Sharon A Christie asked:

ght (c) 2009 Sharon A Christie

I am frequently asked whether someone with a Traumatic Brain Injury can get Social Security disability benefits. The answer is YES, depending on the specific facts of each case. Social Security disability benefits are not awarded based solely on a diagnosis. The key to getting these benefits is to prove that your limitations are severe enough to prevent you from working on a full-time basis.

Social Security has a very specific definition of disability. I talk to many clients who believe that because they are unable to return to their specific job they will automatically be found disabled by the Social Security Administration. This is not true.

The definition of disability that applies to Social Security claims is:

“The inability to do any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months. To meet this definition you must have a severe impairment(s) that makes you unable to do your past relevant work or any other substantial gainful work that exists in the national economy.” 20 C.F.R. §404.1505

What does this really mean? Basically, your medical or psychiatric condition must be so severe that it keeps you from doing any type of work on a full-time basis and has already lasted for 12 months or longer, or is expected to last that long. The determination of disability is based on the information in your medical records, reports from your treating doctors about your physical and/or mental limitations, reports from any Consultative Examinations scheduled by the Social Security Administration and your testimony at the hearing before an administrative law judge. The Social Security administration will consider whether you are capable of returning to any of the jobs that you most recently held or any other type of work. This determination of disability does not consider whether you could earn the same amount of money in other types of jobs. This determination is based solely on your physical and/or mental capabilities.

I am also frequently asked whether Social Security has some type of “partial disability” award. The answer is NO. For Social Security purposes your condition must be totally disabling for at least 12 months. However, you can still receive benefits if your condition improves and you return to work. This is called a “closed period” and means that you were unable to work on a full time basis for at least 12 months but have now recovered and can return to work. For example, if you are injured in a serious car accident you might require ongoing therapy for 18 months. After that period you may be able to return to work. You can still qualify for Social Security disability benefits for that 18 month period. You would not receive ongoing monthly benefits, however, once you can return to work.

Medical evidence of your physical and/or psychological limitations is the key to getting Social Security disability benefits. If you have been unable to work for at least 12 months or anticipate that you will be unable to work for that long you may qualify for Social Security disability. So, if this describes your situation you should apply right away.

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Matt Berry asked:

Barack Obama addressed close to 250,000 Americans at Grant Park on Tuesday, November 4, 2008 to give his acceptance speech. As a result of winning 364 electoral votes (94 more than the 270 required to win), Obama is the newly-elected president of the United States.

Over the next few months, Obama will tackle the issues he discussed during the heated presidential debates, ranging from the American economy to tax benefits to the war in Iraq. It can be speculated that Senator Obama’s success or failure in reforming America’s Social Security will be one of his most challenging issues as president of the United States in 2008.

At James Madison University on Tuesday, October 28, Obama said, “It won’t be easy… it won’t be quick, but you and I know that it is time to come together and change this country.”

1. Provide Americans with disabilities the educational opportunities they need to succeed:

- Barack Obama supports the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which would help school districts cover the excess costs of educating children with disabilities. IDEA proposes increasing the current funding by 23%.

2. End discrimination and promote equal opportunity:

- Barack Obama supports Senator Tom Harkin’s ADA Restoration Act, which would redefine the definition of a “disability” in the application of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). Obama plans to sign this act into law, which would prevent people with epilepsy, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer from being fired from their jobs ‘because they have those conditions.’

- Barack Obama supports universal health care legislation. Under the Obama-Biden plan, people with disabilities who take a job will either continue to receive their current health care or they will be provided a subsidy to purchase health care.

3. Increase the employment rate of workers with disabilities:

-Barack Obama supports the reinstitution of Executive Order No. 13173, which would hire an additional 100,000 federal employees with disabilities within five years. The federal government is the United States’ largest employer, and Barack Obama and Joe Biden support the hiring of employees with disabilities.

- Barack supports the establishment of a National Commission on People with Disabilities, Employment, and Social Security, which would examine the current SSDI, SSI, Medicare, and Medicaid programs in the United States to solve existing problems.

4. Support the independent, community-based living for Americans with disabilities:

- Barack Obama supports Senator Tom Harkin’s Community Choice Act of 2007, which would allow Americans with disabilities the choice of living in communities instead of nursing homes or institutions.

- Obama supports the Fair Home Health Care Act to combat the shortage of community direct care attendants. The Fair Home Health Care Act would increase the wage of health care attendants.

Obama supports a $150 million increase in the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) budget, which he believes has been underfunded. Obama is also committed to improving the application and appeals process for individuals with disabilities to fix the inefficiencies in the current system. Such as:

- Pending hearings have doubled since 2001

- The average weight time for a hearing decision is 505 days, the highest ever in agency history

- The processing times at the hearing level range from 276 days in Charleston to 973 days in Atlanta

- A reconsideration decision can take up to 8 months

What will be the result of an Obama presidency onto Social Security Disability? The question has many Social Security lawyers and Social Security attorneys pondering the issue. With an aging baby boomer generation and a concern that average wait times to receive Social Security Disability benefits are already over two years, most experts will agree that something needs to be done by the next President (Obama) to address the speed at which disability cases are handled.

If you or a family member has been denied disability benefits at the application level, it is advised that you contact a Social Security Disability lawyer. With current wait times of over two years, it is important to remember the sooner you involve a lawyer in the process, the sooner the process can be affected.

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Greeman & Toomey asked:

Types of Social Security Disability Benefits

The Social Security Administration has established a number of different types of disability programs. Although the medical rules are similar under each program, the technical rules on eligibility set each program apart. What program you may be eligible for depends on a number of factors, including your work history, age, household income and marital status. You may be eligible for more than one type of benefits, but generally SSA will pay you the higher benefit amount of any one program you may be entitled to.

Disability Insurance Benefits: This program, also known as “DIB” or Title II benefits, awards benefits to individuals who, because of a physical or mental impairment, are unable to work at a “substantial” gainful level, and their condition has existed or is expected to exist for at least a 12 month period. By “substantial,” SSA means the claimant would be unable to earn over $900.00 per month because of their disability. This dollar amount increases slightly every year. To be eligible for DIB, a claimant must have worked long enough and paid enough into Social Security through their FICA taxes to be “insured.” As a general rule, if a claimant worked at least five of the last 10 years, he would be “insured” for purposes of DIB. How much a claimant receives each month if found disabled and entitled to DIB is based on how much he “paid into” the system during his working life. Generally, the longer someone has worked and the higher his earnings, the more he would be paid if found disabled. Individuals found disabled and entitled to DIB benefits may be awarded retroactive benefits. Retroactive benefits can only go back one year from the date of the initial application. There is a five-month waiting period from the date the claimant is determined to be disabled until entitlement to DIB benefits begin. To illustrate this, if a claimant files a claim for DIB on January 1, 2006 alleging disability as of February 2005, and SSA determines he is disabled and his disability began February 1, 2005, he would be eligible for retroactive benefits starting in July 2005. In addition to receiving individual DIB benefits, your minor children may also qualify for auxiliary benefits based on your disability. These benefits are granted in addition to any benefit you receive. To ensure any minor children are awarded any benefits they may be entitled to, it is important you furnish the names and Social Security numbers of any minor children you have to SSA. The children do not have to live in the same household to be eligible for auxiliary benefits.

Supplemental Security Income: This program, also known as SSI or Title 16 benefits, is a “needs-based” program in which individuals with little or no resources or assets may receive disability benefits. The medical criteria for SSI eligibility is the same as that used for DIB — a physical or mental impairment which prevents you from working at a “substantial” gainful level, and the condition has existed or is expected to exist for at least a 12 month period. Effective January 2007 the SSI payment for an eligible individual is $623 per month and $934 per month for an eligible couple. There is no retroactive eligibility for SSI benefits: benefits can go back only to the month in which your claim was filed. Unlike DIB, there is no five-month waiting period for entitlement to SSI, so your eligibility would begin the month in which you filed your claim or were determined to be disabled, whichever is later. A claim for SSI benefits can also be filed on behalf of any minor children with a disability; however, as with Adult SSI claims, to be entitled to SSI benefits the household income must be below certain limits.

Disabled Adult Child: This program provides disability benefits to adult children of deceased or disabled parents. In addition to the medical requirement that you have a physical or mental impairment which prevents you from working at a “substantial” gainful level, and the condition has existed or is expected to exist for at least a 12 month period, you must also show that your condition has existed and has been disabling since before your 22nd birth date. In addition, you must be the adult child of a parent who is currently receiving DIB benefits, or the Adult child of a parent who is deceased and was “insured” for purposes of eligibility for DIB benefits. It is not necessary that the adult child ever worked because benefits are paid on the parent’s earnings record. The adult child must not have worked and earned “substantial earnings” for an extended period at any point after turning 22; however, certain expenses the adult child incurs in order to work may be excluded from these earnings. An adult child already receiving SSI benefits should check to see if benefits may be payable on a parent’s earnings record. Higher benefits might be payable and entitlement to Medicare may be possible.

Disabled Widow’s/Widower’s Benefits: If you are a disabled widow or widower age 50 or older you may be able to receive benefits off your spouse’s (or former spouse’s) Social Security record. If you are a widow or widower from a spouse you were divorced from, to be eligible for benefits you need to have been married to your spouse for 10 years or longer and your disability must have started before age 60 and within seven years of the date in which the worker died. If you were married to your spouse when they passed away, Social Security does not require that you were married for 10 years. In either case, you will need to provide proof of relationship in the form of your marriage certificate or divorce decree, along with your spouse’s death certificate when you file for benefits. If you file a claim for Disabled Widows/Widower’s benefits and DIB or SSI benefits, you will receive only the higher monthly benefit amount of the two programs.

Medical Insurance: Once you are found disabled and entitled to Social Security disability benefits, you will also be eligible for medical insurance though Medicare or Medicaid. If you filed a claim for DIB, Disabled Adult Child or Disabled Widow’s/Widower’s benefits, you may be eligible for Medicare. However, eligibility for Medicare does not start until you have been disabled for 25 months. If you are approved for Social Security benefits under any of the above-listed programs, SSA will contact you approximately two months before your eligibility for Medicare begins. If you have already been disabled for 25 months, be sure to keep a record of all medical bills as you may be reimbursed by Medicare for these expenses. There is no waiting period for Medicaid; however, your income and resources must be very low to qualify. If you have applied for and have been approved for SSI you probably qualify for Medicaid. You may think that Medicaid and Medicare are the same, but actually they are two different programs. Medicaid is a state-run program that provides hospital and medical coverage for people with low income and little or no resources. Each state has its own rules about who is eligible and what is covered under Medicaid. Some people qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid. For more information about the Medicaid program, contact Social Security or your local social services or welfare office.

This article has been written to give you a general overview of the Social Security disability programs and the disability process. As this article may not address all questions you might have, please contact us for further information.

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Christopher Anderson asked:

On June 8, 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced his intention to provide a program for Social Security. It was his goal to help protect millions of workers from poverty in their senior years. Over the years many changes have taken place and Social Security is very different from the original plan. Here are the top ten reasons that Social Security isn’t the best way to plan for your retirement.

1. There is no money left in Social Security’s Trust fund. The original plan was for people to voluntarily put money into an insurance plan. The money was then put into a Trust Fund that would be used only for paying retirement benefits. If more money was taken in than paid out the balance would be placed in an interest bearing account. During President Lyndon Johnson’s administration, the funds were made available for use in other government programs. For years Social Security has taken in more money that it has paid out; but instead of saving this surplus, the government spends the money and writes the Trust Fund an “IOU,” a special issue government bond to be paid back starting in 2017. The problem is that when the money comes due, it will still have to come from somewhere – taxes.

2. Social Security is subject to double taxation. Originally, the plan was to have the money paid into the program be tax deductible for income tax purposes. During the Clinton Administration, Social Security benefits became taxable. Now, you pay income tax on the money that is deducted from your pay check that goes into Social Security. Then when you receive it, you may be taxed on all or part of your benefits if you have other income besides Social Security. You have now been taxed twice on the same money.

3. Social Security is not enough to live on. Even if you work hard your whole life and pay into Social Security, there is a very slim chance you will have enough to live comfortably in retirement. I know of a woman who spent most of her adult life raising her family. At age 50, she will have to work until she is 70 to receive $566 per month. No one can live on $566 per month.

4. High Social Security taxes prevent many people from being able to accumulate a savings account. Social Security and Medicare taxes are 15.3% of earned income. With inflation at an all time high, few can afford to put away anything extra.

5. The current system is not fixable. The only way to fix Social Security’s problems is to raise taxes. This would have a major impact on average worker’s household budgets, would cost hundreds of thousands of jobs, slow the economy, and take a bite out of any personal savings. Although hire taxes might relieve some of the problem, it most likely would not solve it, leaving the potential for future tax hikes.

6. Money is better spent in the hands of the people rather in the government’s hands.

7. Social Security is not secure. As has been proven in the past, the laws and rules that govern Social Security change according to who is in office at the time. As new elected officials come in, new ideas come with them and change occurs.

8. As More people retire and live longer there are less people paying in. In 1950, there were 16 workers paying Social Security for every retired person receiving benefits. Today there are 3.3 per retiree. By the year 2020, there will be 2 workers paying in per retiree.

9. The more you make the more you pay. In the original program, participants would only have to pay 1% of the first $1,400 of their annual incomes into the program. Today, individuals must pay 15.3% of the first $94,200 and 2.95% on the rest of their income.

10. Being self employed gives you the choice between paying into Social Security and investing in yourself. For most of human history, people lived and worked on farms in extended families and this was the foundation of economic Security. They were self employed. As they grew older, children took over the family business and the retiree continued to receive income and benefits until death. When the Industrial Revolution developed, more and more people worked for other people. When they retired there was no more income. Thus Social Security was created. Today is no different than earlier times. If you own your own business, you can either have a family member take over the business or hire someone to run it when you are ready for retirement. You can receive income until you die and then you can Will the income to your heirs.

So, how does one solve the Social Security dilemma? Start a business that can continue to provide for you even after you are ready to retire. The best way to do this is to turn a hobby or interest into a business. There are many things you can deduct when you own a business that you cannot deduct ordinarily. For example, lets say you have a hobby of wood working. You have a room in your home and many tools you have purchased and you love to tinker and make decorative items out of wood. If you turn it into a business, now you can deduct all the tools and supplies you use to make the items. The room you use in your home can be deducted by claiming a percentage of the rent, interest, taxes, utilities, insurance, and repairs to the house. All of those things you are going to pay for whether you have a business or not. Much of your travel expense may be deductible now. As you travel to visit your children and grandchildren you can make the trip deductible by checking on new ideas and materials that will improve your products, attending trade shows, etc. You may travel to craft and trade shows to sell your products. If you choose to sell products over the internet, your internet costs will now be deductible. The list goes on and on. By making these things tax deductible you can limit what you pay into Social Security and invest that money in your business or a savings program of YOUR choice.

Owning a business is a good alternative to the current popular retirement plans. After you retire, you can keep doing what you love and create income to supplement your retirement and still keep tax deductions that most people loose in their retirement years. If you choose a business that you can train others to do, then that business can produce income after you stop and generate passive income to supplement your retirement. Owning a business gives you control over your quality of life when you choose to retire.

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Maribel Roncales asked:

Social Security Fraud refers to the act of dishonestly claiming of benefits. Due to the increasing number of fraudulent claims, the US government enacted a law that will protect individuals from these illicit conducts.

What constitutes Fraud under the Social Security Act?

The Social Security Act provides an outline for actions that are considered fraudulent. Some of those acts are the following:

• Knowingly and willfully makes or causes to be made any false statement or representation of material facts in the application for benefits under this title;

• Knowingly and willfully makes or causes to be made any false statement or representation of a material fact for use in determining any rights to the benefits;

• Having knowledge of any event affecting

o His  or her right to the benefit

o The initial or continued right to the benefit of other individual in whose behalf he or she has applied for or is receiving benefit

o Having made an application to receive any of such benefits for the use and benefit of other and having receive it, knowingly and willfully converts the benefits for the use other than for what is intended

Information needed in filing Social Security Fraud

When planning to file a Fraud complaint, you need the following data:

• Name

• Address

• Social security number of the person you are reporting.

• Description of potential fraud incident

In cases where the Social Security number is not known, you need to secure his or her date of birth, age and the name of the parents. However, if you are reporting a concealed activity you need the name of the employer and its address and phone number.

How to report Social Security Fraud incident

The Social Security Administration takes seriously any report regarding Social Security Fraud. The Office of the Inspector General is the one who investigates incidents of Social Security Fraud. If you have any knowledge regarding these incidents, you can report it immediately by:

• Calling the Social Security Office hotline number

• Use the on line fraud reporting form

• Write to Social Security Office.

Yet, if you have been the actual victim of a fraudulent act, seeking legal assistance from a competent Social Security Fraud attorney is advisable. An attorney with sufficient in handing these cases can help you prosecute the law violators.

What is the Office of the Inspector General?

The Office of the Inspector General is the one directly responsible for meeting the statutory mission promoting economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the administration of Social Security programs. It is also responsible for preventing and detecting fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement in such programs and operations.

OIG also searches and reports systematic weaknesses in SSA programs and operations and make recommendations for improvements and corrective actions.

Penalties for the violation of the Act

Any person found guilty for Social Security Fraud shall be:

• Fined under the United States Code

• Imprisoned for not more than five years or both

The federal court in sentencing the defendant may in addition to any other penalty order restitution.

When can there be restitution?

The court orders restitution in any of the following instances:

• The Commissioner of Social Security order payment that should not have  been made

• An individual suffers financial loss due to defendant’s violation of this Act.

Our Los Angeles attorneys are proven experts in handling Social Security Fraud cases. For free evaluation of your case, log on to our website and contact our legal staff.

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