I regularly receive questions about auxiliary Social Security disability benefits. Often these questions are from divorced persons who are struggling with the cost of raising a child, while the disabled, non-custodial parent has not been cooperative with regard to auxiliary benefits.
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This past February, Social Security issued a press release announcing that it was adding thirty-eight (38) medical conditions to its "compassionate allowance" program. SSA describes its compassionate allowance program as follows:
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Recently, I came across a very relevant blog post written by New York Social Security disability lawyer Lew Insler entitled Waiting to Apply for Social Security Disability Can Cost You Money. Attorney Insler comments "I still don't understand why some people wait years before even filing their claims. Not only do claimants lose out on years of potential benefits, but the longer a person waits to apply, the harder it may be to obtain the medical records necessary to show disability while they are still covered for benefits.
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I have selected some questions that have recently been asked of me that I believe cover some more elusive topics related to Social Security Disability that I believe are worth discussing on this blog. This first topic, while not necessarily as elusive as the others – which I will post weekly as a Q & A series – is a good start since it involves a person who is just starting to explore the world of Social Security Disability. Someone with recent injuries poses the following Question:
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One of the least discussed but perhaps most frustrating aspects of the Social Security disability process has to do with the forms that Social Security requires when you apply or appeal. Over the years I have watched the forms evolve – and the trend is easy to detect: Social Security's forms never get shorter. Instead they add questions which appear to ask for the same information again and again.
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I recently received a question from a woman named Carol who wants to know if she should wait to file for benefits because she is planning on moving to a different state. She writes:
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Social Security disability cases often interface with workers' compensation and short term or long term disability cases. I recently received a question from a lady named Helena, who asks the following:
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I recently received an email question from a blog reader about the eligibility of a convicted felon for Social Security disability benefits. There is a simple answer here – you may not collect disability benefits during the time you are incarcerated. Social Security ruling 83-28 addresses this situation directly.
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In my last post, I described Social Security's new "paperless file system" that utilizes scanned documents rather than paper documents. You may be wondering how written records get into the system.
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Jonathan Ginsberg with Social Security CD
Over the past year, Social Security has made meaningful strides in reducing hard copy paperwork and improving the efficiency of the disability adjudication process. One of the most noticeable changes has been the gradual elimination of cardboard and paper files, which are being replaced by compact disks. Social Security personnel now scan medical records and burn the files to compact disc. Employees at the hearing office mail the discs to the attorney for pre-hearing review. From the perspective of an attorney the CD system avoids the hassle of scheduling time to review the files or hiring someone to physically photocopy the files.
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