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Ginsberg Law Offices

Month: July 2007

Social Security Hearing Delays in the News Again

The staffing and case backlog crisis at the Social Security Administration was the subject of a front page article in USA Today on Monday, July 30, 2007.  The article noted that SSA has over 745,000 cases pending with the average wait for a hearing at 17 months.  In Atlanta, Georgia, where I practice, the wait time exceeds 30 months (2 1/2 years) – and this is consistent with what I am seeing in my practice.

The backlog has doubled over the past six years and could reach 1 million cases by 2010.  For those of us involved in the Social Security system – private attorneys, claimants and SSA personnel, the delays in the disability decision making process are well known.  My clients frequently call to ask if there is anything I can do to speed up the process – sadly there is not much I can do.

Further, as I have reported previously in this blog, you can actually hurt your case if you try to work part time or undertake any activity that suggests that you can work.

[tags] social security delays, disability hearings, Michael Astrue [/tags]

 

 

Working After a Disability Award – Trial Work Periods and the Extended Period of Disability

A gentleman named Ken asks the following question about trial work for disability claimant:

I am a self taught guitar player, not professional by any means, I could not do this for a living. But I do get paid periodically to play with a partner at bars and restaurants and such. This is fleeting at best, and most of the time there is nothing going on.  Right now I’m making around $500 to $600 a month, but next month I could be making
nothing, and that usually will last for months.What is my situation with ssd (I am collecting ssd for stomach ailments and nerve problems) Do they average out what you might make in just 6 months, over the course of a full year?

Jonathan Ginsberg responds:   Ken, your question has to do with two provisions of Social Security law – the "trial work period" and the "extended period of disability."   Here’s how they work:

After you are found to be disabled, Social Security wants you to try to work.   During any 60 month (5 year) period after your disability starts, you can and should try to work.  If you earn less than $640 in a particular month, there is no problem.  If you earn more than $640 in any calendar month, that month counts as a "trial work period month."  You can have up to nine (9) trial work period months in any 60 month period.

Once you show nine trial work period months, your classification changes to something called the "extended period of disability."  During this period, you will receive your check for any month in which your earnings fall below $900 ($1,500 if your disability is based on blindness).   So, for example, if you earned $1,200 in June and $50 in July, they would count June as a month where you earned "SGA" (substantial gainful activity) but July would not count.

At the end of the 36 months your extended period of disability stops as do your disability payments.

If, however, during a five year (60 month) period from the start of your extended period of disability, your condition worsens and you cannot work, SSA will restart your benefits immediately without requiring you to file a new application.  However, if SSA later determines that you are not disabled, you will be expected to pay back the restarted benefits

My advice, therefore, is to keep very good records of your earnings.  I have been involved in cases where SSA miscalculated or showed too much earnings for a particular month in the extended period of disability.

Note also that the dollar figures for trial work periods and extended periods of disability may change from year to year.  To the best of my knowledge, the above figures are accurate for 2007.

You can read more about trial work periods or extended periods of disability in the official SSA publication 05-10095.

[tags] extended period of disability, trial work period, SGA work [/tags]

Should I Apply for Disability if I Have Just Started to Miss Work?

I have a question about being able to work.  I recently started having headaches every day and have been seeing a doctor and having tests done. There is no way I can work under these circumstances.  What should I do?
–Richard

Jonathan Ginsberg responds:  Richard, I am sorry to hear about your situation.  Here are my thoughts.  I would advise you to go ahead and file a claim.  Social Security reps often will not accept a claim if you say that you are still working so when you file, I would choose a date that you "last worked" so that they will process the claim.

Realize, however, that if you continue to work – and Social Security records show on-going earnings – your claim will be denied on that basis without any consideration of the underlying medical problem.  I recommend that you apply as early as you can because the process can take so long.  The sooner you start, the sooner you would receive benefits.

The obvious problem – how do you survive for 12 to 24 months while SSA makes its decisions?

Next, I think that you need to work with your doctors to identify a firm diagnosis.  Chronic severe headaches can arise from many causes – migraines, high blood pressure, hormonal changes or other, more serious conditions.   Once you know what you are dealing with you will have a better idea if your condition is treatable or whether it will keep you from working for 12 consecutive months or longer.  Social Security, remember, only pays disability for cases where the medical condition will keep you out of work for 12 months or longer.

Finally, as you pursue treatment ask your doctor if he will support you in a claim for disability.  Some doctors don’t believe in the concept of disability and I have seen good cases derailed by uncompromising doctors.  If you know at the outset that your doctor will not help you, you can decide whether to stay with that physician or seek treatment elsewhere.

[tags] chronic headaches and disability, migraine headaches and social security, when to file a disability application [/tags]

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