Upcoming Changes to Continuing Disability Review Could Have Disastrous Results
On November 18, 2019 the Social Security Administration published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking reducing the time between many Continuing Disability Reviews from three years to two years. According to a New York Times opinion piece from Jonathan M. Stein, a former legal aid lawyer, this could have disastrous results
How Will Your Social Security Attorney Help You Determine the Onset Date of Your Disability?
Your “onset date” is the date when you became disabled. In order to help you determine what onset date to allege, a Social Security Disability Attorney may ask you a series of questions to decide when you stopped being able to work on a regular basis. The answers to these questions will affect
Appeals Council Remand Rate Rises in 2019, Still Well Below Past Levels
The remand rate, the rate at which the Appeals Council returns cases to Administrative Law Judges based on claimant appeals, climbed in fiscal year 2019 to 14.56%, with exactly 21,000 cases remanded. This left more than 123,000 cases where the ALJ’s decision became final and no action was taken by
Social Security Administration Underpaid SSI Claimants
After an investigation by the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General (SSA/OIG), it was found that since May 2011 SSA had underpaid SSI claimants approximately $95 million. In 28% of the cases where there was an underpayment, there was an existing over-payment that SSA was incorrectly recouping. OIG
New Commissioner Appointed for Social Security Administration (SSA)
A new Commissioner of SSA, Andrew Saul, was sworn in on June 17, 2019. He is SSA’s first confirmed Commissioner since Michael Astrue stepped down more than six years ago. Unlike Nancy Berryhill, the Acting Commissioner he replaces, Commissioner Saul has no experience with SSA or its programs. He has prior experience in government
SSA’s Fraud Re-determination Process Violates Due Process Rights
According to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) fraud re-determination process violated the due process rights of many Social Security beneficiaries. In a well-publicized case, many medical opinions were thrown out by SSA because of assumed fraud. Beneficiaries who were approved based on those opinions
G&G Weekly Update
Is Social Security Going to Ask Me To Go To a Consultative Examination? A Consultative Examination (CE) is an exam ordered by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to assess physical or psychiatric conditions. Reviewing recent statistics it is clear that it is not at all certain under what
G&G Weekly Update
Social Security Trustees Note Solvency through 2052 The Board of Trustees of the Social Security Administration (SSA) recently released its annual report on the state of the Social Security Trust Fund. According to this year’s report, the system can now pay full benefits through 2052, 20 years later than last year’s
Supreme Court Rules in a Case Involving Testimony by a Vocational Expert
The US Supreme Court recently ruled on a case involving a longstanding rule out of the Seventh Circuit that required a vocational expert (VE) to provide the data supporting his/her testimony. If the VE could