Blog

Work Incentives For People Who Receive Disability Insurance Benefits

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has created special rules to encourage recipients of Disability Insurance Benefits (DIB) to return to work. In order to be eligible to receive DIB benefits you must have a medical impairment(s) that prevents you from maintaining substantial gainful employment (SGA) for at least 12 months. In 2013, the SSA values… Read more »

ALJs Sue to Decrease Workload

Administrative Law Judges have banned together to sue the Social Security Administration because ALJs are expected to decide as many as 700 disability claims a year, which has resulted in rushed decisions and possibly even improper decisions that may have cost taxpayers millions of dollars. “The Social Security Administration seems to care only about quotas,”… Read more »

What Happens if My SSI Payments Stop?

There may be no more unsettling letter to receive than a Social Security notice indicating that your Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments will be stopped. This type of letter can arrive for a variety of reasons, but the main reasons are for earning too much income or Social Security determines that you are no longer… Read more »

How Long Will That Take?

When assisting Social Security disability applicants a frequent question is “how long will that take?” Not only is the question asked frequently by the majority of applicants, but it is asked multiple times by the same applicant. The reason this is the case is because there is a lot of waiting time involved with either… Read more »

Social Security Disability Benefits for Terminal Illness (TERI)

To combat the backlog of nearly 700,000 claims and counting that are waiting for a hearing before the Social Security Administration (SSA), the federal agency has launched a number of initiatives to expedite Social Security Disability Insurance benefits to thousands of individuals. The requirements for disability benefits for a person with a terminal illness are… Read more »

Spinocerebellar Ataxia (SCA) POMS: DI 23022.500

Ataxia is the scientific term for a lack of coordination or clumsiness. The part of the brain most commonly associated with coordination is the cerebellum. According to Social Security, Spinocerebellar Ataxia (SCA) refers to a group of genetic disorders characterized by slowly progressive difficulties with gait, hand movements, speech and abnormal eye movement. Spinocerebellar ataxia is… Read more »

Will my benefit amount ever be increased or decreased?

If you are receiving Disability Insurance Benefits (DIB) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits you will likely receive an annual increase based on inflation rates. This increase is called a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). The Social Security Administration (SSA) uses the Consumer Price Index to calculate the value of the COLA. The SSA determines if there… Read more »

The Social Security Administration vows to Communicate Clearly with the Public

In accordance with the “Plain Writing Act of 2010,” the Social Security Administration (SSA) is dedicated to ensuring their agency is accessible to the American public. Under this Act federal agencies must communicate clearly with the public to improve their effectiveness and accountability. The SSA’s website states that even though many parts of their programs… Read more »

Another Solvency Crisis Looms for Social Security

When the subject of Social Security comes up in conversation many times someone suggests that Social Security retirement or disability may not be around when it is needed because of reported insolvency. Although these conversations offer a lot of smoke, there is some fire there too. The last five Social Security trustee reports indicate that… Read more »