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Ginsberg Law Offices

Month: September 2009

Understanding How Social Security Classifies Your Past Work

warehouseworkerLike many federal bureaucracies, Social Security has developed its own language for describing many of the concepts that underlie a disability evaluation.  Since disability considers your capacity to work by looking at both your past work and about other jobs, a description of your past work is an important part of your case evaluation.   You should try to become familiar with some of these terms prior to your hearing.

At Social Security hearings, judges often call vocational witnesses to classify your past relevant work.   Generally Social Security is concerned with your past relevant work over the past 15 years.  Short durations jobs of less than 3 months are usually considered unsuccessful work attempts (UWA) and don’t count as past relevant work.

Vocational witnesses identify both the “exertional level” of your past relevant work as well as the “skill level” of that work.   Jobs are classified exertionally as:

  • sedentary
  • light
  • medium
  • heavy
  • very heavy

More explanation about what these exertional levels mean – page on this blog;  post from Colorado disability lawyer Tomasz Stasiuk

Jobs are classified by skill level as:

  • unskilled
  • semi-skilled
  • skilled

Vocational experts use a resource called the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (D.O.T.) to classify the exertional and skill level of every job that (in theory) exists in the national economy of the United States.  You can read the D.O.T. online by clicking on the link. Continue reading →

Heart Disease Case Study Posted

I invite you to visit my Georgia Social Security disability web site to read my latest heart disease disability case study report about a case I tried last week on behalf of a client with a longstanding cardiac disease complicated by decreased kidney function and diabetes.  Like many of the cardiac disease cases that I try, there were three viable theories of disability that could apply: (1) a listing argument; (2) a functional capacity argument and (3) a grid rule argument.

stethoscope and medical report 2I presented all three to our judge, and the judge decided to approve based on….(you’ll have to read the case study to find out).

Not surprisingly the judge looked very favorably on my client’s long, consistent work history.  The judge even put on the record his opinion that my client would never have stopped working but for his medical issues.  As I note in the case study, the medical record in this file was a little sparse – but a solid work history can go along way to greatly enhance a claimant’s credibility.

One of the arguments I had at the ready (although I did not have to use it) was the “frequent restroom break” problem associated with a drug called Lasix, that helps clear fluid from the bodies of patients with congestive heart failure.  Many of my clients are surprised to learn that I often win cases on the work performance problem of needing to go to the restroom several times an hour.   Although excess restroom breaks don’t sound like a medical issue, the practical import of this problem is excess missed time from work.

Can an Alcoholic Ever Qualify for Disability?

A number of years ago, Congress passed a number of changes to the Social Security disability laws that made disability claimants ineligible for benefits if alcohol or drug abuse was a material contributing factor to their disability.   As a result, most claimant’s lawyers are very reluctant to accept as clients individuals who are active alcoholics or whose doctors discuss in medical records abuse of narcotic medications.

Are there any circumstances when an alcoholic or drug abuser might still qualify for disability?

You may be surprised to learn that the answer to this question is “yes.”   If the alcoholic or drug user can prove that he/she has a mental or physical condition that leaves that claimant unable to work, and that this other condition exists independently of the alcohol or substance abuse, he/she can win.  In such a case, the claimant’ s disability would remain even if substance abuse was absent from the picture.   Such a distinction can be difficult to prove, but it can be done, especially if the claimant has a long treatment record from a treating physician and that physician is prepared to go  on record drawing those lines. Continue reading →

24 Month Waiting Period for Medicare Benefits in Approved SSDI Cases Causes Hardship

You may be aware that when you qualify for SSDI benefits you also become eligible for Medicare.   However, your Medicare eligibility is not immediate – instead, Medicare coverage does not begin until 24 months after you first become eligible to receive an SSDI payment.

Here is an example:  Tom applies for SSDI benefits in March, 2008, alleging an onset date of January 7, 2008.  Tom’s case is denied administratively and he appears at a hearing in August, 2009 and the judge issues a favorable decision issued on September 2, 2009.

Tom will become eligible for SSDI benefits as of July, 2008.  This is because SSDI imposes a five month waiting period on payment of benefits.  January, 2008 does not count in this 5 month period because it is a partial month, so the waiting period includes February, March, April, May, and June, 2008.  Tom’s eligibility, therefore, begins as of July, 2008.  His Medicare, however, does not kick in until July, 2010.  This is the 24 month Medicare delay.

Why is there a 24 month delay in starting Medicare?   According to a recent article in the Dallas-Ft. Worth News:

When Congress extended Medicare coverage to people with permanent disabilities in 1972, it also established the waiting period. Lawmakers added the wait to hold down the cost of the new government benefit, avoid overlapping with private insurance and make sure Medicare would be available only to people whose disabilities were long-lasting.

However, as a number of public interest groups point out, the private insurance landscape has changed significantly since 1972.   Far fewer disabled persons have coverage, meaning that disabled citizens who are deemed “disabled” by Social Security may have to forgo medical care and treatment for up to two years.

Of course, the primary obstacle in efforts to eliminate or reduce the 24 month waiting period is money. Eliminating the wait would cost the federal government $6.8 billion the first year and $110 billion through 2019, according to the Congressional Budget Office.  With record deficits already in place it seems unlikely that Congress will take steps to add to the shortfall.

In Social Security disability cases, therefore, your onset date is critically important because it will determine your eligibility for Medicare.  The further back in time you can push your onset the sooner you become eligible for Medicare.

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