Yes, I know that the author is confused about the special return to work provisions for the blind and that she has never heard of Social Security's concept of Impairment Related Work Expenses (IRWE), but she has just chosen a bad example for a good argument. Her mistake in framing the example also points to another argument for changing the return to work provisions. They need dramatic simplification. Few people understand them.I've seen a lot of unpleasant press about the Social Security Administration in the past several weeks. Print and broadcast media have carried stories about people who have become disabled and can't tap into what was supposed to be disability insurance from all the years when that money for Social Security was taken out of their paychecks. ...But there's another Social Security Disability Insurance problem that, while it is keeping people fed and sheltered, could, with some tweaking, lend a hefty boost to the slumping economy.
I'll give you an example. ...M is a mother in her early forties who had a great job the first few years out of college. Then the compromised sight she always had suddenly became worse; she could no longer see the computer, spread sheets and reports that were integral to her employment. So she stopped working.
Fast-forward 14 years. M has been raising her two children and doing a great job of it. She also has gotten training in adaptive techniques, so that she can use a white cane, Braille, electronic magnifying devices and computer software that delivers information to her extra-wide monitor in huge letters -- and speaks it aloud, as well.
She's ready and eager to go back to work.
The dilemma is that if she does, she almost certainly will lose money.
The rules go like this: If you're blind and receive Social Security Disability Insurance benefits, you are allowed to work, but if you make more than $1,570 a month, you lose the benefits.
M gets $2,600 each month in benefits -- $1,600 for her and $500 for each of her children. Let's say she gets a job earning $10 an hour. Working at 40 hours a week, she'll earn $1,600 a month, which is $30 over the limit, and about $500 of that goes to taxes. Boom. Benefits vanish. ...
It doesn't have to be this way.
For people who reach full retirement, receive Social Security and return to work, the earning limit is $36,000 annually. If an American of full retirement age exceeds that (twice the amount a blind recipient is allowed), benefits are adjusted incrementally, $1 for each $2 additional earned.
Feb 10, 2008
Plea For Change In Return To Work Provisions
Court Finds Standing For AALJ Lawsuit
- Requiring ALJs to maintain active bar membership
- New provisions on assignment of cases to ALJs in rotation
- A new vacancy announcement for the ALJ position that allegedly gives unfair advantage to applicants already employed in federal service.
The Court is allowing the plaintiffs to amend their complaint to allege that individual ALJ plaintiffs have allowed their bar membership to lapse and are therefore in danger of losing their jobs as ALJs. Amending the complaint in this way could be embarrassing for the ALJs who would have to admit that they had allowed their bar membership to lapse. It might be difficult for them to continue to hold hearings and issue decisions with their right to be ALJs so obviously in question.
The Court dismissed the assignment of cases part of the complaint on the grounds that the issue was not ripe for adjudication.
Finally, the Court is allowing the plaintiffs to amend their complaint to allege that some of the plaintiffs would apply for ALJ positions if the application process were reopened.
Fraud In Missouri
Donald and Mary Hicks of Macon have been indicted on charges involving the theft of $86,534 of Social Security Disability benefits from a couple in their care says United States Attorney Catherine L. Hanaway and Macon Police Chief Steve Olinger.
According to the indictment, in September 1998, Donald Hicks was selected as a representative payee by the Social Security Administration for a disabled couple who were recipients of Social Security Disability benefits.
The indictment alleges that between September 1998 and continuing through February 2006, Donald Hicks endorsed their checks and the money was stolen by Donald and Mary Hicks.
Feb 9, 2008
Social Security Payments Via Debit Cards
Starting this spring, Social Security recipients in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana will have the option of collecting benefits on a prepaid debit card instead.
The card will look and feel like a regular debit card, and could be used for ATM withdrawals, in-store purchases and online transactions. Delaware will get the "Direct Express" option sometime between June and September. But beware: Not every card transaction will be free.
Feb 8, 2008
Rochester Newspaper On "Dying For Help"
More than two-million Americans apply to the federal government for SSDI benefits each year and more than 70 percent are denied. Applicants can appeal the denial, but as many as 85 percent of those first appeals are also denied. While thousands of people give up, there are those who continue appealing until they get a hearing with a Social Security Administration judge. There are currently 750,000 people waiting for their first hearing. Caught in a waiting game that is averaging two years to get a hearing that may not even lead to an approval for benefits, thousands of applicants spend their savings and pensions trying to stay afloat. Many file for bankruptcy and lose their homes in foreclosure. Cars are repossessed, while marriages dissolve and families fall apart. Many people have to manage their application process while their illnesses progress, until they become too sick to continue.
"It is simply outrageous that so many individuals who need Social Security Disability Insurance to survive are forced to wait years before they receive the benefits they deserve," says Congresswoman Louise Slaughter. ...
John Johnson is a disabled Army veteran. Even though a panel of medical examiners with the Veterans Administration reviewed his injuries and, he says, determined he was 100-percent disabled. Johnson's application was denied by the SSA.
"How can one federal agency tell you one thing, and another tell you something completely different?" says Johnson. "It doesn't make any sense. It's crazy. I was injured serving my country. I was doing what I was supposed to do. I don't know if they are doing what they're supposed to be doing, but that's the kind of bureaucracy that you're dealing with."
Feb 7, 2008
$31 Million In Extra Funding For SSA
Social Security Recipients And Vets To Get Economic Stimulus Payments
Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Senate have reached a tentative deal on an election-year economic stimulus plan, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus said on Thursday."I think there will be an agreement to add the 20 million seniors and the disabled vets" to the bill already passed by the House of Representatives that would give rebate checks to millions of Americans, Baucus told reporters.
Asked whether the Senate deal was now in place, the Montana Democrat said, "essentially."
Baucus said the Senate could vote as early as Thursday on the package.
Astrue Op Ed Piece
I know from personal experience how difficult Social Security’s disability process can be. When my father was 52, he suffered a severe cerebral hemorrhage caused by a rare form of brain cancer. As I took care of the application for him, it opened my eyes to the complicated rules associated with our disability programs. ...
That’s why I’ve made improving the disability determination process my top priority. It is our most pressing challenge.