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All posts by Jonathan.

How Does a Social Security Judge Decide if I have "Transferable Skills" for Grid Rule Purposes?

transferable skillsThis is a good question – the short answer is that judges will look to vocational expert witness testimony to determine whether a claimant has acquired transferable skills.

Your question got me thinking that it might be helpful to review how the grid rules work and to take my readers through a grid rule analysis, so, here you go:

The grid rules, or “medical vocational guidelines” can qualify you for Social Security disability benefits even if you have some capacity to work, but you are not likely to find work because of limited skills and a limited education.

In order to qualify for a finding of disability under the grid rules you must have exertional limitations. This means that your medical issues must impact your physical capacity. Thus, a person asserting disability based on depression, or bi-polar disorder, or schizophrenia could never qualify under the grid rules [1. Such a person could, however, qualify for disability based on a listing or using a functional capacity argument.]

You can look at the grid rules here.

The grid rules look at several factors: your age, your education, the skill level of your past work and whether or not your past work generated any transferrable skills. SSA lays out these factors in a table divided by grid lines – thus the name.

When a judge applies the grid rules he first must make a decision about your capacity for work. If you are limited to sedentary work, you are more likely to be found disabled under the grid rules than if you are limited to light or medium work.

Let’s analyze how the grid rules work in practice. Continue reading →

SSA Overpayment Issues Can be Difficult to Handle

SSA overpayment claimIf you need a lawyer to help you with an overpayment issue, you are going to have a hard time finding help. Overpayment cases arise when Social Security discovers that they have paid you too much – sometimes for years – and now they want their money back.

In most cases, you will receive a letter that says something like this:

We are writing to give you new information about the disability/retirement/survivors benefits which you receive on this Social Security record. We have determined that you were overpaid in the amount of $30,000. Please refund this overpayment within 30 days.

An explanation of the overpayment will be included. And, to show that they have some compassion, they do include an envelope. If you do not send them the full amount due they will withhold your monthly benefit check for as many months as it takes to recover the overpayment.

Obviously if your Social Security money is your only source of income, this can be a huge problem.

An overpayment can happen for several reasons.

  • Perhaps you were found disabled then returned to work under the Ticket to Work or a trial work period program. Social Security may have continued to pay you disability benefits even after you returned to work.
  • You could be an SSI recipient whose income and resources exceeded the stingy limits of that program.
  • You could be a disabled widow who was receiving benefits under a deceased spouse’s earnings record and now you have remarried.
  • The mistake could have been on SSA’s end – they may have advised you that you were eligible for a particular type of benefit but later concluded that you were not so eligible.

Whatever the reason, it is probably a safe bet that you don’t have $10,000, $20,000 or whatever the overpayment number is claimed. What can you do? Continue reading →

How to Explain Earnings After Your Disability Onset Date

If your earnings record shows salary earned after the date you say you became disabled, you can be sure that the judge in your Social Security disability hearing will ask for an explanation.

Example:  you say you became disabled on April 3, but your earnings record shows income in May, June and July.

In this video I explain  how I advise my clients to respond to questions about post-onset earnings in three common scenarios:

  • unsuccessful work attempts
  • accrued earnings or benefits that are paid after the last date you were physically present at work
  • part time work

No matter what the reason, always discuss with your lawyer work, work attempts or payments received after the date you claim that your disability began.

CNN Report on September 11 PTSD Scam Misses the Mark

disability scamsCNN is reporting that more than 100 New York City firefighters have been indicted in connection with disability fraud.  These firefighters filed claims for disability under the World Trade Center Disability Law, a source of benefits available only to New York City employees injured as a result of their service on September 11, 2001.

According to CNN, these disability claimants were coached (the CNN article is silent as to who did the coaching) about how to behave to win benefits that can amount to $50,000 per year for total disability.

Investigators discovered, however, that some of these permanently injured claimants were, in fact, working – in one case, teaching martial arts – despite their claimed disability.

Presumably these dishonest, retired firefighters will face civil fines or perhaps criminal prosecution for their actions. Continue reading →

Is it Possible to Recover Past Due Benefits for a Disabiling Condition that Began 20 Years Ago

how far back can I go to collect disabilityI recently received an email from a blog reader who tells me that she has recently been approved for SSDI based on a stroke.  However, she was diagnosed with another disabling medication condition 20 years ago but never applied.  Is there anything she can do about the older medical condition and recovering 20 years worth of past due benefits.

Here is my analysis: first, this is a difficult question to answer because I do not have all of the facts.  For example there are circumstances where an informal communication with Social Security could be considered an application.  There are also cases where even an unintentional misstatement by a Social Security employee could toll the statute of limitations.  Continue reading →

Fibromyalgia Better Understood – New Testing and Treatment Hopefully on the Way

new research about physiology of fibromyalgia painUSA Today published a very interesting article on December 15, 2013 about a research which identifies a physiological cause for fibromyalgia.  Currently, fibromyalgia is recognized as a medical “syndrome,” which means that it can be identified by symptoms, while the source of those symptoms remains unknown.  In the case of fibromyalgia, the American College of Rheumatology has published guidelines for physicians to use for diagnostic purposes, although treatment options remain limited.

The USA Today story quotes neurologist Anne Louise Oaklander at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.  Dr. Oaklander has published two studies which show that at least half the cases of diagnosed fibromyalgia arise from small fiber neuopathy, in which patients get faulty signals from tiny nerves all over the body, thereby causing symptoms.  Here is a direct link to Dr. Oaklander’s article.

Researchers at Albany Medical College published a paper showing that fibromyalgia patients have excessive nerve fibers lining the blood vessels of the skin.  This excess of nerve fibers can lead to increased sensitivity to pain.  Interestingly, women have more of these fibers than men, which is consistent with statistics which show more female fibro patients than male patients.  Here is a link to the news release from Dr. Frank Rice who conducted the research at Albany Medical College, and who now leads a research team at a private company. Continue reading →

A Social Security Disability Insider Reveals How SSA Views Part Time Work

There is a social bookmarking site on the Internet called Reddit.com which offers fascinating insight about many topics, including Social Security disability.  Specifically, Reddit has a feature called “Ask Me Anything” where users who have “insider” status volunteer to answer questions from visitors.  For obvious reasons, most of these insiders appear anonymously.

If you search “Social Security disability” you will see that several Social Security adjudicators have volunteered to answer questions about their work. I have never before visited a site where such “no holds barred” information was available and I encourage you to check it out.

I ran across one conversational thread from an adjudicator regarding part time work. The anonymous adjudicator answered a question about how SSA evaluates claimants who show earnings at less than “substantial gainful activity” (SGA) during the time they claim to be disabled [1. In 2013 the SGA limits are $1,070 per month for a non-blind worker.  Since SSA defines “disability” as the inability to perform SGA level work, you could, in theory, be found disabled if you show earnings at less than SGA amounts.]. Continue reading →

How to Testify Credibly About Sexual, Emotional or Physical Abuse in a Social Security Hearing

abuse and PTSD or depressionOne of the more troubling parts about practicing Social Security disability law involves hearing stories of how my clients suffered horrific abuse.  I would estimate that at least 75% of my cases involving mental illness also include a history of abuse.  It is no surprise to me that anyone who was abused by a parent or authority figure, or by a person physically stronger would continue to suffer physical and emotional wounds for years to come.

Because a claimant’s history of abuse helps explain current symptoms – depression, social phobia, anxiety, etc. – I think it is necessary to question my client about the abuse he or she experienced during that client’s disability hearing.  Obviously this is a difficult and uncomfortable task – I have no desire to dredge up bad memories or to make my client relive a terrifying experience – but I have to bring this information about in testimony so the judge can better understand what my client is going through.

In preparing my clients for testimony about prior abuse, I suggest one of two ways to present this evidence. Continue reading →

Reaction to 60 Minutes Disability Segment: Truth or Fantasy?

what is state of Social Security disability systemThis past Sunday, 60 Minutes aired a segment called Disability USA, in which correspondent Steve Kroft reported on the “alarming state of the federal disability program” which has exploded in size and is about to run out of money.  Kroft interviewed Senator Tom Coburn (who is also a medical doctor), several current and former Social Security employees and former associate attorneys for a national law firm that advertises heavily [1. I have previously written and spoken about Senator Coburn’s efforts to expose fraud and inefficiency in the SSA disability program].

The gist of the story is that hundreds of thousands of able-bodied people have been approved for disability and are costing taxpayers millions of dollars.  Further, the story suggested that disability lawyers are culpable in the outsize growth of the disability program because they advertise heavily.  Further, there was an implication that at least some disability lawyers game the system with inappropriate and/or illegal relationships with doctors and judges.  Several of the judges and SSA employees interviewed opined that the disability program has devolved into a last resort unemployment program rather than one focused on people with serious disabilities.

I have no doubt that fair minded American taxpayers who have no experience with the disability program were and are appalled at a system which appears to be out of control and rife with fraud and manipulation. Continue reading →

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