Joseph Simpson Jr. walks with the pained shuffle of a man much older than his 53 years.
The lifelong McCarley resident has diabetes, anemia, high blood pressure, bad sinus problems and an unknown ailment that causes him pain both when he sits and stands.
What Simpson doesn’t have is health insurance or Social Security disability, even though he is qualified based on his 33 years of uninterrupted work.
The problem, according to his uncle, James Dukes of Carroll County, is Simpson didn’t pursue applying for disability like he should have when he quit being able to work in May 2007.
“He should have followed up, and he didn’t follow up,” Dukes said. “Social Security disability didn’t drop the ball. Junior dropped the ball.” ...
Simpson applied for disability before getting a diagnosis, though. When he was turned down, he hired a lawyer whose commercial he had seen on television.
That decision has been the source of most of his troubles, according to Dukes. They have never been able to speak with the attorney personally, and his secretary tells them the lawyer will do nothing until 20 days before a disability hearing date. Social Security has yet to schedule Simpson. ...
Last week, he let his attorney go and gave Dukes the ability to represent him.
Pages
▼
Apr 21, 2009
What Can I Say?
From the Greenwood (MS) Commonwealth(emphasis added):
I personally would like to know the procedure of any representative here,ounce a claim is ready to schedule.
ReplyDeleteWe have ongoing contact with our clients throughout the the time SSA has their claims.
ReplyDeleteOnce a hearing has been requested, we request the CD with the exhibits of record. Once we've received that, we have an appointment (usually in person) with the client and go over everything in the file with him/her.
We collect updated medical records every 2-3 months after that appointment and encourage our clients to contact us if there are any changes in their conditions.
We collect and pay for any medical records that need to be submitted to ODAR. We do NOT wait until the last minute to try to collect records or have contact with our clients.
We also have a prehearing appointment with our clients to prepare them for the hearing. That's what we do when we get the hearing date. By that point though, the case has already been developed and medical records/medical source statements have been submitted.
If at any point we believe that the evidence supports an on the record decision, we submit a brief outlining our theory to ODAR.
Our goal is to get our clients' cases approved as quickly as possible. That means we stay on top of the case and don't wait for the hearing to be scheduled before we work on it.
Anonymous said:
ReplyDeleteDid this claimant have a treating dcotor if he did not have any medical insurance? If not, there are no medical records to obtain for his hearing. In such a case, nobody at ODAR could grant the case on the record since ther are no recent medical records. The representative could send the claimant out for a medical exam but this would cost the claiamnt. They may also need blood tests done for the diabetes and the kidney problems. Can the claiamnt afford to pay for this exam and testing? Thus, what can the representative do in such a situation other than wait for the hearing to be scheduled?
Well, here goes the old curmudgeon again. In answer to the question, what can the representative do in such a case, I would answer, develop the claim as in Anonymous#2's response. Also, a lawyer who won't talk to me is my ex-lawyer. No reason to put up with such obviously inadequate representation. One way or another, this claimant's condition will deteriorate if he does not get benefits. So, it really doesn't matter does it, if he has to pay for a test, if it gets his claim allowed.
ReplyDelete