Help Yourself

    Many clients arrive at our firm in desperate financial shape. Most of the this can be attributed to two problems -- waiting too long to file a claim for Social Security disability benefits and the delays at Social Security. However, there are often other problems because the claimant never realized that help was also available from other sources. Let's list some of these other sources of help for disabled people:

• Medicaid -- If you're even moderately poor, file a claim with Social Services, not Social Security. This gets you access to health care.
• Short or Long Term Disability benefits from your employer -- Were you covered by a pension plan where you worked? If so, you were probably covered by a Short or Long Term Disability plan. Ask about it. If you are covered, it will give you a regular income.
• Food Stamps -- If you're even moderately poor, file a claim with Social Services, not Social Security. Don't drain your savings to buy food.
  
• VA benefits -- Are you an honorably discharged vet? Are you eligible for service connected disability benefits? Are you sure you're not? It doesn't have to be an injury caused by military service. An auto accident off base that caused injuries that still bother you could be enough. It doesn't have to be an injury at all. Any medical condition that started while in military service would be enough. For that matter, there's non-service connected disability benefits for poor vets who served during time of war.
• Social Security retirement benefits -- If you're over 62 you don't have to choose between retirement and disability benefits. Take the retirement benefits now and try to get on the disability benefits which are likely to be higher but to take longer.

    Many of my clients rely upon help from relatives and friends. I often ask them "Do you really want to test exactly how deeply they love you?" Get as much help as you can from other 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

Get Down In The Weeds

    Let's say you want to really get down in the weeds on Social Security matters. Here's a few places you can go online to see what's happening at the agency that administers Social Security:

• Congressional Research Service -- Posts reports on all kind of things, including Social Security. Tends to be written at the elementary level since they're writing for members of Congress and their staffs.
• FOIA Reading Room -- Social Security posts some of their more popular responses to Freedom of Information requests.
• HALLEX -- An manual for agency employees working on hearings and appeals.
• POMS Recent Changes -- POMS is Social Security's main staff manual.
• ALJ Discussion Board -- Where some of the agency's Administrative Law Judges go to talk about agency matters but it's mostly for wannabe ALJs.
• Disability Stats -- Statistics on Social Security disability claims.
• Emergency Messages -- Important staff instructions but usually not really about emergencies.
• Federal Register -- Where official notices are posted.
• OIG Reports -- Where the agency's Office of Inspector General posts reports on investigations they have completed.
• OMB Regs Review -- Changes to regulations that Social Security has asked the Office of Management and Budget to review.
• Social Security Contracting -- Where Social Security posts information about contractors they are seeking.
  

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

Top Five Myths About Social Security

    Michelle Singletary at the Washington Post writes about these top five myths about Social Security:

• Myth No. 1: Social Security is, or will be, ‘bankrupt’

• Myth No. 2: Young adults won’t benefit from Social Security

• Myth No. 3: A shortfall makes collecting early a wiser move

• Myth No. 4: The federal government has raided the Social Security Trust Fund
  

• Myth No. 5: Members of Congress don’t pay Social Security taxes

    Four of these five myths share something in common. They're spread by opponents of the existence of Social Security.

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

You Don't Have To Pay Upfront To Hire A Social Security Attorney

     You can't be too poor to hire an attorney to represent you on your Social Security disability claim. There's no upfront money to be paid. The attorney gets one-quarter of the back benefits that have accumulated up to the date you get approved. You also have to reimburse the law firm for anything they'd had to pay to obtain medical records. There's no fee if you lose.

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

A Poll

online polls

 

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

You're Not The Only One Waiting And Waiting

 

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

"What Do They Want Me To Do?"

    Many of my clients ask me "What do they want me to do?" These clients' financial situations are rapidly deteriorating. They're desperate to receive the benefits they need and deserve so they can avoid complete destitution.

    The question assumes that someone at Social Security actually cares about their fate. Unfortunately, no one at Social Security cares. They just do their jobs as best they can in an overwhelmed system that wasn't set up to care about individual claimants. 

    Unfortunately, the answer to that question "What do they want me to do?" is that if they want anything it's for you to go away and quit bothering them. You have to have the courage to say "I'm not going anywhere. I'm sticking it out until I get the benefits I deserve."

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

N.C. Medicaid Now Covers Weight Loss Drugs

    N.C. Medicaid is now covering GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy. There are many severely obese N.C. residents who are on Medicaid who might benefit from such drugs.

    The odd thing about this is that the N.C. state employees health care insurance was recently changed to deny coverage for Wegovy and similar drugs.

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

Who Runs The Show At Social Security?

Martin O'Malley

    The guy running the show at Social Security is Martin O'Malley. He's the Commissioner of Social Security. He's a former governor of the State of Maryland. 

    O'Malley is no dictator. For some things, he needs the approval of the White House. More important, Congress has to appropriate operating funds for the Social Security Administration. Lack of adequate operating funds really limits what O'Malley can do. He'd like to hire about 10,000 more employees so the phones get answered and you can be seen quickly if you visit a Social Security office and so that the current backlogs throughout the agency disappear but Congress won't let him. Don't blame O'Malley for all the backlogs and service problems at Social Security. It's not his fault. Blame Congress.

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

What Happens If I Die Before Social Security Finds Me Disabled?

     The fact that I hear this question fairly regularly tells me that many people who file Social Security disability claims feel gloomy. I wish I could cheer you up and tell you this never happens but it does, probably not nearly as often as you think, but it happens and there are rules for what Social Security does when it happens.  I have to divide the answers up into SSI and non-SSI Social Security disability claims since there are different rules.

Non-SSI Social Security disability claims -- Disability Insurance Benefits, Disabled Widow and Widower Benefits, Disabled Adult Child Benefits -- The money is paid per a list of priorities written into the Security Act. Here are the priorities:

1. The surviving spouse who was either living in the same household as the deceased at the time of death or who, for the month of death, was entitled to a monthly benefit on the same record as the deceased;
2. Children who, for the month of death, were entitled to a monthly benefit on the same record as the deceased;
3. Parents who, for the month of death, were entitled to a monthly benefit on the same record as the deceased;
4. A surviving spouse not qualified under 1. above;
5. Children not qualified under 2. above;
6. Parents not qualified under 3. above; or
7. The legal representative of the deceased person's estate.

     If more than one person qualifies in the category, such as two or more children, they split the amount of back benefits between them.

SSI Disability Claims -- For adults who have died, the only person to whom the back benefits can be paid is a surviving spouse who was living with the decedent at the time of death or within six months prior to death. If there isn't a qualifying surviving spouse, the benefits aren't paid. For child SSI claimants (and we're really getting gloomy here) back benefits can be paid to a parent who was living with the child at the time of death or within six months prior to the date of death.

There's an application form for the back benefits when someone with a Social Security disability claim dies.

If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-844-425-5347

Field Offices Closed Today

    Due to a widespread computer problem, Social Security field offices are closed today.

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

Is It The End If The Judge Turns Me Down?

     No, it's not necessarily the end if one of Social Security's Administrative Law Judges turns you down. You can always appeal or, in most cases, you can file a new claim.

    An appeal goes to Social Security's Appeals Council. Unfortunately, the chances of success at the Appeals Council are quite low. If it happens success generally means that the case gets sent back for another hearing before the same judge. However, once denied by the Appeals Council it is possible to sue Social Security in federal court. The chances of success in federal court are not bad if an attorney can find significant errors in the judge's decision. At this level, it's not so much a question of whether you're disabled as it is a question of whether the judge made mistakes in writing the decision. A win in federal court generally means that the case is sent back for a new hearing before the same judge. The process of taking a case through the Appeals Council and federal court can take more than two years. However, once you get past the Appeals Council, you may be able to file a new claim even if your case also goes to federal court.

    If you're not appealing or if you have appealed but the Appeals Council has turned you down you can file a new claim as long as you don't have what's called a "date last insured problem." There are several types of Social Security disability benefits. The most common of these is Disability Insurance Benefits or DIB. To get DIB, in most cases, you have to prove disability within about five years after the last time you worked. If this five year time period has elapsed before you get denied by a Social Security judge, you probably won't be able to get anywhere with a new claim for DIB. They'll say that it's a matter that's been adjudicated finally. However, SSI may still be available. A new claim currently takes two to three years.

    I'm sorry if this sounds complicated but this is about as simple as I can make it. This is why you need to hire an attorney.

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 Do I File A Claim For Social Security Disability Benefits?

     A lot of people who need and deserve Social Security disability benefits don't know how to get started or they try to get started and run into obstacles. Here's the three ways you can file a claim with the pros and cons of each:

• File your claim online. Here's the link. Pros: You don't have to leave your home. You have proof positive that you filed your claim. Cons: Unless you have pretty good computer skills, you'll probably run into obstacles and give up. 

For some people filing online is a great choice but not for most people.

• Call Social Security to schedule an appointment to file a claim. Here's the number. 1-800-772-1213. Pro: You don't have to leave home. Con: Contacting Social Security by telephone is a nightmare. You may get put on hold for an hour only to have the phone line suddenly go dead. People spend days and days trying to call Social Security. Even after you get through, they may not call you when they're supposed to or you may not be able to complete the paperwork they send you. You may give up if you go this route.
  

Unless you get lucky when you call them or you just can't leave the house, trying to do it over the phone is a bad choice.

• Go to the Social Security office in person to file the claim. Pro: Somebody will see you eventually and you'll get it done. Cons: You'll have to leave the house and you'll probably have to wait for an hour or two to see someone.

Going to the Social Security office in person is the best choice for most people. It's a little inconvenient but it usually beats the alternatives..

If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-844-425-5347

Having Trouble Finding An Attorney To Represent You? Call Us

     Don't get discouraged if you've tried to hire an attorney for your Social Security disability case and couldn't find one. Different law firms have different standards for making these decisions. I'd say one man's trash is another man's treasure but you're no trash! If you're in N.C, we'd be happy to talk with you even if you've been turned away by other law firms.

    I just had a hearing with a client who was previously represented by another firm which withdrew from representing her because the case seemed weak to them. It seemed strong to me. I expect we'll win.

    And if you had a hearing and were denied, we'd be happy to talk with you even though your old law firm didn't want to keep working with you on an appeal or new claim.

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

Is Diabetes A Disability?

    Is diabetes a disability? Absolutely. Diabetes causes disabling health problems for many. However, a diagnosis of diabetes does not guarantee approval of a Social Security disability claim. It all depends upon how badly diabetes is affecting a person. There are plenty of people who have early, well controlled Type 2 diabetes who wouldn't know they had it if a doctor hadn't told them. There are others with diabetes who are in terrible shape.

    What kinds of things do Social Security look for in a diabetes case? Evidence of some of these problems associated with diabetes:

• Peripheral neuropathy -- numbness, tingling, burning in the feet and occasionally in the hands
• Poor blood circulation
• Vision changes
• Heart disease
• Kidney disease
• Liver disease
• Diabetic gut
• Difficulty controlling blood sugar -- persistently high A1c
  
• History of diabetic ketoacidosis (if your blood sugar was so dangerously high that you were hospitalized, probably you were in or near ketoacidosis)

     In addition to the diabetes, Social Security must consider your age, education and work experience as well as any other ailments you have.

   You can get on Social Security disability benefits for diabetes but you shouldn't expect a quick, easy win. You're probably going to need an attorney

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

What Do You Like And What Do You Dislike?

    I could use feedback from readers of this blog about what they like and what they dislike. What would you like to see more of? What would you like to see more of? How well can you understand what's being posted here? What would you like for us to write about?

    Use the comment button below. It's all anonymous unless you particularly want to leave your name.

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

What About Those Illegal Immigrants That They Say Are Drawing Social Security Benefits? It's A Lie

     Many people keep saying that Social Security is going broke because it's paying money to illegal immigrants. Many people say a lot of things that aren't true and this is one of them. I don't know what to call it other than a lie.

    The Social Security Act very specifically forbids paying benefits to anyone in the U.S. illegally. Period. This isn't debatable. It's just a fact. They don't pay benefits to illegals.

    In fact, illegal immigrants HELP the Social Security trust funds by working and paying FICA taxes but never drawing benefits.

    I can't make you believe it if you don't want to but those are the facts.

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 Independence Day!

If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-844-425-5347

Have You Found That Notices From Social Security Are Hard To Understand?

     This is what Social Security's Commissioner had to say recently about his own agency's notices:

The notices that we send out, I have described them as Mad Libs written by mad lawyers that confuse, they scare, and most people have a difficult time understanding what many of these notices even say.

 

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

A Poll

 

online polls

What Do I Need To Get Together Before I File A Claim For Social Security Disability?

    The answer in the question posed by the title is NOTHING! People worry and worry about what they need to do before filing for Social Security disability but they really just need to get on with it. You don't have to do any preparation before contacting Social Security. Any mistakes that people make in filing claims are minor and can be corrected later.

    Delay is your enemy if you're a disabled person. Almost every disabled person keeps getting poorer and poorer until they get approved for Social Security disability benefits. Don't wait until you're about to become homeless before you get going. The Social Security Administration itself is slow enough without you adding delay.

If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-844-425-5347

How Do I Prepare For My Social Security Disability Hearing?

     How do you prepare for your Social Security disability hearing? Make sure you know whether the hearing will be in person or by video or by telephone. If it's in person, make sure you know where it will be held and how you'll get there. If it's by video, make sure you have a quiet place with good wifi and make sure you have a device that can handle video and audio. It's better if the device is a tablet or laptop. Holding a cell phone in your hand isn't such a good way of doing it. If it's be telephone, expect a call near the scheduled time for the hearing and make sure you have a quiet place.

    What about preparing to testify? You really don't need to prepare. This isn't a math test. You can't study for it. If you really feel you have to do something to prepare, ask yourself a couple of questions:\

• Why did I stop work?
• Why haven't I gone back to work?

Those questions may be harder than you think.  You may not have been thinking too clearly since you've been out of work. You've been under a lot of stress. You've had little time to ask yourself these basic questions.

If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-844-425-5347

Some Good News

    Things got a little less difficult for Social Security disability claimants on June 22. The agency issued an Emergency Message on which jobs can be considered as alternative work a claimant can perform if he or she is unable to perform their past relevant work. You may find it hard to believe but Social Security has been turning down huge numbers of claimants based upon the supposed existence of these obsolete jobs.

DOT Code	DOT Occupational Title	DOT Industry Designation
209.587-010	Addresser	clerical
249.587-018	Document Preparer, Microfilming	business services
249.587-014	Cutter-and-Paster, Press Clippings	business services
239.687-014	Tube Operator	clerical
318.687-018	Silver Wrapper	hotel and restaurant
349.667-010	Host/Hostess, Dance Hall	amusement and recreation
349.667-014	Host/Hostess, Head	amusement and recreation
379.367-010	Surveillance-System Monitor	government services
521.687-010	Almond Blancher, Hand	canning and preserving
521-687-086	Nut Sorter	canning and preserving
726.685-010	Magnetic-Tape Winder	recording
782.687-030	Puller-Through	glove and mitten
976.385-010	Microfilm Processor	business services

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

I'm On Social Security Disability Benefits. What Happens When I Hit Full Retirement Age?

    The answer to the question is "Nothing that will matter to you."  You don't have to file a retirement claim. You'll automatically be converted to retirement benefits at the same rate of pay (unless you were receiving workers compensation, in which case your Social Security benefit payment may go up). The payments start coming out of a different trust fund but that won't matter to you.

If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-844-425-5347

Sorry To Give You Grim News But Here It Is

 

If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-844-425-5347

"The Breath Of The Dead"

    I am always distressed to see how brutally Social Security treats disability claimants with severe liver disease. One feature of dealing with clients with failing livers is officially called fetor hepaticus. It's sometimes called "breath of the dead." It's an extremely disturbing smell on the breath of some people with failing livers. I wonder whether any of those who make Social Security's standards for liver disease cases have ever smelled fetor hepaticus. The idea that anyone whose liver disease has progressed to this point can work seems preposterous once you smell it yet such patients are often denied Social Security disability benefits. It's not the smell that disables them. It's just obvious that anyone with that smell isn't long for this world. I can't emphasize too much just how viscerally disturbing fetor hepaticus is. It smells as if the person has already started dying on the inside. Why are patients in this condition being denied? 

 

If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-844-425-5347

Don't Believe Everything You Read Online

     Social Security's Commissioner, Martin O'Malley tweeted today that:

SSA 800 # was slammed on June 3. Over 463,000 calls -- 140k more calls than a few days earlier. Why? In part because of a bogus news story about a $600 payment increase. This is FALSE: No COLA until January 2025. Big thanks to all SSA staff who helped customers with this rumor.

    The agency has enough problems serving the public without hoaxes like this!

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

Despite What Some People Say, Work Isn't Getting Any Easier

    From the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College:

For obvious reasons, people who do physically demanding work are prone to injuring themselves on the job and are more likely than office workers to apply for federal disability benefits.

But is technology changing this relationship?

We know technology has caused a decline in manual labor, and the blue-collar jobs that remain are also easier to perform when machinery and computers are doing more of the heavy lifting workers used to do – think warehouse robots that alleviate the need to lift and carry heavy boxes.

But new research based on a survey of couples between ages 51 and 61 – a population that is particularly vulnerable to illness and musculoskeletal disabilities – finds no evidence they feel the physical demands on them are lessening. If anything, they said, the requirements for motions like stooping, lifting, or crouching have increased somewhat since the early 1990s.

Their perceptions conflict with the other studies showing an easing in the demands on blue-collar workers. But those studies are not based on what older people are saying about their jobs but on analyses of an occupational database that rates the intensity of the specific tasks required in each job. One example is how many pounds a warehouse worker must lift and how often that is required. ...

 If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-844-425-5347

Not Now. Not Later. Not Ever

                              When we're rushed, we cut corners and we make more mistakes than usual. Social Security employees are rushed. They're cutting corners. They're making lots of mistakes. They're putting off difficult work. Even in the best of times, there are some things which didn't get done properly to begin with that need to be corrected but in these terrible times there are many, many of these.

    The stress on Social Security employees isn't going away. They will remain overburdened indefinitely. My firm asks them to straighten out their mistakes but they don't have time to do it. It's getting to the point that I think the work isn't going to get done now. It's not going to get done later. It's never going to get done, at least not in the foreseeable future. 

    What kinds of mistakes or omissions am I seeing? Let me list a few:

• Claimant's monthly benefits are authorized but nothing is done about paying the back benefits or attorney fees.
• Claimant receives a small payment that is apparently their back benefits but it seems far too low. No award certificate is issued so the claimant and attorney can't figure out whether there has been a mistake.
• There's what I call a phantom windfall offset. Claimant filed an SSI claim which was quickly denied on income or resources. When the Title II claim is approved, no back benefits are paid because they're waiting on payment of the SSI benefits so they can do the windfall offset. Meanwhile, no back benefits or attorney fees are paid.
  
• A field office employee makes one telephone call to a claimant about implementing SSI benefits. They can't leave a message so they immediately deny the claim for failure to cooperate. (They're supposed to make repeated efforts to contact the claimant and those who may be able to help, such as the claimant's attorney but that takes time, so they just get the claim off their desk by denying it.)
• A fee petition is approved. That's a little unusual so it doesn't get paid.

    This is a depressing, discouraging situation for an attorney like me who wants to help his clients and who wants to receive the fees he's entitled to for helping them.

    Social Security is undergoing enormous stress. I think it's fair to say it's falling apart. Asking employees to work harder isn't going to solve the problem. The systems updates and IT changes the agency is making hardly help at all. Making employees come into the office every day would make little or no difference. The only solution is a lot more employees, like 10,000 more, but that might cost another billion dollars or so a year so it's out of the question now.

    I don't think the message is getting through to the public or members of Congress about just how bad things are.

 If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-844-425-5347

Disability And Increasing Age

 

If you're in NC and want help with your Social Security disability claim, call Hall & Rouse, P.C. at 1-844-425-5347