After the balance in Social Security's Disability Insurance Trust Fund dipped to a low level in 2015, Congress passed and President Obama signed a bill that temporarily diverted more of the F.I.CA. taxes from Social Security's Retirement and Survivors Trust Fund to its Disability Trust Fund for three years, 2016-2018. So how's the trust fund doing in 2019 without the additional revenue? Not too bad. With the extra revenues, the Disability Trust Fund gained $18.1 billion in the first seven months of last year. In the first seven months of 2019, without the additional tax revenue, the Disability Trust Fund gained $2 billion. As of last month, the Disability Trust Fund balance was a healthy $99.1 billion.
Aug 28, 2019
Aug 27, 2019
Aug 26, 2019
Explosion In Maryland
A gas explosion destroyed a Social Security office building in Maryland yesterday. Because it was a Sunday, no one was injured. A Social Security employee who had come into work on Sunday to catch up was the first to report smelling gas. No one was injured.
Aug 25, 2019
Aug 24, 2019
Aug 23, 2019
New Ruling On Headaches
Social Security Ruling 19-4p on the evaluation of headaches in determining disability will appear in the Federal Register on Monday. You can read it today. Here is what appears to me to be the key language from the Ruling:
Primary headache disorder is not a listed impairment in the Listing of Impairments (listings); however, we may find that a primary headache disorder, alone or in combination with another impairment(s), medically equals a listing. Epilepsy (listing 11.02) is the most closely analogous listed impairment for an MDI [Medically Determinable Impairment] of a primary headache disorder. While uncommon, a person with a primary headache disorder may exhibit equivalent signs and limitations to those detailed in listing 11.02 (paragraph B or D for dyscognitive seizures), and we may find that his or her MDI(s) medically equals the listing or in combination with another impairment(s), medically equals a listing.
Epilepsy (listing 11.02) is the most closely analogous listed impairment for an MDI of a primary headache disorder. While uncommon, a person with a primary headache disorder may exhibit equivalent signs and limitations to those detailed in listing 11.02 (paragraph B or D for dyscognitive seizures), and we may find that his or her MDI(s) medically equals the listing.
Paragraph B of listing 11.02 requires dyscognitive seizures occurring at least once a week for at least 3 consecutive months despite adherence to prescribed treatment. To evaluate whether a primary headache disorder is equal in severity and duration to the criteria in 11.02B, we consider: a detailed description from an AMS [Acceptable Medical Source] of a typical headache event, including all associated phenomena (for example, premonitory symptoms, aura, duration, intensity, and accompanying symptoms); the frequency of headache events; adherence to prescribed treatment; side effects of treatment (for example, many medications used for treating a primary headache disorder can produce drowsiness, confusion, or inattention); and limitations in functioning that may be associated with the primary headache disorder or effects of its treatment, such as interference with activity during the day (for example, the need for a darkened and quiet room, having to lie down without moving, a sleep disturbance that affects daytime activities, or other related needs and limitations).
Paragraph D of listing 11.02 requires dyscognitive seizures occurring at least once every 2 weeks for at least 3 consecutive months despite adherence to prescribed treatment, and marked limitation in one area of functioning. To evaluate whether a primary headache disorder is equal in severity and duration to the criteria in 11.02D, we consider the same factors we consider for 11.02B and we also consider whether the overall effects of the primary headache disorder on functioning results in marked limitation in: physical functioning; understanding, remembering, or applying information; interacting with others; concentrating, persisting, or maintaining pace; or adapting or managing oneself.
WEP Options
The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) that reduces Social Security benefits because of the receipt of pensions based upon income not covered under Social Security has been receiving a fair amount of attention lately, perhaps because many of those affected are in red states which are more likely to exclude state employee wages from the F.I.C.A. tax, giving them state pensions instead. The Social Security Bulletin, the agency's scholarly publication, has an article on the WEP and options for replacing it.
Aug 22, 2019
Mistaken Identity In Florida
From First Coast News:
Johnnie Hills, 58, believes he is the victim of mistaken identity. He said proving that to Social Security Administration, however, has been difficult.
"The system is you're guilty until proven innocent and I didn't even do anything," he said.
On July 29, Hills received a letter at his North Jacksonville home from Social Security Administration. The document stated his monthly disability check of $1,600 was being suspended "because he is in prison for the conviction of a crime."
"I was like, 'it can't be me,'" Hill said. "It must be somebody else."
Hills said he made two trips to the local Social Security office to correct what he calls an obvious mistake. He said he found no empathy and no help.
Hills, who is a former school board employee, was advised to check with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office for a criminal or prison record. He said there was none.
"The officer told me I wasn't in the system and there was nothing he could do," Hill said. ...
"My bills have gotten behind," Hills said. "They're not going to help me with that. I didn't know who to talk to." ...I had one of these cases. My client was approved for Social Security disability benefits but she wasn't paid. The explanation we got was that the client was in prison in New Mexico. My client, who was a free woman in North Carolina, gave a response which I understand New Mexico residents are all too familiar with, "I've never been in Mexico in my life!" I called the New Mexico prison authorities. They told me that they not only had no prisoner by the same name as my client but that their database didn't show that they had ever had a prisoner by that name. They also didn't have the Social Security number in their database. I gave Social Security the name and telephone number of the New Mexico prison employee I had talked with but they insisted that they couldn't call him. In any case, my client's benefits were soon paid.
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