Social Security Disability Advocates – Current Issues
More than 11 million individuals with disabilities receive insurance from the United States’ Social Security program. This valuable government-sponsored program provides an important source of income when workers retire, for the families of workers when they die, or when they suffer a serious disability. Indeed, social security disability income often serves as the only lifeline for people with disabilities, who may well lack the ability to secure other income depending on the severity of their disability. So, in sum, social security is integral in enabling members of our society who suffer from disabilities to meet provide food, shelter and other basic human requirements.
Social Security – Where We’ve Been
Created in 1935, the Social Security system was implemented in order to provide a government sponsored, efficient insurance system for workers and the families of workers. Workers earn the right to receive social security benefits through regular payroll tax contributions, which sums are withheld from workers’ paychecks by employers. There are requirements as to the number of months a worker must work (typically around 10 years), and the amount of money a worker must earn, in order to qualify for social security benefits. Although the amount a worker will receive varies based on individual circumstances, the average benefit is around $1,100 per month.
Social Security Disability, Retirement, Survivors Insurance
The social security system offers three distinct insurance programs that benefit individuals with disabilities as well as their families. Our Shreveport-based disability advocacy firm, has worked with hundreds of clients to obtain the following types of insurance under the social security program:
- Disability Insurance – disability insurance is designed to provide assistance to disabled workers and their dependents, including spouses and children. To qualify for disability insurance, the claimant bears the burden of proving that their impairments “are expected to last 12 months or result in death,” and are sufficiently severe so as to prevent the individual from what’s known as substantial gainful activity (SGA). Once a worker has qualified, his children may receive an additional sum equal to 50% of the social security disability benefit.
- Retirement Insurance – retirement insurance is designed to assist retired workers with disabilities, as well as their disabled adult children (DACs) and their retired spouses.
- Survivors Insurance – as it’s name implies, Survivor’s Insurance provides assistance to the survivors of workers who are no longer living, including DACs, minor children and disabled widow(er)s.
Social Security beneficiaries also qualify for Medicare, but those who receive social security benefits solely because of a disability (and not because of age), must wait 24-months to receive Medicare benefits.
Supplemental Security Income
There is another program available for many individuals with disabilities. The Social Security Income (SSI) program provides additional benefits for those who are elderly, blind or disabled, and who lack income or savings. The SSI program supplements the social security disability program to provide additional monthly benefits to enable beneficiaries to meet basic human necessities, such as food, clothing and shelter.
- SSI benefits average slightly more than $500 per month
- Individuals must meet maximum income as asset requirements
- The individual must be 18 years of age or older
- His or her disability must be significant using the same test as for SSDI
However, unlike social security disability insurance, the SSI program does not require minimum time on the job or earnings in order to qualify for coverage.
An Important Current Issue for Social Security Disability and SSI Claimants
As the job market began to sour during the Great Recession, disability claims have steadily increased. As a consequence, great strain has been placed on the disability insurance program, as the limited funds allocated from the program are being depleted. Against this backdrop, it is hardly surprising that administrative law judges (ALJs) have strictly applied the standards governing whether an individual is entitled to receive benefits. Moreover, there are frequent complaints about ALJ bias, prejudice and unfairness, few of which have been successfully resolved through subsequent litigation.
It is more important than ever to retain an experienced social security advocate to marshal the facts underlying your claim. Experienced SSI and SSDI advocates, unlike generalist lawyers, specialize in the laws and procedures applicable to social security disability and supplemental security income cases.
At Applied Benefits, we are a social security disability advocate and we have over a decade of experience and we are proud of our 98+% success rate on behalf of our clients. We are so confident that we can help you that we represent our clients at no out of pocket expense to our clients. We only get paid if you get paid. So, we’re happy to put our money where our mouth is, so to speak. We encourage you to get the benefits you rightly deserve. Moreover, if your claim has been denied, we can still help through an appeal.
We invite you to contact us for a FREE disability consultation.