Tag Archives: SSI ticket to work
Can I work and get SSI disability at the same time?
Collecting Disability While On The Job
Many people mistakenly believe that if you receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability benefits you have to be totally unable to work. That is not the case and it is possible to be gainfully employed and still receive some SSI disability benefits. The Social Security Administration applies a very precise formula to determine how additional income affects SSI disability benefits.
The first thing that the SSA does in calculating how work will reduce your SSI disability benefits is to disregard the first $65 of income that you receive in a given month. That threshold of income is bumped up to $85 if you do not have any other income. Next, your disability benefits are reduced $1 for every $2 of income you receive in a given month.
For example, in 2012, if you receive $250.00 a month in income and that is your only income, the Administration will calculate your benefits as follows.
• $250.00 – $85.00 = $165.00. This means that only $165.00 of your monthly income will figure into the calculation for reducing your benefits.
• $165.00 ÷ 2 = $82.50. This means that $82.50 will be reduced from your monthly benefits from the SSA.
• If you receive the maximum amount of $698.00 (subject to COLA increases each year) per month, your new benefit amount for the month will be $698.00 – $82.50, for a total of $615.50 per month.
If you require the use of additional items to help you work, the costs of those items can be deducted from your monthly income if: (1) you have paid for the items yourself; (2) you will not be reimbursed by your employer for those expenses; (3) you can provide the Administration with proof of payment; and (4) the Administration approves your expense. The Administration calls these items “impairment-related work expenses” and they are deducted before the Administration reduces the benefit amount by $1 for every $2 in earned income.
Blind disability benefit recipients can also receive special deductions for any of their work related expenses. The SSA calls these expenses blind work expenses. These are deducted after the monthly benefits are reduced.
If you think you may be entitled to Social Security Disability benefits and have questions, call The Law Offices of John T. Nicholson at 1-800-596-1533 for a free consultation today.
Senate Committee Reveals Trouble with the Quality of Disability ALJ Decisions
Senate Committee Reveals Trouble with the Quality of ALJ Decisions
A recent article in the Washington Times discussed the increasing stress that the Social Security Disability system is operating under and how that stress has led to troubling problems affecting millions of Americans.
Investigators working for a Senate subcommittee examined hundreds of cases in which disability benefits were approved and found that those making the decisions frequently ignored warning signs such as incomplete or inconsistent information. Senators have said this review demonstrates the need for an overhaul of the existing system. One Senator said that the decisions from some administrative law judges (ALJs) were so bad that the final verdict seemed almost entirely arbitrary.
Though the first phase of this investigation involved looking over applications that were approved but should not have been, the Senate committee says it will next turn its attention to those cases that were denied and may have been denied wrongfully. Those in charge say they worry that they will discover the system is not helping many of the people it was designed to protect.
For its part, the Social Security Administration says it has work to do to fix problems in the system. However, they claim that outlier decisions occur far less often than they used to and the decisions of many ALJs are affirmed with much more regularity then ever before.
That may sound good, but problems still abound. The massive report showcased one ALJ from Oklahoma who has issued more than 1,000 decisions each year since 2006. Judge W. Howard O’Bryan Jr. peaked in 2008 with 1,846 decisions and regularly approved 90 percent or more of the claims. This compares to an average ALJ approval rate of about 60 percent. The investigation revealed that his decisions were notable only for their “poor quality” and how Judge O’Bryan often regurgitated the same boilerplate language in each case decision.
One case that apparently prompted the investigation, involved a man living as an adult “baby,” meaning he slept in an adult-sized crib and wore diapers. The man was collecting disability benefits despite having demonstrated carpentry skills and his ability to work with a reality TV show and a website for other adult “babies.”
The case of the adult “baby” highlighted another problem according to the Senate subcommittee and that is how out of date the list of jobs given to ALJs are. The list has not been updated since the 1970s and excludes many computer-related jobs that some people (possibly other adult “babies”) with disabilities might be able to perform.
If you think you may be entitled to Social Security Disability benefits and have questions, call The Law Offices of John T. Nicholson at 1-800-596-1533 for a free consultation today.
Source: “Judging of disability claims flawed, Senate study finds,” by Stephen Dinan, published at WashingtonTimes.com.
Posted in Social Security SSD/SSI
Tagged abuse of the system, administrative law judges, ALJ, ALJ decisions, approval rate of disability claims, bad ALJ, Cleveland disability attorney, congress review of ALJ decisions, denial of benefits, disability fraud, how to handle your hearing before an ALJ, SSA, virginia disability lawyer
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Chronic Heart Failure and disability
Chronic Heart Failure
Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a potentially lethal condition where the heart cannot pump a sufficient amount of blood, which can then cause blood to accumulate in the vessels leading to the heart and can cause congestion or accumulation of fluid in various parts of the body. The precise part of the heart that fails impacts the damage caused. For instance, if the left chambers of the heart fail, blood backs up into the lungs, causing lung congestion. If the right chambers of the heart fail, blood backs up into the legs and the liver, causing congestion and swelling, called edema. CHF is usually accompanied by an enlargement in the size of the heart.
Symptoms of heart failure can be mild or moderate, including shortness of breath, fatigue, and weakness, especially with exercise. CHF can also cause heart palpitations and dizziness. Treatment of CHF can be very difficult and involves rest, proper diet, and a variety of medications.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) will evaluate whether a patient with CHF qualifies for disability under its listing for “chronic heart failure” which appears as listing 4.02. To qualify for disability benefits under the SSA’s listing for chronic heart failure, you must have been diagnosed with severe continuing heart failure despite being on heart medication. It is important to note that the SSA’s listing does not require that you have fluid retention at the time of evaluation to begin receiving disability benefits, but your medical records should show that you have suffered some fluid retention at some point in time. More specifically, the following typically must be shown to meet a disability listing:
• Your medical records must show the following evidence of either systolic or diastolic heart failure.
- Systolic failure: the heart’s ejection fraction (the percentage of blood pumped out of the heart with each heartbeat) is 30% or less during a normal period, or the heart’s left ventricular end diastolic dimensions are larger than 6.0 cm.
- Diastolic failure. thickness of left ventricular wall septum 2.5 cm or larger on imaging, an enlarged left atrium 4.5 cm or larger, and normal or elevated ejection fraction during a normal period.
To receive benefits under the listing, you must also be able to demonstrate one of the following symptoms:
• Inability to perform an exercise tolerance test (ETT) at a workload equivalent to 5 METs or less
• If an exercise tolerance test would be too risky, persistent symptoms of heart failure that very seriously limit your daily activities are required to be shown, or
• At least three episodes of heart failure and fluid retention within the past 12 months, requiring emergency room treatment or hospitalization for at least 12 hours.
If you think you may be entitled to Social Security Disability benefits and have questions, call The Law Offices of John T. Nicholson at 1-800-596-1533 for a free consultation today.
Receiving disability for bi-polar disorder and anxiety
Getting disability due to mental limitations such as bipolar disorder.
There are many possible symptoms of bipolar disorder that can affect a person’s ability to work. In a manic episode the individual may experience over confidence, racing thoughts, increased energy, irritability, sleeplessness, inability to concentrate, denial of condition, drug abuse, bad judgment, euphoria, or aggressive behavior. In a depressive episode symptoms may include hopelessness, suicidal thoughts, sleep difficulties, helplessness, guilt, difficulty with memory, difficulty with concentration, irritability, physical symptoms of pain, overly sad, weight gain or loss, and decreased energy.
Thankfully, bipolar disorder is recognized by the Social Security Administration as a legitimate basis for the payment of disability benefits. If you are a claimant who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder symptoms, there are two primary theories for receiving benefits.
The primary theory for those suffering from bipolar is to argue that your condition is so severe that it meets the listing as defined by the Social Security Administration in Listing 12.04. To qualify this way you will need supporting documents in the form of a written declaration attesting to the fact that you experience specific systems that result in difficulties with your mental functioning.
To qualify under the listing, the following requirements must be met:
• persistent conditions of depression (at least four medically documented): loss of interest; change in appetite; sleep disturbance; decreased energy; feelings of guilt; difficulty thinking; thoughts of suicide; hallucinations or paranoid thinking
• persistent conditions of manic behavior (at least three medically documented): hyperactivity; inflated self esteem; decreased need for sleep; easy distractibility; involvement in high-risk activities for pain; hallucinations or paranoid thinking
• inability to maintain (at least two of the following): daily activities without restriction; social functioning; concentration or pace; a period of time without episodes
• medically documented history of two years of chronic affective disorder limiting the ability to perform basic daily activities as a result
Another common avenue utilized to win your case based on bipolar disorder relies more on the work limitations that your doctor has identified. This is the approach known as ‘residual functional capacity’ where you must assert that your condition has caused your capacity to work to become so diminished that you are not able to perform even simple, unskilled work.
If you think you may be entitled to Social Security Disability benefits and have questions, call The Law Offices of John T. Nicholson at 1-800-596-1533 for a free consultation today.
Posted in Social Security SSD/SSI
Tagged affective disorder, aggression, bipolar, concentration, decreased energy, depression, depressive, difficulty concentrating, disability benefits, disability mental listing of impairments, drug abuse, episode, fatigue, hopelessness, irritability, listing 12.04, mania, manic, mental illness, SSA, suicidal thoughts
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Can I get SSI and still work?
Collecting SSI Disability While Working Part Time
Many people mistakenly believe that if you receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability benefits you have to be totally unable to work. That’s not the case and it is possible to be gainfully employed and still receive some SSI disability benefits. The Social Security Administration applies a very precise formula to determine how additional income affects SSI disability benefits. The first thing that the SSA does in calculating how work will reduce your SSI disability benefits is to disregard the first $65 of income that you receive in a given month. That threshold of income is bumped up to $85 if you do not have any other income. Next, your disability benefits are reduced $1 for every $2 of income you receive in a given month.
For example, if you receive $250.00 a month in income and that is your only income, the Administration will calculate your benefits as follows.
• $250.00 – $85.00 = $165.00. This means that only $165.00 of your monthly income will figure into the calculation for reducing your benefits.
• $165.00 ÷ 2 = $82.50. This means that $82.50 will be reduced from your monthly benefits from the SSA.
• If you receive the maximum amount of $698.00 per month, your new benefit amount for the month will be $698.00 – $82.50, for a total of $615.50 per month.
If you require the use of additional items to help you work, the costs of those items can be deducted from your monthly income if: (1) you have paid for the items yourself; (2) you will not be reimbursed by your employer for those expenses; (3) you can provide the Administration with proof of payment; and (4) the Administration approves your expense. The Administration calls these items “impairment-related work expenses” and they are deducted before the Administration reduces the benefit amount by $1 for every $2 in earned income.
Blind disability benefit recipients can also receive special deductions for any of their work related expenses. The SSA calls these expenses blind work expenses. These are deducted after the monthly benefits are reduced.
If you think you may be entitled to Social Security Disability benefits and have questions, call The Law Offices of John T. Nicholson at 1-800-596-1533 for a free consultation today.
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