Traumatic Brain Injury And Social Security Disability

admin — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 07:22:35 +0000

Sharon A Christie asked:

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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What Might Obama do to Social Security Disability?

admin — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 21:21:54 +0000

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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Traumatic Brain Injury And Social Security Disability

What Might Obama do to Social Security Disability?