Social Security Lawyer | Social Security Claim Attorney

"Enough Said! Call Fred!" ©

1-800-882-5500

Social Security Lawyer | Social Security Claim Attorney

Social Security Administration

Recent Congressional Hearings

This past June and July, Congress held a number of hearings related to the Social Security Administration (SSA). What follows is a brief rundown of each hearing: *On June 18, the Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing on SSA field office (FO) closures and service cuts. Since 2010, the SSA has closed 64 FOs and 533 mobile offices due to budget shortages. The shortages have also resulted in a loss of 11,000 SSA employees. Committee Chairman Bill Nelson of Florida and ranking Minority Member Sen. Susan Collins of Maine were upset that the SSA took these measures with… Learn More

According to the Trustees…

On July 28, 2014, the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Board of Trustees released its annual report for the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds. According to the report, which reads much like the 2013 version, if no action is taken, the combined Social Security Trust Funds will be solvent until 2033, at which point scheduled benefits would be paid at a level of 77%. The Disability Insurance Trust Fund itself, however, is in more immediate trouble. It is projected to remain solvent until late 2016, at which point its reserves will be depleted if Congress does not act. So what… Learn More

The Final Say on Scheduling Hearings

To accommodate growing numbers of disability hearings, the Social Security Administration (SSA) is making a few changes to the rules in order to speed up the hearing and decision process. The new hearing rules deal primarily with scheduling and notice procedures pertaining to video hearings. In addition to expediting the hearing and decision process, the new rules are designed to prevent people from manipulating the rules to cherry-pick Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) with higher allowance rates and avoid those with lower rates. According to the new rules, before scheduling a hearing, a claimant must be notified of the possibility that… Learn More

What are Some Reasons to Object to A Vocational Expert (VE)?

A VE is an expert witness that testifies on behalf of the Social Security Administration (SSA) at an individual’s disability hearing. However, there are certain circumstances in which a claimant representative might object to a VE and/or the testimony that VE provides. The following are just a few of the many possible reasons to object to a VE based on his or her qualifications: -The VE never took a statistics course -The VE is neither a labor market nor a placement specialist -The VE has a criminal history -The VE cannot provide a professional foundation to support his or her… Learn More

House Minority Memorandum on Social Security Administration (SSA) Integrity Hearing

Prior to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s two-part hearing on June 11th, the Minority Staff released a memorandum for Democratic Committee Members. Whereas the Majority’s report focused largely on major improvements that still need to be made regarding the integrity of the appeals process, the Minority’s focus provides a contrasting perspective. It highlights improvements made over the last decade in the issue area of ALJ oversight, data collection, decision analysis, enhanced training designed to improve ALJ performance, harsher disciplinary procedures for noncompliant ALJs, and greater fraud detection and investigative measures. The Minority’s memorandum also emphasizes just how profoundly… Learn More

The House Majority Report on the Social Security Administration (SSA) Integrity Hearing

The House Majority issued a report related to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s June 11th hearing on the integrity of the SSA’s appeals process with regard to how the SSA addresses high allowance Administrative Law Judges (ALJs). The Majority’s report discussed a variety of related issues and concerns including: – ALJs with “red-flag” allowance rates (higher than 75%), and how between 2005 and 2013, these high allowance ALJs awarded some 1.3 million people federal disability benefits, costing taxpayers about $400 billion over a lifetime -Case studies suggesting the questionable conduct of several ALJs with a greater than 90%… Learn More

House Hearing on Integrity in the Social Security Administration (SSA)

In June, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a two-part hearing on the SSA’s appeals process. The hearings focused specifically on integrity of that process with regard to how the SSA evaluates ALJs with high allowance rates. The Majority’s concern is that some of these high allowance ALJs may be awarding disability benefits to individuals who are not actually disabled, thus costing taxpayers billions of dollars and unnecessarily depleting the Disability Insurance Trust Fund. The Committee explored concerns that the SSA is failing to evaluate these high allowance ALJs appropriately. Part I of the hearing featured four high… Learn More

The Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Proposed 2015 Budget

The President has submitted to Congress a proposed fiscal year 2015 budget for the SSA. Generally, the SSA receives around $800 million less funding than the President requests. If, in 2015, however, the SSA receives the full amount proposed by the President, it expects to be able to conduct about 888,000 full continuing disability reviews (CDRs) thanks to funds allocated to program integrity via the Budget Control Act. What is troubling about the proposed 2015 budget is how it will affect things at the hearing level. The SSA expects that average processing times will continue to rise due to under-funding,… Learn More

When is the Medical Improvement Review Standard (MIRS) Not Applicable?

The MIRS is the yardstick by which a disability beneficiary’s condition is measured over time; the Social Security Administration (SSA) cannot legally terminate someone’s benefits unless it can show medical improvement. However, there are several exceptions to the MIRS. Here are a few of those exceptions: 1. There is evidence that the disability decision was made in error. Such evidence could include: misinterpreting test results, or misapplying a listing or a rule to the claimant’s condition, or lack thereof. 2. Required medical evidence of the severity of the claimant’s condition was missing when the last review took place. This exception… Learn More

What is the Medical Improvement Review Standard (MIRS) and Why Does it Matter?

President Ronald Reagan signed the Social Security Disability Benefits Reform Act of 1984 (DBRA 1984), one of the primary components of which was the provision that benefits could not be terminated without evidence of medical improvement. The MIRS is the tool with which a beneficiary’s condition is evaluated over time. Section 2(a) of the DBRA 1984 defines the MIRS. It states that benefits cannot be terminated unless there is: “(1) substantial evidence which demonstrates that – (A) there has been any medical improvement in the individual’s impairment or combination of impairments (other than medical improvement in which is not related… Learn More

    Fill Out This Form For A
    FREE CLAIM EVALUATION!




    * ~ required fields

    DO YOU HAVE A

    SOCIAL SECURITY
    DISABILITY CLAIM?

    CLICK HERE


    The National Advocates organization is pleased to announce that Mr. Fred Fleming has been selected for inclusion into its Social Security Disability Law specialty, an honor given to only a select group of lawyers as recognition of their superior skills and qualifications in the field.

    quote