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!

Can I Be Found Disabled Because Of A Bad Knee?

    You sure can be found disabled due to a bad knee. In fact, that's a fairly common reason to have a disability claim approved. 

This person had knee replacement surgery

    If a knee is your problem, your case is likely to be much stronger if you're 50 or older. Social Security makes it less difficult the older you get and age 50 is a big dividing line. But, remember, first you have to prove that you can't do any of the jobs you've done in the last five years. If you've worked in an office, it may be difficult to prove disability due to a bad knee since standing and walking wouldn't have been so important in your line of work.

    As with any Social Security disability case, you really need to be in medical treatment to have the evidence you need to win. For a knee case, you really should have seen an orthopedic surgeon recently.

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

Merry Christmas!

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 Christmas Day because we're closed)

Do I Have To Hire A Lawyer To Get Social Security Disability? And What Does This Have To Do With Marshmallows?

    No, you don't have to hire a lawyer to get Social Security disability benefits. You can proceed all the way though the process on your own. However, you probably should hire a lawyer.

    There are many pitfalls for the unrepresented claimant. There are technical ones such as understanding what sort of arguments to make in support of your disability claim. Claimants usually have little idea what disability even means to Social Security. There are practical ones such as not knowing the best ways to get in touch with Social Security and how best to prevent unnecessary delay. One important pitfall that isn't often discussed is simply discouragement. The process at Social Security takes a long time. It's hard to contact Social Security. It's hard to understand what's going on. You have to keep filing appeals and filling out forms. You're sick and your patience has already worn thin before even contacting Social Security. The danger is that you'll just give up because you just can't deal with them any further. An attorney can lower your stress level and try to give you enough encouragement to keep moving forward.

    Social Security is less of an enemy that you may think but it's more of a bear to deal with that you can imagine. I have likened the agency to the 100 foot tall Sta-Puft Marshmallow Man in the Ghostbusters movies. It's not intentionally mean but it leaves behind it a trail of devastation. If you punch it, your arm just sinks into the marshmallow without effect. We're not ghostbusters but we can help you deal with that marshmallow man.

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

Foot Problems And Social Security Disability

     Can you get on Social Security disability benefits for problems with your foot or feet? The answer is that it's very possible. 

    Age makes a lot of difference in cases involving foot problems. Things become less difficult, not easy but less difficult, after a person turns 50. If you're 50 or older and you haven't done sedentary work and you have significant foot problems your case is fairly easy to present to Social Security. A finding that you're limited to sedentary work will probably win your case.

    As with almost every other type of health problem, treatment matters. Have you been seeing a podiatrist or orthopedic surgeon about the foot problem? Are you still seeing that doctor? Has your problem required surgery? Is diabetes a complicating factor?

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

Non-Disability Appeals -- Presumption Of Death

    I'm writing about the work that lawyers can do to help those with Social Security cases other than disability cases. Today, I'll write about a type of case that comes up, although not often.

    Let's say you're a married woman with two minor children. One day your husband doesn't return from work. You try anxiously to find out what's happened. Eventually, you call the police. They can't find him. There's no reason that you can think of that would explain his absence. After seven years, you wonder if he can be presumed dead so you and the kids can get benefits on his account. Guess what, maybe you can! If you apply, Social Security will first check to see whether there are any earnings showing up on the departed husband's Social Security account after the disappearance. If not, Social Security will assume he's dead and pay you unless there's some reason to believe his absence is intentional. Herein lies the possibility of dispute. Was there marital discord, financial problems, criminal problems, etc? Maybe they think they have enough evidence to deny you. Maybe you say otherwise. You can appeal these cases. We're here to help.

    I should add that there's another type of case where benefits can be paid without a death certificate and a seven year absence. Let's say the husband goes out on a boat fishing with a friend. They don't return. The Coast Guard eventually finds the boat but the men who were on it never wash up. You don't have to wait seven years in this kind of case. Where there's a ready explanation for the disappearance, Social Security can pay benefits without delay. However, there's still the possibility of dispute if someone thinks that the drowning was faked and the disappearance was intentional.

     By the way, in the last presumed death case I had, Social Security finally agreed that they could presume the man in question was dead. A few months later he shows up alive! We notified Social Security. They ended the benefits but quickly waived the overpayment. If I were one of that man's children I think I would have extremely mixed emotions about the father's reappearance.

    The people who implement benefits at Social Security are called benefits authorizers. They sometimes joke that they have been given the power of resurrection for the work they do when a person presumed dead eventually turns out to be alive and they have to change the person's status in Social Security records from dead to alive. 

    To explain the picture above, it's not just Social Security that has laws dealing with disappearances. Each state has its own laws to deal with estates and remarriages and such issues when someone disappears. These are called Enoch Arden laws since they were inspired by a long poem by that name written by Alfred Lord Tennyson.

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

Non-Disability Social Security Appeals -- Overpayments

    The vast majority of the work that this law firm does is on Social Security disability claims but that's not all we do. We're Social Security and we help with all kinds of Social Security appeals.

    The most common type of non-disability case we work on is overpayments. The agency sends you notice that you've been overpaid by $30,000. They tell you that they'll start withholding money from your monthly check so they can get their money back. You think you haven't been overpaid or that the amount should be less or that you shouldn't have to repay it because it wasn't your fault. Yes, we help with that.

    The problem is the attorney fee. Usually we get a portion of your back Social Security disability benefits as our fee but there aren't any back benefits in overpayment cases. Getting you out from under a $30,000 debt can be a big deal for you so it may be worth hiring an attorney but we'll have to charge you upfront and that's a deal breaker for many people. We're sorry about that but we have to make a living.

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

New Social Security Commissioner Nominated

    From USA Today:

President-elect Donald Trump said he's nominating financial services CEO Frank Bisignano to serve as commissioner of the Social Security Administration. ...

Bisignano currently leads the financial services and payments giant Fiserv, one of the largest financial software companies in the country.

He’s previously held executive leadership positions at major banks including JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup.  ...

 

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

Many Other Conditions Can Be The Basis For A Successful Social Security Disability Claim

     I have been writing about some of the more common disabling conditions. There's no way I can do an exhaustive list. At least, I don't have the energy to try!

   It doesn't mean you can't be approved for Social Security disability just because you don't see a mention of your disabling health problem here. Give us a call. Unless it's a truly rare disorder, we've probably heard of it. Syringomyelia, spasmodic torticollis, or ankylosing spondylitis, for example? Sure, I know about them.

    The main thing is that you should get and stay in medical treatment, probably by a specialist, and be a cooperative patient. Take your meds and show up for your appointments. It helps if your doctor is willing to be helpful with the Social Security disability claim but it's not essential.

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

Migraine Headaches

    Can you get Social Security disability benefits for migraines. Certainly but it's not easy.

    Migraines are a common health problem mostly, but not entirely, in women. The thing is that most people who have migraines don't have them that often. Thank goodness. Most cases respond well to routine migraine medications or are infrequent enough to not be much of a problem with work.

    If you are one of those unfortunate individuals who has frequent migraines which don't respond to medications, it may be possible for you to be approved for Social Security disability benefits. If you're going to win, you need to be under the care of a neurologist. They're the ones who should be treating those with severe migraine problems, not family doctors. Evidence of advanced treatment regimens such as infusions is helpful. You definitely don't want evidence in your medical records of non-compliance, that is not taking prescribed medications or dropping out of treatment for a time. You need to be a model patient who still has a major problem. Few people fall into that unfortunate category but help is available for them.

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

Work and Social Security Disability

 “Can I work while I wait for Social Security to make a decision?” 

Our clients have already been out of work for months, but the bills keep coming. Social Security told them it would be 120 days to get a decision but they are already on Day 121 since talking to the local SSA office, and the claim has not even been assigned to a disability examiner.

“Can I work while I wait for Social Security disability?” The general answer is No. The first step to reviewing a potential case is whether you have stopped working. There is an amount of work called Substantial Gainful Activity. If you continue to work at a job and earn over $1550 before taxes ($2590 if you are blind) then Social Security will not even look at your health. The claim will be denied because you are still able to work, despite your pain and discomfort. Social Security will not look at your medical records.

“What if I earn less than that?” Well, work is still evidence of your function. Social Security will take that into consideration as evidence when they decide the rest of the claim. It will make it harder—though not impossible—for you to prove that you meet the government’s definition of “disabled.”

“What if I find a job that I think I can do? Should I withdraw my application?” If you find a job that is less-demanding and think you can work, do not immediately withdraw your application. There is something called an Unsuccessful Work Attempt. If you return to work, to test it out, but you can’t keep working because your health interferes, happens many more times than I can count. Social Security will conclude that, if you returned to work after a significant break, and work lasted less than six months because of your health, then that return to work is wiped off the slate. Your claim will keep moving forward. Sometimes Social Security will find out about the return to work, pause medical development to check your hours and earnings, but eventually the claim will be put back into active case processing.

“What if I return to work before 12 months have passed?” Social Security requires your work absence to meet a minimum duration: 12 months. You do not have to actually be out of work 12 months before you file, but if you go back to work and keep working before 12 months have passed, it is a technical denial. You will not even be able to collect back pay on the months that you were out of work. If you are out for at least 12 months and then return, Social Security will be able to look at paying you a lump sum for the time you were out, and stop any future checks because of the return to work.

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 Thanksgiving

 

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

13 Things to Expect at Your Disability Hearing

1. Dress like you normally dress. Do not be excessive. This is SSA’s look at a typical day in your life.

2. Bring a photo ID.

3. Get to the hearing office early. Allow for traffic and other unforeseen mishaps.

4. You will go through a security check with a metal detector. Leave any keychain pocket knives, cigarette lighters and, of course, weapons, at home.

5. You will sit in a waiting room until the judge is ready to begin.

6. The judge will have his court reporter, called a hearing monitor, come out to get you.

7. You will go to a private hearing room, often set up like a mini courtroom. The hearing is recorded (voices only; no video recording) by the hearing monitor. There is a microphone that does not make your voice louder, it is only used for the recording.

8. The judge will start by saying a procedural introductory paragraph.

9. The judge will ask you to state your name and other identifying information during the procedural opening.

10. After the procedural opening, the judge will ask you about the type of work you did in the past five years.

11. You will have a chance to talk about your daily activities, so the judge understands how your health and symptoms are impacting your function and your stamina, mental and physical.

12. After your testimony, the judge will call a labor market expert, called a vocational expert, to ask them questions and get feedback on how different limitations could hypothetically affect someone your age, without specifically trying to find work for you.

13. The hearing ends without a decision.

The decision comes in the mail after the judge has a chance to go back, review the file, and make a decision, and a decision writer is able to finalize the decision in writing so that it can be mailed. It could take a week, it could take many months. It just depends on their backlog.

If you are finally at the hearing level, this is your last chance for a fresh review of your application. The next appeal is only available if the judge made a substantial error. I recommend finding an experienced Social Security disability attorney to help you prepare your case. If you want an attorney and do not have one in mind, call us at 1-866-425-5347. We represent North Carolina residents in their claims for Social Security disability.

Bipolar Disorder

     Bipolar disorder leads to many Social Security disability claims. It's a common health problem and often a serious one.

    Not all people with bipolar disorder will get on Social Security disability benefit, nor should they. In most cases, bipolar disorder can be controlled with medication and therapy.  

    Certainly, there are many who suffer from bipolar who should be on disability benefits. It's one of the more common health problems that Social Security disability attorneys see.

    In bipolar cases Social Security is looking at these sort of factors:

• Is the patient in psychiatric care? Not just care from a primary care physician but from a psychiatrist.
• Is the patient taking the medications prescribed for them?
• Has the patent required inpatient treatment?
• How well is the patient getting on with their life? Can they get much housework done? Socialize? Take care of business affairs? 
• What happened in the past when the patient was working? What problems led to the patient being out of work?
  
• Does the patient also have a substance abuse problem? They're commonly associated with bipolar disorder and make the bipolar disorder worse. This makes a case harder to win.
  
• Does the patient have a panic disorder? They're also commonly associated with bipolar disorder. Is the panic disorder causing agoraphobia -- that is the fear of leaving the house without a security figure such as spouse, parent or child? Agoraphobia can certainly be disabling.
  

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 Service Takes Another Hit

 

   Social Security has announced that it is mostly ending walk-in service at its field offices. This means in most cases that if you show up at a Social Security field office that you'll only be given an appointment to come back later -- usually more than a month later -- to transact your business with the agency.

    You can schedule an appointment with Social Security over the telephone or my opening a my Social Security online account. Contacting the agency by telephone can be extremely difficult. You may have a helpful person on the phone after a few minutes on hold or you may call repeatedly and being put on hold for 30 minutes or more until you get frustrated and hang up or until the system hangs up on you. Opening a my Social Security account isn't difficult if you've tech savvy. If you can read this blog, there's a good chance you can handle it. The problem is all those who need service from the agency who aren't even a little tech savvy.

    This is terrible for customer service. Social Security knows this. They believe they have no choice because they don't have the money to hire enough people to get the work done. This isn't because the Social Security trust funds have run out of money. The problem is that Congress won't let them spend enough money to get the work done.

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 is Social Security Disability?

“What Is Disability, Anyway?”

As a disability attorney, I frequently get this question from new clients. Officially, in Social Security, being a disabled adult has one definition:

“You must not be able to engage in any substantial gainful work activity because of a medically determinable physical or mental disability(ies) that is either expected to result in death or has lasted or is expected to last for a continuous period of at least 12 months.”

But what does this mean? It means that you are not working because of your health and probably will not be able to go back to any sort of work within a year. Social Security will get your medical records and look for objective medical findings, then look at job market numbers, and decide whether you could still hypothetically be a part of the national workforce.

You have the burden of proving that your health keeps you from doing your past work. Social Security has to prove that even if you cannot do your past work, your health, age, and employment outlook still leave a significant number of less-demanding jobs that you have the function to do, regardless of how much money those jobs pay and regardless, too, of whether you actually find that job and can get hired.

It is complicated. There are Social Security regulations being updated all the time. There are filing deadlines. There are rules for submitting evidence. Follow our blog for ongoing insight and, if you live in NC and need a lawyer to advocate for you, call our law firm or complete an online inquiry on our website, www.hall-rouse.com.

 

Asthma

     It's hard to get Social Security disability benefits period but particularly difficult if the primary impairment is asthma. There's a good reason for this. In almost all cases doctors can prescribe treatments, including medications, that bring things under control so that the patient can get back on with his or her life.

    Let me make it clear. Asthma can be a dangerous medical condition. I've seen an acute asthma attack and it's scary even if you're not the one having it. I can't imagine how terrifying it is to have such an attack. Untreated, an acute asthma attacks can be fatal.

    For the few asthma cases that might qualify, Social Security is looking at whether the patient is under medical treatment and whether the patient is taking the meds and the treatments they're supposed to be taking. They're looking at how often the patient has an acute asthma attack despite treatment.

    Children's asthma cases are particularly hard to win. Parents are scared to death by that first asthma attack but, again, the doctors do a great job of controlling pediatric asthma if the parents just do what they're supposed to do.

    Asthma can contribute to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) but that's another matter.

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

Disabled Adult Children

Social Security Disability and Financial Planning

 

Lawyers are not the only ones with clients facing Social Security Disability questions. Financial advisors get these questions, too. Let’s talk about the Wilson Family. James and Ann Wilson are your clients, seeking financial advice for their family. They are healthy and happily married; both now in their mid-60s— James, retired from a pharmaceutical plant, where he worked as a warehouse foreman. Ann, retired from teaching. They are lovely people. James and Ann have an adult daughter with special needs. She has never lived on her own and even with the best therapies, her function is equivalent to that of a 12 year old. James and Ann are now worried: how will their daughter survive once they are no longer there to provide for her? Can she file for Social Security Disability? 

 

If their disabled adult child has worked long enough (generally seven of the last 10 years) and at high enough earnings, then she can file a claim for Social Security disability insurance benefits— Think about situations where disabled adult children worked in a family-, friend-, or faith-based organization’s business, where they were hired due to prior affiliation rather than competitive employment standards. This claim will be filed under the adult child’s own Social Security number (which SSA sometimes calls the wage earner number). 

 

If she has not been able to work, then she will not have accumulated the work credits needed to file a claim for Social Security disability insurance benefits. The exception? If James and/or Ann receive Social Security retirement or disability, then their daughter will be able to file under the parent’s wage earner number. Whether she will ultimately receive benefits will hinge on proving the disability began before she turned 22. (For disabled adult children whose parent is deceased, if that parent worked long enough to qualify for Social Security, then the same exception applies and the adult child can file under the deceased parent’s wage earner number.) 

 

If neither of these situations is true then James and Ann’s daughter may be eligible to file a claim for Supplemental Security Income (often referred to as “SSI”). SSI is means-tested and considers the household’s income and resources. While at first glance, James and Ann appear to provide too many resources to their daughter, consider whether any exceptions apply. Among other things, Social Security will not count property essential to self–support; money saved in an Individual Development Account; health flexible spending accounts; dedicated accounts for disabled or blind children; the first $2,000 of compensation received per calendar year for participating in certain clinical trials; and certain trusts, i.e., special needs trusts and pooled trusts. (Note that money distributed under these trusts will not work against the disabled adult child’s means-tested eligibility to file; however, once the child is found disabled under the law, the money distributed from the trust may have the effect of lowering the amount of the monthly SSI payment.)

 

These are good things to know when advising James and Ann. For more detailed questions or help filing, it is good to talk to an experienced Social Security disability attorney. In North Carolina, my law firm is happy to assist with questions and filing. If you are outside of NC, feel free to reach out to me and I will point you in the right direction. 

 

Veterans Day 2024

 

 

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

Bad Backs

     Bad backs can hurt -- a lot. A bad back can certainly be the basis for a successful Social Security disability claim.

    As with other cases, age makes a huge difference. It can be very hard to get approval for those under 50 years of age. Between age 50 and 54, it's a little less difficult. For those 55 and older, it's considerably less difficult.

    Here are some things that may make a difference in a Social Security disability claim based upon a bad back:

• Have you had surgery? What kind of surgery? A lumbar fusion is a much more serious procedure than a lumbar microdiskectomy.  
• Do you have what doctors call radicular symptoms -- what they sometimes call sciatica? I'm talking about symptoms such as pain, weakness and numbness not so much in the back as in a hip or thigh or calf or foot. 
• What do your x-rays and MRIs look like?
• What kind of work have you done? At the least, we have to prove that you're no longer able to perform your old job. That's easier to do if the old job was physically demanding than if it were an office job.

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