strong foundation of medical evidence. Don’t let the budget short fall Social Security is facing prevent you from receiving the benefits that you have paid for your entire working life.

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