The New York Times reports that there will be no cost of living (COLA) increase in checks for 2010. Another impact of the bad economy for recupients of disability and retirment income. The Times says ” for the first time in more than three decades, Social Security recipients will not get any increase in their benefits next year, federal forecasts show.

“The absence of a cost-of-living adjustment, calculated under a formula set by law, will be a shock to older Americans already hit by plummeting home values, investment losses and rising health costs. More than 50 million people receive Social Security.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/us/politics/03benefits.html?_r=1&hp See article here:

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If this sounds like something for coin collectors in Alaska, bear with us here…

Ever you wonder why a person who is already receiving a private disability payment should apply for Social Security disability benefits, here are some facts. These other disability payments might be coming from workers compensation, the VA, a private long term disability plan, or even a settlement from an injury lawsuit. There are several factors that make concurrent Social Security disability eligibility beneficial.

• We each pay in to the Social Security system, buying what are called “covered quarters”. If you earn $980 in a quarter in 2009, you buy coverage for that quarter. These covered quarters maintain your eligibility for Social Security disability, much as an insurance policy payment would.

• A worker needs coverage in 20 out of the last 40 quarters (5 out of the last 10 years) in order to be eligible for disability payments, with some exceptions for very young workers.

• If you have been found disabled by Social Security, the quarters for which you get benefits are called “frozen quarters,” and do not count against you as uninsured time periods, either at retirement or for future disability claims.

• Typically other private disability programs pay benefits, but no FICA taxes. No “quarters” are purchased because no FICA taxes are paid, and Social Security disability eligibility can lapse.

• Other disability programs may not provide medical insurance coverage. The Medicare benefits that come with Social Security disability benefits may cover some unreimbursed medical expenses, and last longer.

• If you stop working and paying FICA taxes, your eligibility for Social Security disability lapses after five years, like an insurance policy would terminate for lack of payment. This means that you cannot draw disability payments, no matter how many years you worked prior to that. (There are exceptions if your disability onset can be shown to be within the covered period.) Your Social Security taxes remain in your account until retirement.

This could also reduce the eventual amount of your retirement benefit, because there would be a long period with no covered quarters.

Social Security is calibrated to calculate appropriate offsets – to workers comp, state benefit programs and VA benefits. Private disability programs usually require an application for Social Security disability and then do their own offsets. A disabled person should always apply for every available benefit.

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A few weeks ago, prolific blogger Justin Hayford at the Chicago AIDS Legal Council (http://alcc-legalpad.blogspot.com/) posted a terrific article on how to get presumptive benefits when applying for Social Security disability. This means that they give you your benefits NOW, and verify the medical records later. As you can imagine, it is reserved for serious and immediately apparent situations, but he argues it is under-used. With his permission we share it here, it has valuable information about this little-used corner of disability law:

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The Washington Post had a good column the other day, revisiting the spectre of investing the federal Social Security funds in the stock market. Read on:

“The idea of the market as cure-all arose during the great bull market that ran from August 1982 through March 2000. With stocks (as measured by the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index) returning an average of 20 percent a year in capital gains and dividends, middle-class people could fund their own retirements with minimal effort and even afford private college for their kids if they started saving early. Market gains would transform state, local and corporate pension funds from underfunded to overfunded, and capital gains — and stock option — related tax revenue would balance budgets on the federal, state and local levels. No pain, all gain.

The topper came four years ago: President George W. Bush could even propose privatizing Social Security by letting beneficiaries invest in stocks and have the idea taken seriously. Now the cycle has shifted. For many older baby boomers who once felt comfortable but have seen their 401(k)s and other accounts eviscerated the past two years, the magic words are no longer “stock market” — they’re “Social Security.” See full article here:

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Today’s San Jose Mercury writes that “the Social Security Disability Insurance system (SSDI) is crumbling under the pressure of a substantial disabled population, shrinking budgets and a wave of agency retirements. Social Security employees work as hard as they can to help people who deserve care, but their best efforts aren’t putting a dent in a hearing backlog of 765,000 disabled Americans — including 62,031 Californians — waiting months or years to receive their rightful benefits.

The recession is making things even worse. Commissioner Michael Astrue recently told the media the SSA is facing an unanticipated 10 percent increase in its disability claims caseload. That’s 250,000 additional cases the SSA needs to review, further bogging down the system.” See San Jose Mercury article here:

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AARP has provided a great summary of Social Security disability benefits. For most U.S. workers and their families, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) provides protection against a key source of economic insecurity-the loss of earnings due to disability. Today, 9.3 million Americans-disabled workers, their spouses, and dependent children-rely on SSDI to replace lost wages. This primer provides an overview of the SSDI program, including who is covered, what benefits they receive, how the program is administered, and how it is financed.
Download the full document here:

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The New York Times joins the chorus of voices rising about layoffs by state governors. The governors need to slash budgets, but some of the jobs cut impact people on or applying for disability benefits:

“The nation’s top Social Security official says benefits for tens of thousands of people with severe disabilities are being delayed by furloughs and layoffs of state employees around the country.

The official, Michael J. Astrue, the commissioner of Social Security, said Sunday that “governors are hurting their own states, their own citizens, and increasing the backlog of claims” by furloughing workers who make disability decisions. State officials have announced furloughs, layoffs and hiring freezes to help balance budgets battered by the recession.

“The states’ response is completely illogical,” Mr. Astrue said. See his remarks and story here

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Here are a few ways we have found that a claimant can sabotage his own disability claim.
1. Refuse to see doctors regularly or as scheduled. If there are no medical records, Social Security has no basis for a decision.
2. Not filing an appeal on time. Perhaps the claimant is depressed or otherwise mentally ill, or too ill from some other condition to follow through in an appropriate manner. Having an attorney who will take responsibility for these filings is an especially good idea if there are memory or mental illness issues involved.
3. If there is alcoholism or drug addiction in the picture, ignoring it and hoping a judge won’t notice. Chances are that it is repeatedly mentioned in your medical record. Get treatment, get clean and sober, then the issue is manageable. Otherwise: it can be a barrier to winning benefits in many cases.
4. Failing to mention all symptoms to your doctor. All symptoms, every time. Doctors, and judges, won’t assume what you think is too obvious to mention. Fatigued? Say so. In pain? Ask for some help.
5. Speaking of help, ask for some when you are filling out the endless and repetitive forms that Social Security sends to you. Don’t just say “I cook my own meals,” if what you mean is you can warm something up in the microwave. Don’t say “I watch TV” if you mean that you do it because you must lie down to manage pain. Can you follow a story on TV, can you concentrate and remember what you’ve seen? If not, this information needs to be included. You can do your own washing, but how long does it take you? You can go for a walk – do you need to rest afterward? If these things are fact, then the whole truth needs to be on these forms. Our office can help you with these and be sure you are not sabotaging your own case by leaving out details.

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