What's Going On These Days At Social Security?

 

   The principle thing that's happened this year has been the transition to a new Presidential Administration. The Trump Administration has prioritized reduction in the "bloated" federal bureaucracy. This has resulted in a reduction in Social Security's workforce. The agency has been coping with the reduction in staffing by allowing widespread overtime to its remaining employees. That's right. Get rid of employees so you can pay half again as much to the remaining employees to get the same amount of work done. Maybe that bureaucracy wasn't so "bloated" after all. In any case, the overtime doesn't come near replacing the lost employees. Backlogs are climbing throughout the agency. The agency lacks sufficient personnel to maintain crucial IT systems. This is going to cause more and more problems as time goes along.

    Social Security maintains sensitive databases on most Americans. The Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE wanted full access to those databases since Day 1 of the Trump Administration. The Supreme Court gave them that access. DOGE is now combining the databases from Social Security and other agencies into a mammoth database. They say that they want to improve government efficiency but they've never explained how. It seems sinister to me and many other people. We know they're looking for undocumented aliens but Social Security has few records o them. They're not eligible for Social Security numbers and they're not receiving benefits. You'll hear people talking about millions of illegal aliens receiving Social Security benefits but it's all lies.

    Social Security's databases have already been corrupted to some extent by DOGE. They misunderstood one of Social Security's databases to mean that huge numbers of dead people were receiving benefits. It wasn't true. They didn't admit their error even when it was pointed out to them. Instead, they started a process that included declaring a fair number of living people as dead, causing them enormous difficulty and they kept saying that there were huge numbers of dead people receiving Social Security benefits even though they knew this was false.

    The agency has a new Commissioner, Frank Bisignano, who previously made tens of millions of dollars a year running a financial services company. The jury is out on Bisignano but so far he has displayed little knowledge of the agency he's running. He talks a lot about how Artificial Intelligence will solve Social Security's service problem. Maybe, but just about everyone reading this will have encountered what passes for AI today in dealing with some large institution, such as a bank or credit card company. How sophisticated did that AI system seem to you?

If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-866-425-5347

Memorial Day 2025

If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-866-425-5347

Social Security Disability Benefits And Medicare

   If you are approved for a Social Security disability benefit you will eventually get on Medicare -- if the disability benefit is based upon someone's earnings record. To explain, the biggest type of Social Security benefit is the one based upon your own earnings but there are also Disabled Widows and Widowers and Disabled Adult Child benefits on the account of a parent for those who become disabled before age 22. In all of these types of benefits, you'll be entitled to Medicare after you've been eligible for cash benefits for 24 months. Why 24 months? It saves money. That's it. No good reason. It just saves money. Actually, there are a couple of exceptions to the 24 month rule -- those on dialysis because their kidneys have failed are eligible for some Medicare benefits immediately and those disabled by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis are eligible for all Medicare benefits immediately.

    If you're approved for a Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefit you're eligible for Medicaid immediately. SSI is a poverty program. You have to be quite poor to receive the benefit and it doesn't pay much and you still have to be just as disabled but it doesn't matter whether you've worked in the past.

    I've talked about Medicare and Medicaid. Aren't they the same thing? No. Besides the 24 month waiting period for Medicare, you'll probably have to pay a premium deducted from your check for the outpatient part of your Medicare benefit. Also, basic Medicare doesn't cover prescription medications -- but you can, at extra expense, add that benefit. Medicaid doesn't have a waiting period, there's no premium for it and it covers prescription medications. Sounds like Medicaid is the better deal, doesn't it? Not necessarily. Medicare pays doctors at a much higher rate than Medicaid. Many doctors refuse to accept Medicaid so you won't have as much choice in the doctors you see. Those who do accept Medicaid aren't supposed to discriminate against you because you have Medicaid rather than Medicare. Not supposed to.

If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-866-425-5347

Social Security Disability Benefits Attorney

 

   Most attorneys don't try to represent Social Security disability claimants. That's a good thing. It's a very specialized practice. You have to know the Social Security Act inside and out which is difficult. The Social Security Act is a little like the Internal Revenue Code. Did you realize that there isn't just one type of Social Security disability benefit? There's actually seven types. Beyond that you have to know a lot about medicine. Social Security, by far, requires the most medical knowledge of any type of legal practice. My friends who practice workers compensation and personal injury law know a fair amount about the effects of injuries, such as broken bones, but they know little about diabetes much less about rheumatoid arthritis or multiple sclerosis. Diabetes, RA and MS aren't caused by accidents but they certainly disable people.

    If you need help with Social Security disability, hire an attorney who concentrates in the field of Social Security law. Better yet, find a board certified Social Security disability attorney to represent you.

If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-866-425-5347

Social Security Disability Benefits And VA Disability

    The word "disability" means different things at Social Security and at VA. The simplest way of describing one important difference is that Social Security is very much focused on whether the claimant can work while the VA is very much focused simply on how impaired the claimant is. A person who is working full time at regular work won't be able to get on Social Security disability benefits or stay on them long but a 100% disabled vet can receive benefits from VA regardless of any employment. The other big difference between the two programs is that you can get partial disability benefits from VA but not from Social Security. You can get 30% or 70% VA disability benefits but at Social Security it's all or nothing.

If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-866-425-5347

Social Security Disability Benefits In North Carolina

    Social Security benefits, including disability benefits, are the same in N.C. as elsewhere in the country. Except, that Social Security is staffed with flesh and blood people, not robots. Knowing these flesh and blood people matters. No, it doesn't get you special favors but it does help protect you from the mistakes that the Social Security Administration makes. If you know the people, you are better able to get problems solved and, maybe, to prevent them from happening.

    We also know local treatment sources in N.C. Which network is the hospital in Roanoke Rapids part of? Where's the nearest rheumatologist to Clinton? These facts matter if you're representing people in these areas. If you're located in another state, you probably don't have that local info.

    Hall & Rouse is based right here in North Carolina. We know the local people. We know the local medical sources.

If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-866-425-5347

Need A Lawyer For An SSI Case? Yeah, We Do That

Always happy to talk with SSI claimnts

    One type of Social Security disability benefit is Supplemental Security Income or SSI. Generally, SSI benefits are less per month that other types of Social Security disability benefits. Because SSI pays less, attorney fees (which are generally 25% of back benefits) can be less. That makes some attorneys less eager to take on SSI cases. That's them. At Hall & Rouse, we don't turn up our noses at SSI cases. We're happy to take them on. If others have turned you down, give us a call.

If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-866-425-5347

Need A Social Security Attorney In Raleigh?

     Representing Social Security disability claimants in Raleigh and throughout North Carolina is what we do. We're not located in Utah or Massachusetts. We're right here in Raleigh in an office on Glenwood Avenue. You can visit us in person. We know the local judges and local hearing offices.

    Pay attention to the location of the attorney you hire. Find out about the experience of the firm you hire. A firm isn't better just because its name pops up first on Google.

    Pay attention to the nature of the firm you hire. Does it just do Social Security, as is the case with Hall & Rouse, or does it divide its attention over several practice areas such as personal injury and workers compensation?

If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-866-425-5347

Can You Get Social Security Disability Benefits For PTSD?

 

   Yes, you can get Social Security disability benefits for PTSD -- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder but it's not easy.

    Social Security will look at nature of the original traumatic event but they will look far more at how that event or events has affected your life. Are you in psychiatric care? How long have you been in psychiatric care? Have you been hospitalized for the PTSD? Do you have any other psychiatric problem, such as depression or bipolar disorder? How do you spend your life? How well can you relate to other people? What happened when you tried to work? 

    I've had clients disabled by events that happened while in military service, clients who were the victims of horrific criminal attacks, clients who were the survivors of car crashes where others close to them perished, clients who came far too close to death or horrific injury and clients with many other sorts of trauma.

    It's not easy but we'll listen to you and we'll try to help.

If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-866-425-5347

We're Disability Lawyers

     At Hall & Rouse, we're disability lawyers. We are attorneys who help people with Social Security disability cases. Most lawyers don't work with Social Security disability claimants. We do. We're disability lawyers based in Raleigh but representing Social Security claimants throughout the state of North Carolina.

    It's a peculiar kind of law practice. We only get paid if we win and it can take a long time to get to that win. We obtain and review reams of medical evidence. Among legal specialties, Social Security is the one most heavily involved with medicine. We also have to be familiar with Social Security's laws, regulations, manuals and announcements. More than that we have to be familiar with how things work at ground level. How do you get an overworked agency to do what it is supposed to do? How long are things going to take? What helps and what hurts a Social Security disability case?

    Representing Social Security disability claimants properly takes experience. I've trained many Social Security disability attorneys over the years. It takes about six months of training before you can let a new Social Security disability attorney do anything without heavy support from an experienced attorney. It takes three years of training and experience before the person is fully trained. Even then, there's always new twists that come up. You need someone with decades of experience as backup for unusual issues.

If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-866-425-5347

Child Disability Benefits

 

   There are two very different types of Social Security disability benefits for children. 

    One is Supplemental Security Income (SSI) children's disability benefits. To receive these benefits the child's parents must be pretty poor and the child must be found disabled. When we're talking about disability for adults, we're asking whether the person can work. Children, however, aren't expected to work so what does disability mean for them? Social Security has struggled with that question. The result is a standard that tries to rate the severity of the child's health problems in a variety of ways. It can be tough to qualify.

    The other is Disabled Adult Child benefits. To receive these benefits, you must have a parent who worked enough to be covered under Social Security and you must have become disabled before age 22. Your parent must be deceased or be on Social Security benefits himself or herself. You can file this sort of claim after you turn 22. It's just that Social Security will look back at your condition before you turned 22. This can become difficult if you're trying to find medical records about a person's condition 20 years earlier but it can be done. Disabled Adult Child benefits are extremely important for the peace of mind of the parents of those disabled adult children. Often, they're supporting their disabled child but are worried about what happens to their child when they're no longer around to help. Having a regular income and Medicare doesn't solve all the problems but it's a good start.

    Hall & Rouse represents both types of child disability claimants. It's not the only thing we do but we are child disability attorneys.

If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-866-425-5347

How Long Does It Take To Get Social Security Disability In Raleigh?

    I can give a rough idea of how long it takes in Raleigh and Eastern North Carolina in general. These numbers are mostly accurate for other parts of the state as well.

• Time it takes to get an appointment to file a new claim: About a month
• Time it takes to receive an initial determination on a new claim: About six to nine months
• Time it takes to receive a reconsideration determination on a claim: About six to nine months
• Time it takes to receive a hearing held after asking for one: About five months
• Time it takes to receive a decision after a hearing: About one to two months
• Time it takes to get action from the Appeals Council: About three to twelve months
• Time it takes to get a favorable decision implemented: About one to four months
  

     These numbers are approximations. There are plenty of exceptions both for the better and for the worse.   

    Yes, things take a long time. Your lesson from that is that you should get going as quickly as possible! The longer you wait, the longer things take. I've seen far too many clients who waited until they were nearly homeless before contacting me. Don't do that to yourself. Get going as early as possible.

    Don't make the mistake of thinking that the delays are so bad that you must find a better way. I wish there was a better way but there isn't. If you've been out of work more than a few months, you're probably not going back to work. If you do, you can always back out of your Social Security disability claim with no harm done. 

    Get on with it!

If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-866-425-5347

Social Security Disability And Child Support

    Let's say you're a guy who has a child support obligation and you become disabled. You probably won't be able to pay, which, of course, isn't good for your child but what can you do to keep a judge from locking you up for failing to pay the child support? What you need to do is to file a Social Security disability claim and to hire a Social Security lawyer to represent you. We can write a letter to the judge saying we're representing you on the case. That's a sign that we think you're got a valid claim, since we wouldn't take on the case unless we thought you could win since otherwise, how do we get paid? Generally, they won't take action against you.

    Let's say you get approved for Social Security disability and you have a child support obligation. What then? In most cases, it's not just you who gets paid. The child will be eligible for child's benefits on your account. That has an effect on your child support obligation. The amount you owe each month in child support gets reduced by the Social Security benefits the child receives on your account.

    If you have a child support obligation and you're out of work more than a few months due to your medical condition, you really need to file a claim for Social Security disability benefits and call an experienced Social Security law firm. We can help get you disability but we can also help you with your child support problems.

If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-866-425-5347

Neck Pain

    It's difficult to be approved for Social Security disability benefits based upon a neck problem. Beyond the fact that it's hard for anyone to get Social Security disability benefits, there's the happier reason that surgeons are now doing an excellent job of treating cervical spine issues. In decades past, cervical spine surgery had a poor success rate. Not now. The Anterior Cervical Diskectomy and Fusion (ACDF) used to treat most cervical spine problems has a high success rate and a low risk of serious complication.

    Some people still are found disabled due to neck problems. Some operations do go awry. Even operations that do go well will leave behind limitation of motion since, of course, part of the cervical spine is fused. If several levels are fused, the limitation of motion can significantly limit turning of the neck which can be a problem in jobs such as truck driving. There are other problems that are difficult or impossible to treat with surgery such as spasmodic torticollis (also called wryneck) and syringomyelia.

If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-866-425-5347

Tinnitus

     It's uncommon but it's possible to receive Social Security disability benefits for tinnitus but, first, what's tinnitus? Tinnitus is ringing in the ears. It's actually a fairly common symptom. For the vast majority of people with tinnitus it's nothing more than an annoyance. For a few unlucky people, the tinnitus can be so loud and so unpleasant that it's excruciating and prevents the person from concentrating. 

    There are treatments for tinnitus. One simple one is to clean out ear wax but that only works for mild cases. Masking devices that are something like hearing aids but which feed white noise into the ear help many people.

    One problem in tinnitus cases is that there's no test for tinnitus. No one but the patient can hear the noise or experience the devastation it can cause. Anyone could say they're disabled by tinnitus. You can't prove either that they're having the tinnitus or not having it. I'll say this. If you were going to make up some disability, I think tinnitus would be about the most unlikely condition you would come up with. I've had no trouble believing the tinnitus clients I've had.

If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-866-425-5347

Pain

 

   I have learned a few things about pain over the years. 

• Pain is an intensely personal experience. If you and I both have the same injury, does it hurt the same for you as for me? Probably not. 
• If a person is depressed or anxious, they will perceive pain worse. This is important. Many people suffer from varying degrees of depression and anxiety.
• If a person understands where the pain is coming from and that it will have an end, they will find the pain more tolerable. The classic example given for this is the pain of childbirth. They say it's horrible but women come through it just fine and are thrilled with the end result -- a beautiful new baby. The other side of that coin is pain from cancer which may be harder to bear because it may have no end other than death.
• It's impossible to describe pain. No one does it well. Poets write about the experience of being in love. They do not write about the experience of being in pain and it's not just because it's a major downer to write about. Pain just can't be described.
• There is no machine in any doctor's office that measures pain. 
• My pain is awful and requires immediate attention. Your pain is subjective. You say you're in pain but how do I know? Maybe you're lying because you're lazy and want a government check.
• Rating pain on a one to ten scale is preposterous. Patients learn to give conventional answers when they're asked to do this but it's a ridiculous exercise.
  

If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-866-425-5347

Hip Pain And Social Security Disability

    It's possible to get Social Security disability benefits for hip pain. The thing about it is that if you have bad hip pain, you will probably have Total Hip Replacement (THR) surgery and get a lot better. However, you may not be able to have a THR as soon as you would like. The surgeons don't have to operate until the hip gets pretty bad. You can have a lot of limitations in the months or years leading up to a THR. This is especially the case if you are under the age of 55. They don't want to do joint replacement surgery before age 55. If you're under 55 you may be suffering pretty badly with a hip and still be told to wait until later for the THR. Of course, there are other cases in which there have been unusual complications after a THR or where past trauma makes a THR impossible or only minimally effective.

    If you can't work due to a bad hip, we'd be pleased to talk with you.

If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-866-425-5347

Social Security Disability For Ankle Injuries

    Ankle problems, usually injuries, can lead to a finding that you're eligible for Social Security disability benefits. I say "can" because there's no guarantee.

    Let me give an example of an ankle injury that might get a person on Social Security disability benefits. The claimant is a 56 year old woman who broke her left ankle 10 years ago. She worked as a cashier in a grocery store. She had surgery for the fracture shortly after the original injury. After the surgery healed, she continued to have some pain but not enough to keep her from working but the pain got worse as she aged. She went back to the doctor who had treated her for the original injury. He had an x-ray done which showed a good deal of arthritis in the ankle. Old fractures in many joints eventually lead to arthritis. The doctor tells her that he could do a partial ankle replacement or that he could fuse the ankle but didn't seem to be recommending either option too much. She decides to live with the problem at least for now but she can't work with it. 

    Let me give another example of an ankle injury that probably won't get a person on Social Security disability benefits. The claimant is a 34 year old man who suffers a torn Achilles tendon. He worked as a kitchen helper. He has surgery for the torn Achilles tendon. Afterwards he has physical therapy and is told that it will be many months before he can return to his old job. Why is this claimant not so likely to win? One reason is that there is likely to be recovery from the injury in less than 12 months. You must have been or be predicted to be disabled for at least 12 months to get anything from Social Security disability benefits. A second reason is that the claimant is relatively young. Even if there's a poor recovery from the Achilles tear, Social Security is likely to say that there's some other kind of work the person can do that doesn't require so much standing. You hope in this kind of case that the person was injured on the job so they cane at least receive workers compensation.

    I've given two examples but your case is probably different. Give us a call. We'll be happy to talk with you

If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-866-425-5347

Why You Probably Can't Get Temporary Disability Benefits From Social Security

    The definition of disability in the Social Security Act requires that the person have been or be expected to be disabled for at least 12 months. A condition that is expected to be fatal in less than 12 months is also enough.

    If you're disabled for at least 12 months, I'm sorry to say it, but, you're not likely to ever improve enough to get back to work. Sometimes it happens. Let's say you were in an automobile accident and have several bad fractures requiring staged surgeries that take more than 12 months. This happens but not often.

    Probably, there ought to be some sort of temporary disability benefit but in most states there isn't any. 

    We'll be happy to talk with you about your situation but understand that the 12 month duration requirement is a hard barrier for most trauma cases.

If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-866-425-5347

Happy New Year!

If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-866-425-5347 but not on New Year's Day because we're closed!