Waiting Period Eliminated For Those With ALS

      In the midst of everything else I missed that the Congress passed and the President signed a bill that eliminates the five month waiting period for Disability Insurance Benefits for those found disabled due to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Can somebody explain to me why those with ALS receive this break but not people suffering from terminal cancer? I’ve had the experience of explaining to my sister that there was no point in her applying for Social Security disability benefits because she wouldn’t live long enough to collect them so, yes, this feels personal to me.

Biden Plan For Social Security Disability

      From Joe Biden's plan for people with disabilities:

PROTECT AND STRENGTHEN ECONOMIC SECURITY FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

The Trump Administration has systematically attacked the Social Security disability programs—from proposing monitoring people with disabilities through social media in order to cancel their benefits, including their health care, to tightening eligibility through a proposal to  redefine the number of hours in a work week so some applicants do not receive benefits. The National Council on Disability found that “people with disabilities live in poverty at more than twice the rate of people without disabilities.” To protect the economic security of people with disabilities and increase employment opportunities, Biden will take a holistic approach to Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Medicaid, and other programs to support people with disabilities. He will: 

• Increase the benefit level for people receiving SSI. Biden will set a federal benefit rate of at least 100% of the poverty level. 
• Eliminate the five-month waiting period for SSDI and two-year waiting period for Medicare. Biden will work to pass legislation to ensure working people who develop a condition or disability are able to get their Social Security support as well as their Medicare benefits as soon as they qualify. 
• Eliminate the “benefit cliff” for SSDI. Earnings limits under SSDI can discourage people with disabilities from engaging in employment or internship opportunities when they depend on SSDI funds. Biden will increase this limit and phase out this benefit gradually so people with disabilities don’t have to choose between employment and health care. 
• Reform the SSI program so that it doesn’t limit beneficiaries’ freedom to marry, save, or live where they choose. Biden will work with Congress and the disability community to eliminate the SSI marriage penalty and “in-kind support and maintenance” provision and raise the asset limits associated with SSI that have not been increased since 1984. 
• Expand access to tax-advantaged savings accounts, ABLE accounts, which provide people with disabilities a way to pay for “qualified disability-related expenses, such as education, housing and transportation.” Biden will work to pass the ABLE Age Adjustment Act, which will make ABLE accounts available to 6 million additional adults with disabilities, including 1 million veterans. 
• Reverse damage done to Social Security rules by the Trump Administration. President Trump announced that he wants to change the Social Security rules for people who get disability benefits, including SSI and SSDI. His proposed change would require many to re-verify their disability every two years, a tough enough process to get through once, targeting adults with disabilities who are close to retirement, children with disabilities, and people with certain medical conditions including cancer and behavioral disorders. If approved by the Trump Administration, Biden will rescind this harmful proposal.
• Strengthen the Social Security Administration. Ensuring that Social Security benefits are easy to access and that field offices and teleservice centers are fully funded is key to our bedrock commitment to seniors and people with disabilities. Cutting Social Security services will only hurt the most vulnerable in our communities. Biden will provide sufficient resources for staffing needs to meet the needs of beneficiaries today and into the future.

New CCD Positions

     The Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), the major umbrella group of organizations that help the disabled, has issued three recent statements concerning Social Security. CCD opposes the plan to increase the frequency and alter the targeting of continuing disability reviews. CCD supports expanding Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam and Samoa. (By the way, does anyone know the status of litigation on this issue?) CCD supports ending the five month waiting period for Disability Insurance Benefits.

Buttigieg Social Security Disability Proposals

     Pete Buttigieg is the first Presidential candidate to issue detailed proposals to help disabled Americans. Here’s the section of his plan dealing with Social Security:

• Eliminate the “benefit cliff” for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) so benefits gradually phase out until recipients reach nearly $45,000 in annual earnings.
• Eliminate SSDI’s ineffective current work incentives.
• Reduce excessive wait times for SSDI and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) appeals cases.
• Enable SSDI participants to start receiving income benefits as soon as they are admitted to the program.
• Eliminate SSDI’s 24-month waiting period for Medicare coverage.
• Update critical SSI thresholds to allow people to receive greater assistance as costs of living rise.

Social Security Administration Fairness Act

     Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced the "Social Security Administration Fairness Act." Here are the chief provisions of Sanders' proposed Act:

• Automatic appropriation to the Social Security Administration of an amount equal to 1.5 percent of expected annual benefits and payments administered by SSA to pay for all administrative costs incurred by SSA in fiscal years 2019 and thereafter. 
• Eliminate the 5-month waiting period for Social Security disabled worker benefits and disabled surviving spouse benefits.
• Eliminate the 24-month waiting period for Medicare coverage for individuals who have become entitled for Social Security disability benefits. 
• Create a temporary moratorium on the consolidation of SSA field offices and hearings offices.

      Sanders asked the Office of the Chief Actuary at Social Security to determine what effects the proposed Act would have on the Social Security Trust Funds if enacted. The actuaries found that the proposal would not change the exhaustion date of the combined Trust Funds. That date would stay at 2034.

     This can't get passed until there's a Democratic majority in both Houses of Congress. That's unlikely to be the case next year but it's not out of the question. Whenever Democrats get the majority on both Houses of Congress, I predict there will be Social Security legislation. Sanders' proposal could easily be part of it. It's not that costly.
     While we're talking about Senator Sanders, he was able to get new staffers for Social Security field offices in Vermont.

Why Make Him Wait?

     From KCRG in Cedar Rapids, Iowa:

Just two months after finding out he had stage four lung cancer, Dean Lange applied for disability. The treatments forced him to quit his job in the trucking industry.

Lange says, "You get what they call chemotherapy brain. It's what the doctors actually call it. You get cloudy, you can't think, it's a vicious thing you know."

He got approved for Social Security Disability Insurance back in November, but he won't see a check until June. He says, "A lot can happen in that 5 months to people in my situation. A lot of people aren't gonna make that 5 months.”

The waiting period is by design ... Laura Seelau with RSH Legal says she does get complaints about the 5 month process, but it's not her client's biggest concern. ...

Lange is calling on members of Congress to change the law so people with a terminal illness can get the benefits right away. He says the extra money would go a long way paying for medical bills. Lange says if cancer kills him, a bill passing to help others in his situation would be his dying wish. ...

     And while we're at it, why does he fact a two and a half year waiting period for Medicare?

Why So Brutal?

     A patient dying of cancer is told her Social Security disability claim has been approved but she's also told that she must wait six months before she'll be paid a monthly check. The patient thinks that's crazy. Why would the Social Security Administration behave in such a brutal way? Because they have to. It's the way the law is written. Anybody want to justify this as reasonable? Anybody want to make an argument about discouraging dependency? What about "ENTITLEMENTS ARE DRIVING US BANKRUPT?" I put that last one all in caps since that's usually the tone of anyone making the "argument" even though the same people always favor humongous increases in defense spending.
     And if you think that six month waiting period is terrible, what do you think of the two and a half year waiting period for Medicare?

And Yet We Have A Five Month Waiting Period For Social Security Disability Benefits And A 29 Month Waiting Period For Medicare For The Disabled

     From the Associated Press:

Two-thirds of Americans would have difficulty coming up with the money to cover a $1,000 emergency, according to an exclusive poll released Thursday ... 

Seventy-five percent of people in households making less than $50,000 a year would have difficulty coming up with $1,000 to cover an unexpected bill. But when income rose to between $50,000 and $100,000, the difficulty decreased only modestly to 67 percent.

Even for the country's wealthiest 20 percent — households making more than $100,000 a year — 38 percent say they would have at least some difficulty coming up with $1,000.

Today's Newspaper Stories On Social Security Disability

     The Sacramento Bee has an article on the growth in the number of people drawing Social Security disability benefits -- even though that growth ground to a halt almost a year ago -- and the Associated Press has an article on a doomed attempt to phase out the five month waiting period for Disability Insurance Benefits under the Social Security Act.

Waive Five Month Waiting Period For Disabled Vets?

    From a press release:

The Disabled Veterans National Foundation(DVNF), a nonprofit organization that exists to help to men and women who come home with emotional and physical wounds after serving our country, is applauding and supporting a bipartisan bill that would provide faster disability payments to veterans injured in combat. 

The Recovering Service Members Disability Benefits Act (HR 6445) would exempt active-duty, Reserve and National Guard service members injured in a combat zone from the customary five-month waiting period for Social Security Disability Insurance payments. Reps. Glenn Thompson (R-PA) and Dave Loebsack (D-IA) proposed the bill as an amendment to Title II of the Social Security Act.

     A better idea would be to exempt everyone from the five month waiting period. If we're going to do something special for vets, why don't we make anyone found 100% disabled by the Department of Veterans Affairs (or a branch of the military for that matter) automatically qualify medically for Social Security disability benefits? That idea has been around for a few years. A lot of people found 100% disabled by VA are denied disability by Social Security. Almost all are eventually approved on appeal. Why not cut the unnecessary delays for these folks?

Waiting Period For Social Security Disability Leads To Bankruptcy For Mother Of Gold Medalist

     From the Associated Press:

Court records show that the mother of Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas [who won the gold medal for women's all around gymnastics] filed for bankruptcy earlier this year in Virginia. ...

Documents filed in January in the Eastern District of Virginia show Douglas' mother, Natalie Hawkins, filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy ...

Hawkins is separated from her husband and lists about $2,500 in income a month, which comes from Social Security disability benefits and child support, according to the documents.

Natalie Hawkins went on long-term medical disability in 2009, and there were six months when the single mother of four had little to no income. In addition to mortgage payments for her home, there were expenses for Douglas' training and her other three children.

     Where would you be if you had no income for six months?

Read Whmorhere: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/08/05/2247264/gymnast-gabby-douglas-mom-filed.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/08/05/2247264/gymnast-gabby-douglas-mom-filed.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpyNatalie Hawkins went on long-term medical disability in 2009, and there were six months when the single mother of four had little to no income.

Reamore here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/08/05/2247264/gymnast-gabby-douglas-mom-filed.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy

Readmore here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/08/05/2247264/gymnast-gabby-douglas-mom-filed.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/08/05/2247264/gymnast-gabby-douglas-mom-filed.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy

Is This The Best You Can Do?

From a Q and A prepared by the Social Security Administration for distribution to newspapers:

Q. Why is there a five-month waiting period for Social Security disability benefits?

By law, Social Security disability benefits can be paid only after a worker has been disabled continuously throughout a period of five full calendar months. The first benefit paid is for the sixth month of disability and is paid in the seventh month.

This waiting period ensures that we pay benefits only to those with long-term disabilities and avoid duplicating other income protection plans (such as employer sick-pay plans) during the early months of disability.

Let me give what would be a more honest answer: "We really don't know. This is what Congress passed. We have to administer it even if it doesn't make sense to us."

Social Security And Senate Version Of Health Care Reform -- Some Asbestosis Victims Gets Special Benefits

From the New York Times:

Buried in the deal-clinching health care package that Senate Democrats unveiled over the weekend is an inconspicuous proposal expanding Medicare to cover certain victims of “environmental health hazards.”

The intended beneficiaries are identified in a cryptic, mysterious way: individuals exposed to environmental health hazards recognized as a public health emergency in a declaration issued by the federal government on June 17, 2009.

And who might those individuals be? It turns out they are people exposed to asbestos from a vermiculite mine in Libby, Mont.

The bill (page 198) gives authority to the Commissioner of Social Security to determine exactly who is entitled to this benefit. I think that the bill extends Medicare to this group for screening purposes only (see page 207) but the language is opaque.

Disability Waiting Period Draws Attention

From 10News.com in San Diego:

Several weeks ago, Scripps Ranch resident Phoebe Carroll lost her husband of 25 years to esophageal cancer.Although it is the law and a rule, Carroll said it made no sense that her husband could not get money he was owed from Social Security when it was needed the most. ...

When doctors told Lane Carroll there wasn't any hope, he applied to Social Security for a Compassionate Allowance Disability benefit and was approved.

"After you're approved, you're not really approved; you have to see if you can live long enough to collect it," said Phoebe Carroll.

Under the law, benefits cannot be paid until you've been disabled for five consecutive months.Lane Carroll's disease was much faster, and the Carrolls did not receive a dime at a time when Phoebe was off work so she could care for her husband. ...

To honor his memory, Phoebe wants the law changed or at least the ability for an appeal so others won't find themselves in the situation she was in.

An Item Placed On The Agenda For Consideration After The Election -- Eliminate The Five Month Waiting Period

A press release from Representative Joseph Crowley:

Washington - Congressman Joseph Crowley (D-Queens & the Bronx) Wednesday questioned the Social Security Administration about the need to eliminate the backlogs in handling disability casework, as well as shorten or end the 5-month mandated waiting period for eligible Americans to receive Social Security disability benefits.

Crowley, a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means, which has jurisdiction over health, tax, trade, Social Security and pension issues, spoke at a hearing on the need for the Federal government to provide more efficient and effective assistance to disabled Americans, including many of our returning veterans.

At the hearing, the Social Security Administration stated that they had not planned on reviewing the five-month waiting period before one can receive SSDI, but agreed to review this limit under questioning from Crowley.

Bill Introduced On Five Month Waiting Period

Thanks to My Disability Blog for alerting me to this article in Ohio.com:

Even though Arthur Woolweaver Jr. contributed to Social Security his whole life, when he became terminally ill with metastatic lung cancer, he was unable to receive any disability benefits.

Three months after the death of the Cuyahoga Falls man, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, has introduced a bill named for Woolweaver that aims to solve the problem encountered by the 58-year-old in his final months.

The Arthur Woolweaver Jr. Social Security Improvements For the Terminally Ill Act would waive the five-month waiting period in the Social Security Disability program (SSD) [for those who are terminally ill], Brown said.

Bill Introduced To Waive Disability Waiting Period

Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.)and Chip Pickering (R-Miss) have introduced a bill to waive the five month waiting period for Disability Insurance Benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act for claimants who are terminally ill, according to the Senior Journal. Pomeroy is on the House Social Security Subcommittee.

It will be difficult to pass even such a limited change. The "paygo" rules that Congress is working under require that any bill that goes forward in Congress that would increase expenditures must contain some provision to pay for the increased expenditures. In this case, if a bill eliminated the waiting period, even for a small group of people, it would have to contain some other provision that would cut costs or raise money to offset the increased expenditure.