Social Security has strict rules in place regarding how much a person who is collecting Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits can earn from work-related activities. For the year 2018 anything earned from work totaling $1,180 per month and more, in gross income, is considered to be earning at a Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) level,… Read more »
Blog
How Well Is The Compassionate Allowance Program Working?
A previous blog post identified five new conditions that will be added to Social Security’s Compassionate Allowance list, which is a list of medical conditions that meet Social Security’s standard for disability rules. The idea behind this list of conditions is that anyone diagnosed with one of these conditions is supposed to be given fast-tracked… Read more »
This Is Not Helping Social Security’s Funding Challenges
Social Security has strict rules in place regarding how much a person who is collecting Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits can earn from work-related activities. For the year 2018 anything earned from work totaling $1,180 per month and more, in gross income, is considered to be earning at a Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) level,… Read more »
Eliminate Social Security To The Rich To Save It
The most popular solutions to solving Social Security’s pending shortfall problem in less than 20 years have focused on one of three things, increasing the retirement age, increasing taxes or reducing benefits, but there may be a better option. The means-testing solution has been mentioned, although not that often, but it is an intriguing idea… Read more »
Republican Proposal Would Increase Age Of Medicare Eligibility
Republicans in Congress have titled their new budget proposal “Brighter American Future,” but this new proposal would only make seniors wait longer to qualify for Medicare and reduce an extra funding source for some people who are receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits. According to a story in the Times Record, an Arkansas newspaper,… Read more »
Those Denied Disability Benefits Become Poorer In Following Years
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities published a study conducted by the policy research group Mathematica showing the earnings of workers well before they applied for Social Security benefits and their earnings up to five years after they applied and were denied benefits. The results show how poor these people have become in subsequent… Read more »
Social Security Doesn’t Go As Far As It Used To
People who are trying to survive on Social Security benefits have found the prospect increasingly more difficult year-after-year because since 2000, the buying power has fallen by 34 percent according to a report from the Senior Citizens League, as reported in this article by CNBC. The main factor contributing to this decline in buying power… Read more »
Could Appeals Council Cases Be Remanded Due To Lucia Ruling?
As previously reported, the Supreme Court ruled that the process to appoint Administration Law Judges (ALJs), at least at the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), is unconstitutional, and shortly after President Donald Trump issued an executive order changing how all ALJs are appointed. First a little background on Lucia v. SEC. The decision from the… Read more »
Social Security Advocate Informs Congress Of Unprocessed Appeals
Lisa Eckman, a disability advocate and the co-chair of the Social Security Task Force for the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), testified before the U.S. House Social Security Subcommittee earlier this month about how Social Security processes claims and appeals, but it was what she said about unprocessed appeals that received the most attention…. Read more »
The Latest With Social Security
We realize it may be a stretch for ordinary people to want to keep up with the comings and goings of the Social Security Administration, but sometimes circumstances permit where someone does want to follow the latest news regarding the agency due to a possible retirement or disability interest. This blog is an ongoing piecemeal… Read more »
