The Social Security Administration and the Department of Defense (DoD) are working together to improve access to disability benefits for the nation’s Wounded Warriors, service members, veterans, and their dependents. A new nationwide project enables Social Security disability case processing sites to receive military medical records from multiple DoD facilities with a single request to a centralized DoD site. As of April 30, 2012, this initiative is in its first phase of nationwide expansion.

“Receiving electronic medical records for our Wounded Warriors and other military personnel will significantly shorten the time it takes to make a disability decision,” said Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security. “This new process will improve the speed, accuracy, and efficiency of the disability program.”

Originally a pilot, the program included five states (Colorado, North Carolina, Oregon, Virginia, and Washington) and more than 60 military treatment facilities. These states are now receiving electronic medical records within 72 hours, a remarkable improvement over the previous average response time of five weeks for paper records from individual military treatment facilities.

The new DoD-Social Security collaboration consolidates requests for medical records from Social Security to a single location that has access to DoD records in a central electronic repository.

The benefits of the new process include:

• faster delivery of DoD medical records to Social Security,
• a more efficient system to obtain records,
• a reduction in the time it takes to make a medical decision on a disability claim, and
• a reduction in the number of consultative examinations (medical exams requested by Social Security when additional tests or medical records are needed.)

This is the first step towards the long-term goal of a fully automated solution of improving medical information sharing using health information technology and the Nationwide Health Information Network Exchange.

More information on Social Security’s use of health IT is available at www.socialsecurity.gov/hit.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

When a person applies for Social Security disability benefits, the agency conducts a disability review to determine if the applicant is actually “disabled” as defined by federal law. As part of this review, the Social Security Administration (SSA) contacts the applicant’s doctors and other medical providers to discuss the applicant’s medical history and to obtain important medical records that can be used throughout the disability determination process.

Since doctors and hospitals are not allowed to disclose a patient’s medical information to anyone, even the government, without the patient’s permission, the SSA requires all disability applicants to fill out a medical release form, commonly known as an SSA-827, which authorizes the SSA to obtain the required medical information from a medical provider and releases the provider from liability related to the release. Up till now, the SSA has required applicants to print out the form and either mail it into the SSA or bring it into a local office.

Because this procedure often delays the disability application process (the SSA cannot process the application without the signed release in hand), the government has decided to allow applicants for disability benefits to electronically sign the SSA-827 online as an alternative to filing a paper copy. Starting in April, adults with disabilities who are capable of signing their own medical release forms will be able to simply click and sign the SSA-827 as part of the application process. The SSA hopes to expand the electronic signature program to other categories of applicants, like children and people who are operating under a Durable Power of Attorney, in the future. According to the SSA, the new electronic signature option will reduce application processing time by an average of nine days.

To read about the changes on the SSA’s Web site visit www.ssa.gov.

Blog post by Sheri R. Abrams, Attorney at Law
Needham Mitnick & Pollack, plc
www.nmpattorneys.com
www.sheriabrams.com

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

“Social Security will continue to work with the medical community and patient organizations to add more conditions,” Commissioner Astrue said. “With our Compassionate Allowances program, we quickly approved disability benefits for nearly 61,000 people with severe disabilities in the past fiscal year, and nearly 173,000 applications since the program began.”

The Compassionate Allowances initiative identifies claims where the nature of the applicant’s disease or condition clearly meets the statutory standard for disability. With the help of sophisticated new information technology, the agency can quickly identify potential Compassionate Allowances and then quickly make decisions.

Social Security launched the Compassionate Allowances program in 2008 with a list of 50 diseases and conditions. The announcement of 52 new conditions, effective in August, will increase the total number of Compassionate Allowances conditions to 165. The conditions include certain cancers, adult brain disorders, a number of rare genetic disorders of children, early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, immune system conditions, and other disorders. In his speech that opened the Congress, Commissioner Astrue thanked the National Institutes of Health for research they conducted which helped identify many of the conditions added to the list.

New Compassionate Allowances Conditions:

Aicardi-Goutieres Syndrome

Alobar Holoprosencephaly

Alpers Disease

Alpha Mannosidosis

Carcinoma of Unknown Primary Site

Cerebrotendinous Xanthomatosis

Child Neuroblastoma

Child Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

Chondrosarcoma with multimodal therapy

Cornelia de Lange Syndrome-Classic Form

Ewings Sarcoma

Follicular Dendritic Cell Sarcoma with metastases

Fucosidosis – Type 1

Galactosialidosis – Early Infantile Type

Glioma Grade III and IV

Hallervorden-Spatz Disease

Hepatoblastoma

Histiocytosis

Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome

Hydranencephaly

Hypocomplementemic Urticarial Vasculitis

Hypophosphatasia Perinatal lethal Form

I Cell disease

Infantile Free Sialic Acid Storage Disease

Juvenile Onset Huntington Disease

Kufs Disease Type A and B

Lissencephaly

Lymphomatoid Granulomatosis Grade III

Malignant Brain Stem Gliomas–Childhood

Malignant Melanoma with metastases

Mastocytosis Type IV

Medulloblastoma with metastasis

Merkel Cell Carcinoma with metastases

Myocolonic Epilepsy

Ragged Red Fibers Syndrome

Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis

Obliterative Bronchiolitis

Ohtahara Syndrome

Orthochromatic Leukodystrophy with Pigmented Glia

Pearson Syndrome

Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease Classic Form

Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease Connatal Form

Peripheral Nerve Cancer metastatic or recurrent

Perry Syndrome

Rhabdomyosarcoma

Rhizomelic Chondrodysplasia Punctata

Schindler Disease Type 1

Smith Lemli Opitz Syndrome

Spinal Nerve Root Cancer- metastatic or recurrent

Stiff Person Syndrome

Tabes Dorsalis

Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome

Xeroderma Pigmentosum

For more information on the Compassionate Allowances

please visit www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Social Security Disability Insurance remains a vital lifeline for citizens who once held full-time jobs but have become too ill or injured to work. It is a time-honored expression of our nation’s commitment to help care for those who must stop working due to illness or injury.

While any large government program will have problems — and Social Security is no exception — we should work on fixing the problems and not join the current rush to condemn an entire system because of rare instances of abuse or mounting political pressures to cut federal spending.

As an attorney who has spent more than 34 years helping thousands of Social Security applicants, let me be clear that getting disability approval is harder than ever. Undocumented pain, alcoholism and drug abuse have been disqualified. Mental retardation and HIV standards are tougher. Diabetes and obesity are no longer distinct disabilities. Illegal immigrants are now disqualified. Applicants must now present objective medical evidence of disability. This is no rubber-stamp process.

Moreover, it is a misrepresentation to claim that there is a surge in unemployed applicants looking to get on the public dole. Applications have increased due to social, medical and economic mega-trends (such as more insured women and aged workers).

Yes, today’s Social Security Disability Insurance system is huge, complex, costly and certainly imperfect. But it deserves to be improved, not scorned. Claimants’ representatives play an important role by discouraging frivolous applications and assisting those who can prove disability navigate a daunting and often confusing bureaucracy.

The road to restoring Social Security to full health is not to conduct a witch hunt for the rare but inevitable undeserving claimants or deficient judges, but through sensible measures such as giving more help to people with disabilities who want to work, giving employers incentives to hire them, and upgrading the gathering and delivery of medical treatment and information.

Tough times can bring out the best in people. Let’s not let our frustration over a lousy economy cause us to turn on those who are most in need. Let’s improve a system that reflects the true spirit of American compassion.

Charles Martin, a Decatur, Ga.-based attorney, is president of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Ms. Abrams joined Needham Mitnick & Pollack in January 2010 as “of Counsel” after practicing law as a solo practitioner for 16 years. Ms. Abrams’ practice focuses on Social Security Disability Law and she has spoken on this topic to many organizations including the Virginia State Bar.

Ms. Abrams’ book, “Don’t Gamble with Your Social Security Disability Benefits,” was published in 2010.

Ms. Abrams is rated AV, the highest rating possible by the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, and was named one of Virginia’s Legal Elite.

Ms. Abrams is active in many different organizations including the National Organization of Social Security Claimant’s Representatives (NOSSCR), where she represents the 4th and DC Circuits on the Board of Directors.

Ms. Abrams graduated Cum Laude from Boston University’s School of Management with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration (1989) and earned her law degree from the George Washington University Law School (1994).

Needham Mitnick & Pollack is a well established Elder Law, Estate, Disability & Special Needs Planning firm that assists clients with Wills, Trusts, Probate, Social Security Disability benefits, Trust Administration, Powers of Attorney, Advance Medical Directives, Guardianships, Long Term Care Planning, Disability Planning, Medicaid Eligibility, Veterans Benefits and Special Needs Trusts.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

This increase is because for the first time in the last 2 years the consumer price index – a measure of how much it costs consumers, on average, to buy things like food and transportation – rose considerably from a year ago.

Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (or COLA) is calculated using this index, and payments are increased when the measure jumps from one year to the next.

Based on this index data, the raise is likely to be about 3.5%. A person who receives $10,000 from Social Security last year would receive an extra $350 in 2012.

However, some of this increase will be lost to higher Medicare premiums, which are deducted from Social Security payments.

Medicare Part B premiums for 2012 are expected to be announced next week, and the trustees who oversee the program are projecting an increase.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

The Compassionate Allowances initiative identifies claims where the nature of the applicant’s disease or condition clearly meets the statutory standard for disability. With the help of sophisticated new information technology, the agency can quickly identify potential Compassionate Allowances and then quickly make decisions. Social Security launched the Compassionate Allowances program in 2008 with a list of 50 diseases and conditions. The announcement of 13 new conditions, effective in December, will increase the total number of Compassionate Allowances conditions to 113. The conditions include certain cancers, adult brain disorders, a number of rare genetic disorders of children, early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and other disorders.

In addition, the agency recently streamlined its online disability application for people who have a condition on the Compassionate Allowances list.

New Compassionate Allowances Conditions

Malignant Multiple Sclerosis
Paraneoplastic Pemphigus
Multicentric Castleman Disease
Pulmonary Kaposi Sarcoma
Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma
Primary Effusion Lymphoma
Angelman Syndrome
Lewy Body Dementia
Lowe Syndrome
Corticobasal Degeneration
Multiple System Atrophy
Progressive Supranuclear Palsy
The ALS/Parkinsonism Dementia Complex

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, today announced 12 additional Compassionate Allowances conditions involving severe heart diseases, bringing the total number of conditions in the expedited disability process to 100. Compassionate Allowances are a way to quickly identify diseases and other medical conditions that, by definition, meet Social Security’s standards for disability benefits. These conditions primarily include certain cancers, adult brain disorders, and a number of rare disorders that affect children.

“We have reached a significant milestone for the Compassionate Allowances program,” Commissioner Astrue said. “We have an obligation to award benefits quickly to people whose medical conditions are so serious they clearly meet our disability standards. We are now able to do precisely that for 100 severe conditions.”

The Compassionate Allowances initiative is one of two parts of the agency’s fast-track system for certain disability claims. When combined with the Quick Disability Determination process, Social Security last year approved more than 100,000 cases, usually in less than two weeks. This year, the agency expects to fast-track nearly 150,000 cases.

Social Security has held seven public hearings and worked with experts to develop the list of Compassionate Allowances conditions. The hearings also have helped the agency identify additional ways to improve the disability process for applicants with Compassionate Allowances conditions. “By definition, these illnesses are so severe that we don’t need to fully develop the applicant’s work history to make a decision,” said Commissioner Astrue. As a result, beginning in August, Social Security is eliminating this part of the application process for people who have a condition on the list.

For more information on the Compassionate Allowances initiative, please click here

New Compassionate Allowances Conditions:

Aortic Atresia

Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) Recipient

Eisenmenger Syndrome

Mitral Valve Atresia

Endomyocardial Fibrosis

Primary Cardiac Amyloidosis

Heart Transplant Graft Failure

Pulmonary Atresia

Heart Transplant Wait List – 1A/1B

Single Ventricle

Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome

Tricuspid Atresia

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

However in the last shutdown, there were no Social Security Disability hearings, no Social Security Disability decisions issued, no back Social Security Disability payments made, and no emergency SSI payments made. All Social Security offices will be closed, including the hearing offices.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

“Compassionate Allowances and the Quick Disability Determination process are making a real difference for disabled Americans by ensuring those with devastating disabilities receive their benefit decisions quickly and accurately,” Commissioner Astrue said. “This fiscal year, about 150,000 people will benefit from these fast-track disability processes. With this hearing, we continue to look at broader categories of conditions to determine if a subset or certain diagnosis might clearly meet our disability standards and qualify as a Compassionate Allowance.”

Social Security implemented Compassionate Allowances in October 2008 to expedite the processing of disability claims for applicants with medical conditions so severe that their conditions by definition meet Social Security’s standards. There currently are 88 specific diseases and conditions that qualify as a Compassionate Allowance. To learn more and to view a web cast of the November 9th hearing, go to www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

The absence of a cost-of-living adjustment, calculated under a formula set by law, will be a shock to older Americans and the disabled already hit by plummeting home values, investment losses and rising health costs. More than 50 million people receive some form of Social Security benefits.

Before 2010 Social Security recipients had received automatic cost-of-living adjustments every year since 1975. The increase in 2009 was 5.8 percent. By law, Social Security benefits cannot go down.

The cost-of-living adjustment is intended to preserve the purchasing power of Social Security, by increasing benefits to keep pace with consumer prices. In the last year, overall inflation has been low, largely because of the economic downturn.

The Congressional Budget Office, has predicted that inflation would remain low for several years, so it is possible that Social Security might not pay a cost-of-living increase for several years.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Social Security Webinar: Applying Online for Social Security Disability Benefits

October 6, 2010, 2:00 p.m. EST

A number of enhancements have been made to Social Security’s online disability application, making it easier and more convenient to complete online.

During this webinar, Social Security will highlight the new aspects of this online application and tell you about other Social Security disability initiatives currently underway.

To RSVP for this webinar please click here

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) will send checks to anyone who is eligible for Social Security Disability benefits or Social Security Retirement Benefits and is living abroad. However, there are a few countries where the SSA is not allowed to send checks. If a person eligible for benefits moves to Cuba or North Korea they cannot receive any checks while they are in either country, but they can get any withheld checks if they go to a country where paychecks can be sent.

In addition, the SSA generally does not send Social Security checks to Cambodia, Vietnam, or areas that were in the former Soviet Union (other than Armenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Russia), but those eligible for benefits may be able to apply for an exception. In such cases, those eligible for benefits may have to agree to certain conditions, such as appearing in person at the U.S. embassy each month, to receive benefits.

The rules for receiving Social Security disability or retirement overseas do not apply to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. Most recipients of SSI are not entitled to benefits outside the United States. SSI benefits will stop if a recipient is outside the United States for more than 30 days, and benefits won’t start up again until the recipient is back in the country for at least 30 days. However, there are exceptions for dependent children of military personnel and students studying abroad.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Claimants who have a history of drug or alcohol abuse but are currently not using these substances should carefully review their medical records. Doctors will often indicate “possible use” in their treatment notes. Such indications, proven or not, can have a damaging effect on your Social Security Disability case. Claimants who suffer from a mental disability should especially be careful, as mental disability cases are more likely to be denied when substance abuse is involved.

While each case is unique, it is true an applicant has a better chance of obtaining Social Security Disability benefits if they are sober and remain sober.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, announced that the number of disability hearings pending stands at 697,437 cases — the lowest level since June 2005 and down more than 71,000 cases since December 2008, when the trend of month-by-month reductions began. In addition, the average processing time for hearing decisions has decreased to 442 days, down from a high of 514 days at the end of 2008.

“We have decreased the number of hearings pending by almost 10 percent over the last 14 months and cut the time it takes to make a decision by nearly two and a half months. This remarkable progress shows our backlog reduction plan is working,” Commissioner Astrue said. “With ongoing support from the President and Congress as well as the efforts of our hardworking employees, I am confident the hearings backlog will continue to diminish.”

Social Security has actively addressed the hearings backlog and increased the capacity to hold more hearings. The agency hired 147 Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) and over 1,000 support staff in 2009, and has plans to hire an additional 226 ALJs this year. The agency now has four National Hearing Centers to help process hearings by video conference for the most hard-hit areas of the country. The agency also has aggressive plans to open 14 new hearing offices and three satellite offices by the end of the year. The first of these offices was opened in Anchorage, Alaska on February 19, 2010.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Virginia Attorney Sheri R. Abrams along with Attorney Benjamin W. Glass has published a new guide for anyone filing for Social Security Disability benefits. This comprehensive legal book explains the process of filing for Social Security Disability benefits in easy-to-understand language, describes how an experienced attorney can guide a claimant through the maze of administrative work involved, and answers frequently-asked questions about the process.

The clear organization and down-to-earth approach makes this book a valuable reference tool for a layperson who seeks to understand how and when to apply for Social Security Disability benefits-and when to hire an attorney to help.

Sheri Abrams practices Social Security Disability law in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. Sheri is “of counsel” to the law firm of Needham Mitnick & Pollack. Virginia attorney Benjamin Glass has authored six previous legal books.

This book is available for purchase at Amazon.com and through Word Association Publishers.

You can also download a free copy at www.sheriabrams.com.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, announced on February 1, 2010 that 15 healthcare providers and networks have received $17.4 million in contract awards to provide electronic medical records to the Social Security Administration (SSA). These electronic medical records, which will be sent through the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN), will hopefully shorten the time it takes Social Security to make a disability decision and will improve the speed, accuracy, and efficiency of the disability program.

“Using health information technology will improve our disability programs and provide better service to the public,” Commissioner Astrue said. “We’ve seen a significant increase in disability applications. To process them, the agency sends more than 15 million requests annually for medical records to healthcare providers. This largely paper-bound workload is generally the most time-consuming part of the disability decision process. The use of health IT will dramatically improve the speed, accuracy, and efficiency of this process, reducing the cost of making a disability decision for both the medical community and the American taxpayer.”

The contract awards are funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Stimulus). They will require awardees, with a patient’s authorization, to send Social Security electronic medical records through the NHIN. The NHIN, a safe and secure method for receiving access to electronic medical records over the Internet, is an initiative of the Department of Health and Human Services supported by multiple government agencies and private sector entities.

For the last year, Social Security has been successfully testing health IT to obtain electronic medical records. Disability applications processed with electronic medical records from the test sites have significantly reduced processing times. Some decisions are now made in days, instead of weeks or months. Social Security expects to receive more than 3.3 million applications in fiscal year (FY) 2010, a 27 percent increase over FY 2008.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

The Red Book serves as a general reference source about the employment-related provisions of the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs. While the Red Book is primarily for educators, advocates, rehabilitation professionals and counselors who serve people with disabilities, it can also serve as a self-help guide for Social Security applicants and beneficiaries. The 2010 Red Book is available in English and Spanish at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/redbook/

For more information about going back to work while receiving Social Security disability benefits please contact Attorney Sheri Abrams at www.sheriabrams.com for an Appointment.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

She will speak on the topic of how to receive Social Security Disability benefits.

The support group meets from 10:00 AM to Noon at:

Sunrise Assisted Living
6541 Franconia Road
Springfield, VA 22150

third floor

The woman at the front desk will direct you to the right elevator

All are welcome and this event is free.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

The wave of new applications comes just as officials were making progress in curbing a massive backlog of disability appeals cases, which has plagued the agency for years. Also adding to the problem are recent moves in at least 10 states to furlough hundreds of employees that process initial benefit claims.

Agency officials say the extraordinary increase is driven by the recession and an aging baby boomer work force reaching their most injury-prone years. Long waits for the agency to process claims and resolve appeals can leave some claimants struggling to make ends meet.

Since October, the number of people waiting to have a claim processed has jumped a stunning 30 percent, from about 556,000 eight months ago to more than 736,000 in July. “We’re going to be moving backwards this year, the question is how much,” Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue said in an interview. “The trend line isn’t good.”

Social Security disability benefits are available to people who can no longer work due to injury or illness. The disability program has been the fastest rising part of Social Security, with spending on disability benefits growing at almost twice the rate of spending on retirement benefits.

Astrue said he is frustrated that some states coping with budget shortfalls have decided to furlough state employees that include workers who process claims. Although the workers are employed by the state, their salaries are paid by the federal government, so Astrue said the states save no money by requiring them to take unpaid furloughs. “At a time when the case load is surging like that, it just makes the task that much more difficult,” Astrue said.

The economic stimulus package gave the agency $500 million to help cut the appeals backlog. The agency is hiring hundreds more judges and staff to reduce the case load. The number of cases awaiting a hearing has gone down six months in a row.

Astrue had predicted earlier this year that the agency would cut the appeals backlog to normal levels by 2013 and says he remains confident of meeting that deadline. But the sharp rise in new claims may knock that schedule off track, especially if congressional funding doesn’t keep pace with the increase. “The tsunami hasn’t hit … yet, but it will unfortunately,” said Alan Cohen, senior budget adviser for the Senate Finance Committee, in remarks at a recent meeting of Social Security judges.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Submitting an application for Social Security Disability benefits is you saying that you are entitled to benefits under the above definition – in other words, that you are not able to work. In signing your application, you swear, under penalty of law, that you are making no false statements on your application.

If you apply for unemployment insurance you must also swear, under penalty of law, that you are making no false statements on your application.  Persons who collect unemployment insurance swear that they have looked for work each week, and that, if work was found, they would be ready, willing and able to do it.

Therefore, an unemployment claim is tantamount to saying “I am able to work,” while an Social Security disability claim is stating “I am not able to work.”  Both statements are made under penalty of perjury, but both cannot be true.

Filing both at the same time is, at the most fraudulent and in the least may affect your credibility to both Unemployment and Social Security.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

SSDI is a federal program primarily designed to aid people who have become disabled after having worked for a certain amount of time. Unlike Supplemental Security Income (SSI), SSDI is not a needs-based program, which means that there are no income and asset restrictions. Instead, a beneficiary typically has to have paid into the Social Security system for at least 10 years prior to his disability. An SSDI benefit depends on the beneficiary’s income before he/she became disabled, the size of his/her family, and the amount he/she paid into the Social Security system. Finally, SSDI recipients can receive Medicare two years after qualifying for SSDI.

Most people who have a serious disability before turning 22 are not able to assemble the necessary work record to qualify for SSDI on their own. But people in this situation may instead be able to qualify for SSDI on their parents’ work record, in certain situations.

First, the “adult disabled child” (the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) term for a person with a disability that manifested itself before age 22) must be completely disabled according to the SSA’s adult disability standards. Second, the disability must have occurred before the potential beneficiary turned 22. Third, the potential beneficiary’s parent must have paid into the Social Security system for the required number of quarters. Finally, and most importantly, the potential beneficiary’s parent must be either dead, permanently disabled, or receiving Social Security retirement benefits.

If an adult disabled child and her parent meets all of these qualifications, then the “child” should be able to receive a substantial benefit, often greater than an SSI award. On top of the monetary gain, the child does not have to worry about her/his own unearned income or assets, since SSDI does not take these into account. However, if a child earns enough income through employment, the SSA may determine that she is no longer disabled and cancel her SSDI benefits. The parent’s own retirement benefits are not affected by their child’s receipt of SSDI, and the child can still qualify for SSI benefits if her SSDI payments, which count as unearned income for SSI purposes, do not disqualify her/him.

Parents who have not begun to receive their own Social Security income but who think that their child may qualify for SSDI in the future may want to have their child screened by the Social Security system for his disability before he reaches age 22. If this is not possible, it pays to have the child’s physician clearly document all of the information surrounding the child’s disability from as early an age as possible. This way, when the parent does retire, the child has a long record showing the presence of the disabling condition before he/she turned 22, making the SSDI application easier.

Attorney Sheri Abrams can explain the rules for applying for SSDI and can give your family guidance if you think your child may qualify in the future.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

While it is impossible to guarantee that an disabled loved one is not the victim of financial abuse, there are some steps you can take to reduce the chances.  One option is to have more than one family member involved in caring for the loved one.  You can also encourage the disabled person to get involved in community activities to ensure he or she has a wide range of support. Using direct deposit as much as possible is also helpful, especially of their Social Security Disability benefits. And of course you should always screen caregivers carefully and verify references.

Financial abuse can be very difficult to detect. The following are some signs that a loved one may be the victim of this kind of abuse:

The disappearance of valuable objects;
Withdrawals of large amounts of money, checks made out to cash, or low bank balances;
A new “best friend” and isolation from other friends and family;
Large credit card transactions;
Signatures on checks look different;
A name added to a bank account or newly formed joint accounts; and
Indications of fear of caregivers.

If you suspect someone of being financially abused, there are several actions you can take:

Report the crime by calling your local Adult Protective Services and state attorney general’s office.

File a police report.
Explore options at your local court. The court can intervene if someone in the family is misusing a power of attorney or their role as guardian or conservator.

Contact advocacy organizations.

State laws vary, but some may be available to get restitution for breach of fiduciary duties.
Try to get a temporary restraining order from a court while building your case.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

People with special needs who receive both SSDI and SSI benefits will receive only one $250 payment, and SSDI beneficiaries under age 18 (or 19 if they are still in school) will not receive any payments at all. However, anyone receiving a payment does not have to worry about the additional income affecting his/her government benefits — the stimulus payments do not count as “income,” for either program and will not count as an available resource for nine months following receipt of the funds.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.