Last week's column about a Newport News woman denied Social Security benefits after she was disabled by brain surgery struck a nerve.
"My husband was severely injured when he fell 30 feet off a roof," wrote a reader named Cheryl. "He was unable to work for six years. ...
"It was VERY obvious he could not work. ... We applied for Social Security disability and (were) outright denied. It was unbelievable."...
I've seen it too often, too: People debilitatingly ill or badly injured trying to wrest disability payments from a system that seems hell-bent on hanging on to every dime.
For years I've heard of initial claims routinely denied. That you need a lawyer to get any traction on appeal. That the third time's a charm. ...
If you qualify for federal disability, you should get it first time out of the gate. Approval shouldn't hang on an uncrossed T or undotted I.
You shouldn't have to wait years for final approval. Or have to pay 25 percent of your retroactive benefits — standard nowadays — to a lawyer or professional claims company just to get what's rightfully yours. ...
As the population ages and the economy worsens, the system is more backlogged. About 7.5 million Americans are drawing federal disability today — more than twice the number in 1990. Meanwhile, the number of staffers to process 3 million new claims every year has dropped by about 5 percent. ...
You have to wait five months just to apply. Then the average wait nationwide for a decision is three to six months. The first appeal will take another four to six months. The final appeal will take another 505 days — almost 17 months. ...
Jul 22, 2009
Tales Of Woe In Tidewater Virginia
From the Newport News Daily Press:
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4 comments:
As usual, the press is spewing misinformation: "you have to wait five months just to apply". "VERY obvious" to whom that the claimant was disabled? "Obvious" allowances obviously are allowed by the DDS in far less than 3 to 6 months....
Read the article--the quote about "uncrossed t's and undotted i's" comes from none other than Dan Allsup. Of course, his allegation is baloney, but he is just pushing for everyone to have a rep to file their claim. If there were enough claims reps to help folks file claims the way it was supposed to be, they wouldn't have to be considering forfeiting up to 25 percent of their retro benefits just to get an attorney to file their claims for them.
And, honestly, journalists are about the most lazy and uninformed people in the world.
I have been both a CR and a Voc Rehab Counselor. I do not think that the average CR is equipped to document a claimant's impairments beyond what is called for in the intitial interview. Never were, in fact. What CR's are for is pushing the claim, making sure it's ready to go if an allowance hits the system, and taking care of any problems at the front end.
If we consider the kind of issues that end up at a hearing, good will and hard work alone won't hack it, as much as we would wish otherwise. We need to face the fact that claimants need representatives if their claims are denied. A little while back, CTH published links to some of Sotomayor's SSA cases. Take a look for yourself. One way or another, the average claimant is not prepared to argue his case before an ALJ let alone a federal court. Jes sayin'.
Whoops--Just a PS--I'm no fan of the Allsups and the Binder and Binder mass operations. The SSA attorneys I know operate on a case by case, face-to-face basis and provide an entirely different level of service. Point of clarification.
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