Social Security Disability

How Can An Experienced Social Security Disability Attorney Help Group Long Term Disability Claimants?

Group Long Term Disability insurance is often provided for employees of large companies. Applying for Social Security Disability is generally a requirement of the Group Long Term Disability insurance policies that employees receive, or are seeking. If someone is receiving Social Security Disability benefits and also has a Group Long Term Disability insurance policy, the insurance company that provides the Group Long Term Disability policy can reduce the benefit amount it pays out by subtracting the amount of Social Security Disability a claimant is already receiving. Because applying for Social Security Disability is required of most employees receiving Group Long… Learn More

Ambiguities Surrounding the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) New Regulations on the Submission of Evidence

In our last entry, we explored the SSA’s new regulations on the submission of evidence (hereafter the “all evidence” rules) that took effect on April 20, 2015. Now, we will consider some of the ambiguities surrounding their implementation, interpretation, and impact. According to attorney Eric Schnaufer, who has written about and presented on the new regulations, all claimant representatives will likely have to revise, to a greater or lesser extent depending on the nature of their prior practices, the way they keep records and advocate for their clients due to the ways in which the new “all evidence” rules have… Learn More

The Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Unveils Revised Regulations on the Submission of Evidence

On April 20, 2015, the SSA’s final regulations on the submission of evidence went into effect. The new rules require disability claimants to submit to the SSA all known evidence – favorable and unfavorable – pertaining to their (claimants’) blindness and deafness, unless that material is (1) protected by attorney-client privilege, or (2) the claimant representative’s “analysis of the claim.” We will explore the new rules, and both exceptions, subsequently. Where previously, a claimant was required to submit evidence that proved his disability, the new regulations on submission of evidence require a claimant to submit all known evidence relating to… Learn More

Does Student Loan Debt Affect Social Security Benefits?

Yes, it can. According to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), there was a five-fold increase between 2002 and 2013 in the number of Social Security beneficiaries whose benefits were offset to help pay down their student loan debt. But there’s hope for some of those beneficiaries whose benefits have been garnished for that reason. If a debtor is found to be Totally and Permanently Disabled (TPD), he or she may be eligible for debt forgiveness. While a TPD determination is different than a Social Security Administration (SSA) disability finding, the Department of Education will accept a… 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

New Bill May Help Fight Disability Fraud

On February 26, 2014, the House Committee on Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee convened to discuss ways of preventing Social Security disability fraud. The hearing included several panels featuring a variety of witnesses from the Social Security Administration (SSA), the Unum Group, and the National Academy of Public Administration, among others, who testified to the problem of disability fraud and spoke about current and in-development fraud prevention efforts by the SSA. The centerpiece of the hearing, however, was Ranking Committee Member Xavier Becerra’s (D-CA) H.R. 4090, “The Social Security Fraud and Error Prevention Act of 2014.” The bill is… Learn More

Good News for Social Security Disability Claimants and Recipients

If you’re a Social Security Disability claimant or recipients, there’s some good news for you. The National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives (NOSSCR) is doing a lot of important advocacy work on your behalf. Here are just a few of the things the NOSSCR has been up to: -Ongoing, disability advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill -Working jointly with other disability advocacy groups to make positive changes in the disability claims process -Adding a Deputy Director to the NOSSCR’s Government Affairs Office in order to bolster the organization’s voice in Washington -Creating a NOSSCR Political Action Committee (PAC) -Developing a… Learn More

Social Security Disability Programs Featured on CBS’s 60 Minutes

Social Security was the focus of the October 6, 2013 episode of CBS’s 60 Minutes. The program included interviews with a number of individuals, including members of Congress, several Administrative Law Judges (ALJs), and an attorney who is being investigated for misconduct. The Social Security Administration (SSA) itself, however, was not included in the piece, and therefore, could not respond to the program’s criticisms of its services. Also of note, there were no benefit recipients, disability policy experts, or disability advocates included in the piece, leading some to suggest that the criticisms leveled at the SSA during the piece lacked… Learn More

Symptom Validity Tests (SVTs)

A Symptom Validity Test (SVT) is a neuropsychological test that helps clinicians and evaluators determine the legitimacy of a patient’s symptoms by establishing to what extent, if at all, a patient is faking or exaggerating symptoms (also known as malingering). The Social Security Administration (SSA) does not encourage the use of SVTs in the disability determination process, as it feels the tests do not yield enough evidentiary value. The SSA sent out a letter to all of its Disability Determination Services (DDS) personnel regarding the use of SVTs. The letter states: You cannot prove malingering with tests; there is no… Learn More

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