Scammers will stop at nothing to get your personal information. As soon as one scam has outlived its usefulness, another scam pops up to replace it. All of these scams have one purpose, to obtain your personal information to take your money and utilize your credit. A new scam is up and running where someone… Read more »
Blog
The 5-Step Sequential Evaluation Process Of Disability Claims
Decisions on every disability claim Social Security considers are made using the same type of evaluation, known as the five-step sequential evaluation. This process is mentioned in every decision issued by an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) so it is important, to better understand the disability determination process, to know exactly what the 5-step sequential evaluation… Read more »
Lawsuit Over Consultative Physician
Social Security recently settled a class action lawsuit over the use of a consultative physician, which is routinely used by Social Security to help determine the severity of alleged impairments of disability applicants. The lawsuit claimed that Dr. Frank Chen issued “grossly deficient reports [that] were based on cursory examinations (often lasting 10 minutes or… Read more »
Social Security And The Law
It seems that someone is arrested at a local Social Security office on a weekly basis these days. As disability backlogs increase so does the frustration from customers. A recent arrest at a Social Security office happened locally at the Rochester, MN Social Security office. According to a story in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Leonard… Read more »
Social Security To Institute New Pre-hearing Reviews
Social Security is going to try something new in its never-ending pursuit of reducing the backlog of disability cases that are waiting to be scheduled before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). Despite the fact it is encouraging to see Social Security try new things to reduce the more than 1.1 million disability case backlog, there… Read more »
No Word Yet How SSA In Texas and Louisiana Will Be Impacted By Hurricane
Since the evening of August 25, Hurricane Harvey has ravaged the Texas Gulf Coast dumping more than 20 inches of rain in some areas and more is to come. Tens of thousands of people have evacuated the area, but it is too early to know the full impact of this storm because the misery for… Read more »
The Technical Rules of Social Security Disability
It is unfortunate, but a common scenario with many Social Security disability applicants is that they find out that they are ineligible to receive Disability Insurance Benefits (DIB) before a claim really gets going, no matter why types of potential disabilities an applicant has. Before an applicant can even get the Social Security Administration to… Read more »
Administrative Law Judge Qualifications
The majority of applicants who apply for Social Security disability benefits and who continue to appeal decisions by the agency to deny claims will eventually end up at a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). Most everyone knows what a judge is and what their functions are, but typically when we think of a… Read more »
g Financially Until the ALJ Hearing
Among the questions asked to Greeman Toomey attorneys and staff, the most frequent one is “how am I supposed to survive until my hearing?” Unfortunately the average wait time for a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge is 12-15 months from the date of your appeal. If a claimant receives unfavorable decisions at the Initial… Read more »
How will becoming incarcerated effect my benefits?
Incarceration may impact your eligibility for benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA). This depends on how long you are incarcerated for and what type of benefits you receive. If you are receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments and you are in jail or prison, your payments will be suspended after you have been incarcerated… Read more »
