Legal News

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 of recent stories that have involved Social Security. Some are tidbits and some are important things that should be known in the world of retirement or disability and others are just interesting stories and nothing more. Plan For The Future We constantly talk about how important Social Security is to the lives of millions Americans, which is true, but those who have to live singularly off of either Social Security retirement or disability benefits will probably struggle to provide a decent living for themselves. Both disability and retirement monthly payments from Social Security a worker would be eligible for are similar monthly amounts, but neither will come close to replacing a pay a worker received from employment. Estimates are that lower income workers will get about 50 percent of their employment salary through either Social Security disability or retirement  benefits and higher earners about 40 percent. The more someone earns while working the less Social Security benefits will cover their former salaries. Now there is a lot of talk about how Social Security will be bankrupt by the time younger generations retire and they should not count on Social Security for their future. This is completely wrong. Although Social Security will be unable to meet 100 of its obligations by 2034 it will still be able to meet 80 percent of full payment after this year if nothing is done to fix the problem, but there will certainly be efforts made to fix the problem. Regardless of whether full Social Security payments are there for future generations, no matter who you are you should think about other retirement options in addition to Social Security. It is difficult to save for retirement in a private savings account, individual retirement plan or through a 401K, but even a little bit of money that can be tucked away each month will make retirement a bit easier when it is time to collect Social Security. Things Are Not Getting Better At Social Security The National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) recently released case load analysis on Social Security’s first nine months of fiscal year 2016, which began last October and the news is not promising. Among the highlights of the report included: Based on caseload receipts and dispositions Social Security was only able to handle about 89 percent of the work it received. There were a total of 977,736 cases pending before the Social Security Administration in October 2015 and more than 1.1 million by the end of June this year. Overtime hours of Social Security employees have fluctuated greatly, increasing when the agency receives needed appropriations and declining in other instances. One highlight of the fluctuation was that there were close to 49,000 overtime hours in November of 2015, but less than 86 overtime hours in March of 2016. A valuable tool Social Security has used in the past is to use a senior attorney advisors to try and make favorable decisions on severe disability cases that are waiting for a hearing. This was done only 732 times between October of 2015 and June of 2016, which is much less than previous years.

Recently, the Social Security Administration (SSA) started a national communications campaign to raise awareness of their Disability Insurance Benefit (DIB) program. This campaign is called the “Faces And Facts Of Disability.” As the title suggests, the campaign is focused on providing facts about the program as well as sharing personal stories from beneficiaries. The campaign features a video that addresses some of the basic requirements of the DIB program. It also provides information on some common misconceptions about the program as well as interviews with a couple beneficiaries. Here are some interesting and startling facts from the video: More than one in four workers who are 20 years old and insured for DIB benefits will become disabled prior to retirement age; For people who start receiving DIB at the age of 55, one in five men and one in seven women will die within five years of the onset of their disability. Some misconceptions that are addressed in the video: Some people believe the beneficiaries’ receive a lot of money from the SSA and are paid too much.  The video states that in 2014, the average monthly check is only $1146. This is barely above the poverty level; Many people believe that there is a high rate of fraud with disability claims. The video states that the fraud incidence rate is a fraction of one percent. Please click here to view the entire video. The SSA has created a special webpage for the campaign which includes a message from the SSA commissioner, an online quiz about disability, facts related to the DIB program, personal stories, and more.  To see the “Faces And Facts Of Disability” webpage click here.

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 and Reconsideration phase of the Social Security disability claim, which the majority of applicants do, the next step is to request a hearing before an ALJ. When faced with the reality of waiting 12-15 months for a hearing, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security (SSI) claimants ask “How am I supposed to survive until my hearing?” Those who are claiming to be unable to work, or work at a full-time level, can easily run into financial stress without the ability to bring home a paycheck. Unless someone has a spouse or relative that can pay the bills, pay the rent and put food on the table while you are waiting 12-15 months for a hearing, the next question is “where do I turn for financial help?” Unfortunately there is no simple answer to that question. Housing and financial assistance is limited, but here are a few suggestions that might ease the financial burden when waiting for a Social Security disability hearing.  Contact your county to see what services you may be eligible for. If you are unable to treat for your conditions because you don’t have health insurance you may be qualify for medical assistance so you can see doctors and get help paying for prescriptions. You might qualify for food assistance. Reach out to local charities. One good resource for this is the United Way, which can connect people to more than 40,000 different resources by simply calling 211 or visiting https://www.unitedwaytwincities.org/get_help/. Most communities also have local food shelves that will provide food assistance to those who need it. Many people applying for Social Security disability are unable to work at all, but others may be able to work on a limited basis. Under most circumstances, Social Security allows people to work and earn up to $1,010 (GROSS INCOME BEFORE TAXES) per month and still meet the technical requirements for disability. This might provide enough income to make ends meet. If all else fails and you are already waiting for a hearing to be scheduled there is the option of asking Social Security to expedite your case. This means you are asking Social Security to move you ahead of other people who may also be facing financial distress. To be considered, Social Security will look at your ability to provide food, medicine and shelter for yourself.

Every now and then there seems to be a lot of current news involving new policies, rules or any matters related to Social Security, so this blog will focus on some current Social Security events. Despite the fact that Social Security has been around for more than 80 years things do change when it comes to standards and rules. Established to outline conditions and their severity in relating to meeting the definition of disability, Social Security has created the agency’s listings related to virtually every type of physical and mental health impairment and those listings change from time-to-time. Recently the agency informed it would have new rules in place related to respiratory impairments by Oct. 7, 2016.There are many different type of respiratory illnesses that Social Security addresses. Some of these conditions include asthma, cystic fibrosis, respiratory failure and pulmonary hypertension. According to Social Security, the reason the agency is changing its respiratory impairments is “to reflect our program experience and advances in medical knowledge since we last comprehensively revised the listings for this body system and comments we received from medical experts and the public at an outreach policy conference.” So, there you go, now you know how changes to the listings occur as identified by Social Security. Shots Fired Outside Social Security Office Unfortunately the recent news that shots were fired outside the Moss Point, Mississippi Social Security field office is not a new phenomena. As reported by the SunHerald, gunshots were fired outside the office June 8 and the police have a pretty good idea who fired the shots in the parking lot, but no one was injured. According to the story, the chief of police indicated that the potential suspect was visiting the Social Security office and became angry about something and left. Police believe this same man fired three to four shots in the parking lot. People have attempted to bring weapons on to Social Security property and have threatened violence at Social Security offices before. When you are dealing with an agency that is in charge of live-changing benefits for the poor and disabled, many of who suffer from mental health impairments, it can’t be a complete shock that these types of things happen, but obviously anyone who threatens violence in any way should be held legally responsible. Back To Work One member of the U.S. House of Representatives and two members of U.S. Senate introduced companion bills in each legislative body that would encourage Americans on Social Security to go back to work. It should not come as a surprise that all three legislators are republicans. It seems the Republican Party is so fixated on the Social Security disability program and one has to wonder if republicans are dead set on destroying Social Security disability. Every day there seems to be another republican talking about ridding Social Security disability of fraud and abuse or talking about how there are too many people on disability. Everyone should agree with getting rid of fraud, but this laser focus the Republicans have on an issue that impacts less than 1 percent of all Social Security transactions is getting out of hand. It now may be a shift in party policy to instead go after the disabled and force them back to work even though they are unable to.  There are already rules in place and those who improve medically do return to work or have their disability benefits suspended. It really is time for the republicans to focus on real problems and stop making ones up.

Anything attached to the phrase Social Security seems to move at a snail’s pace even if Social Security itself has nothing to do with the process. Andrew Eanes, who was nominated to become the deputy commissioner of Social Security, had been waiting for the Senate Finance Committee to consider his nomination since it was originally scheduled March 2. Finally, after postponements, the committee considered the Eanes nomination April 18 with pretty successful results for the new deputy nominee. With only one vote against Eanes, it puts him in line to become the next deputy chief of Social Security. It is unclear how this move might impact current Acting Commissioner Carolyn Colvin, who has served as the Social Security boss for the last few years. Approval Ratings By The Numbers One of the most important factors in deciding a claimant’s fate for Social Security disability is the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) that has been assigned to the case. An ALJ is given broad leeway in deciding whether someone meets the definition of being disabled under Social Security’s rules and ALJs are all over the map on their approval ratings. Instead of looking at specific ALJs, we decided to look at approval and denial rates from state to state in relation to Social Security disability hearings. There were two jurisdictions, Hawaii and Puerto Rico where ALJs approved disability cases at a rate of 61 percent, which was highest in the nation. These states were followed by Maine with a 56 percent approval rating and Nebraska with a 53 percent approval rating. Undoubtedly, the state with the lowest approval rating is Alaska at 21 percent, followed by Kansas at 32 percent and Connecticut at 36 percent approval. To take a closer look at specific approval ratings for each state click here.

The senior editor for retirement at the U.S. News & World Report posted an informative article about six different ways to fix the Social Security system that eventually will run out of money if there are not changes made to the system. After looking at the different possibilities we can come to the conclusion that they are all viable options that could be left on the table for Congress to consider, but getting Congress to act on anything involving Social Security is a difficult proposition. Let’s take a closer look at the six different options the U.S. News & World Report identified. Increase the payroll tax: Increasing Social Security taxes will definitely bring more money in for retirement and disability benefits. Currently, workers are taxed at 6.2 percent of their earnings while employers chip in another 6.2 percent. This proposal suggests both employees and employers increase the rate to 7.6 percent between 2028 and 2057 and up to 9 percent in 2058 and beyond. This would eliminate any sort of funding shortfall and provide for some Social Security reserves. Eliminate the taxable minimum: This seems to be a topic very few people know about. As of 2016, workers pay Social Security taxes on their earnings up to $118,500, but all income earned over this amount is not subjected to Social Security taxes. The story about these options in the U.S. News & World Report indicates that if Social Security taxes applied to earnings above $118,500, it would eliminate about 71 percent of Social Security’s current funding deficit. Increase the retirement age: This suggestion is also a common one, but Congress is scared to act because no one wants to be told they have to wait to retire, but it may work better if the retirement age increases over time. Originally the retirement age for full benefits was 65 and that was increased gradually so that all people born 1960 and later will have to wait until age 67 to reach full retirement age. The article suggests increasing the retirement age to 68 beginning in 2022, which could eliminate 13 percent of the current funding gap. Increase early retirement age: Currently workers can collect early Social Security retirement benefits at age 62 if they are willing to take less money every month. The suggestion from the article is to increase the early retirement age from 62 to the age of 65, which used to be the full retirement age. This would be a questionable choice because government estimates suggest that this would not decrease the deficit and would actually increase it a tad. A 2 percent deficit could increase because when the early retirement age increases there is an expected increase in the number of disability claims, which would deplete the Disability Trust Fund. Cut Benefits: This has to be something Congress wants to avoid, but it remains a viable option up for discussion. If nothing is done and Social Security depletes itself on its own there will already be a reduction of more than 20 percent in benefits by 2035. The suggestion of the article is to limit the decrease in benefits to 3 percent for people who are eligible for benefits beginning in 2016 and it would reduce 14 percent of Social Security’s current funding shortfall. Reduce benefits for high earners: Currently there is no income limit on collecting Social Security benefits. That means that billionaires and millionaires can collect Social Security benefits on top of their already massive wealth. If payments are reduced for high earners it is estimated that 26 percent of Social Security’s funding deficit could be eliminated. For a closer look at these proposals click here.