A few days ago acting Social Security commissioner Nancy Berryhill released a memo to all Social Security employees about the federal hiring freeze issued by President Donald Trump January 25. Unfortunately there was not much to update as there has been no changes to this hiring freeze. The hiring freeze requires that no new employees… Read more »
Blog
Video Teleconferencing At Your Hearing
Social Security recently changed its rules about the use of video teleconferencing (VTC) for disability hearings before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). Previously, Social Security has used VTC for a portion of its hearings. The VTC process relates to using ALJs in other jurisdictions to administer hearings with claimants and representatives via video rather than… Read more »
When Disabilities Don’t Matter To Social Security
It may seem ridiculous when administrators of a disability program don’t require evidence of disabilities or even consider medical evidence of a claimant applying for disability, but that is exactly what Social Security does on occasion for its Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program. Many people, who navigate through the Social Security disability process for… Read more »
What is the Social Security Administration Blue Book?
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has created the Blue Book to provide information regarding the evaluation and processing of disability claims to healthcare and legal professionals. The Blue Book consists of four parts. The first part of the book contains the Listing of Impairments. The List of Impairments are divided into Part A and Part… Read more »
Social Security Administration and Over Payments to Deceased
Social Security states a person must be alive for the entire month to be eligible for a benefit check. Benefits are not payable for the month of death. According to the Wall Street Journal, The Social Security Administration’s inspector general on Monday said the agency improperly paid $31 million in benefits to 1,546 Americans believed to… Read more »
Understanding Social Security Disability Terminology
The Social Security disability process can be confusing. Not only can the entire process be difficult to understand, but so can the different terms Social Security uses along the way. To make things a bit clearer below are some definitions for terms Social Security uses during the disability process. Alleged and Established Onset Date: The alleged… Read more »
The Date In Which You Become Disabled
For everyone who applies for Social Security disability benefits one of the major questions people have to answer is what date are you claiming that you became disabled? Not just any date can be chosen. Some people respond to this question claiming they became disabled 20 years earlier because this is when their conditions first… Read more »
Name Changes and Social Security Disability
Because the Social Security disability process can drag on, much of the time well over a year, those who have applied for either Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) go through many different life changes. One of these life changes are name changes. No matter why your name may change it… Read more »
People Who Don’t Know Speak
It is time for another version of People Who Don’t Know Speak. Every now and then we like to checkout Social Security’s blog that deals with different topics and programs Social Security offers. One feature these blogs offer is a place to comment about the content of the blog. Typically, if you read most stories… Read more »
Going Inside Different Disability Programs
Here at Greeman Toomey Law Office we practice solely in the area of Social Security disability, but Social Security is not the only type of disability program out there. Actually, depending on someone’s situation, a person could be qualified to not only receive Social Security disability, but also other types of disability pay. Considering Social… Read more »
