Book Launching Party
The author of Winning Your Disability Claim By The Rules, Tom S. Ebbinghouse,
will be available to personally autograph his latest book during the book launching party October 5th, 2010 from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.at 320 N. Meridian Street, Suite 906, Indianapolis, IN 46204. Please stop by and join the fun! Click here for information as to where the office is located.
Winning Your Disability Claim By The Rules is a book written in plain English to inform you about Social Security disability and the long process that will be used to decide if you will collect your benefits. In this book Tom S. Ebbinghouse will begin to coach you so that you can be prepared and do your best in the biggest game of your life-the Social Security Disability Game.
“Do not be lulled into thinking that all you have to do is apply for your benefits and Social Security will help you collect what you deserve. Approximately 65% of those who apply are immediately turned down and approximately 93% are denied on their first appeal. You need to increase your odds of winning!”-Tom S. Ebbinghouse
Don’t take Social Security’s rules lightly. If you know them, they will help you succeed throughout the process of applying, appealing and winning your benefits. This book will reshape your thinking about what you need to do to win your benefits.
Success is totally up to you. If you want to win your disability benefits you worked for and deserve, Winning Your Disability Claim By The Rules will point you in the right direction.
SSA To Use Computers to Analyze Disability Claims In Indiana
The Indianapolis Star reports that Kia Green, a spokeswoman for Social Security, has stated that Social Security will use computers to perform an “intelligent analysis” of medical records that it receives through the Indiana Network for Patient Care (INPC) that is operated by The Regenstrief Institute. I reported the original press release about what The Regenstrief Institute is doing here. The original press release from Social Security did not mention that as the medical records are transferred from the Indiana Network for Patient Care that SSA’s computers would perform the “intelligent analysis” of the medical records. According to The Indianapolis Star article, if the system deems the information significant, it sends an alert to the decision makers reviewing the file. For example, if the medical file of a patient with end-stage renal disease shows the person is undergoing dialysis, an alert goes out. It would be interesting to see what the computers are searching for, what SSA has determined merits an alert, and what kind of reports the system generates.
Happy Memorial Day
We wish you a very Happy Memorial Day. Please remember why we have this day as a holiday. On Saturday the 500 festival parade had a float in honor of all veterans and military heroes. The vets on the float seemed to appreciate the standing ovation they received. The crowd rose to its feet each time an American flag went by. Many men remembered to remove their hats. If you see a vet, please remember to thank them for their service to our country.
Processing Time for Indianapolis Social Security Disability Hearings Falls Again!
The processing time for Indianapolis Social Security Disability Hearings at the Office of Adjudication and Review (ODAR) has fallen again. As reported elsewhere on this site, in November 2009, the number of days from the filing of a Request for Hearing until the case was completed at the hearing site averaged 579 days. In April of 2009, it was 738 days and in June of 2008 it was 896 days. As of March 26, 2010, the number of days from the Request for Hearing for average processing at the Indianapolis ODAR was 534 days. The Indianapolis office now ranks 130 out of 144 hearing offices. Processing time for Evansville Indiana (rank 86) is now at 460 days and Ft. Wayne Indiana (ranked 115) is at 509 days.
If you check in the archives of this site for the other postings for processing time, you will be able to see the other rankings for past times. Indianapolis has improved so that it no longer hovers in last or next to last place, and it has not for many months now. Be sure you check out the Archives for postings on many different issues connected to a Social Security Disability claim or you are not getting the full benefit from this site!
Another Reason You May Be Denied Your Social Security Disability Benefits
Most people who are turned down for Social Security Disability Benefits cannot believe that they were turned down when they applied for benefits. They do not realize that in Indiana approximately 65% will be turned down when they first apply. They just cannot believe the SSA would get such an important decision wrong.
When you apply for disability, your claim is sent to a state agency that SSA hires to made the medical determination of whether you are disabled. In many states this is called the Disability Determination Service, DDS, while in Indiana the current name is the Disability Determination Bureau, DDB. It is these State workers that decide your claim.
The National Association of Disability Examiners, NADE, describes itself as:
a professional association whose purpose is to promote the art and science of disability evaluation. The majority of our members work in the state Disability Determination Service (DDS) agencies where 15,000+ employees adjudicate claims for Social Security and/or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability benefits. As such, our members constitute the “front lines” of disability evaluation.
A recent issue of The NADE Advocate, Volume 26, Number 1, provides insight into why SSA may make the wrong decision in your case.
The growing complexity of the Social Security and SSI Disability Programs, coupled with the need to produce a huge volume of work, justifies even more the need for adequate resources in order to provide the service that the American public has come to expect and deserve from SSA. It takes an average of two years for a newly hired disability examiner to become fully trained and proficient to the point they can function independently and contribute to the process of making timely and accurate disability decisions. Thus, decisions not to replace productive personnel when they leave can take two or more years to correct even after new hires are made. NADE has long maintained that it is critical for SSA to be provided with the resources needed to hire and train new staff that can perform these duties. Low salaries, hiring restrictions and the stress of the job have contributed to high attrition (12.3%) in the DDSs. (Emphasis added)
Constantly having to replace 12.3% of the workforce and it taking two years before they can function independently, plus the stress of the job to get the work out fast, combined with low pay, may be a reason that DDB makes the wrong decision so many times.
The important point for you is that you should not be discouraged when your claim is turned down at the initial or reconsideration stages. With approximately 65% turned down on initial application and approximately 93% turned down at Reconsideration, you should take the steps necessary to increase your odds of winning. You will need an experienced attorney in Social Security claims to help you increase your odds in what NADE calls a “growing complexity of the Social Security and SSI Disability Programs.”
Unlike many attorneys, I will begin to help you with your case before your file your claim. Read When Should I Hire An Attorney For My Disability Case? for my reasons why. What are you doing to increase your odds of winning?
Indianapolis Social Security Disability Cases Appeal Processing Time Continues to Fall!
The processing time for appeals that go to hearing in Indianapolis continues to fall. At the end of November 2009, the average processing time from the Request for Hearing was 579 days. In June of 2008 it was 896 days and in April 2009 it was 738 days. As I noted in my June 12, 2009 post, a new hearing office is supposed to be up and running in Valparaiso, IN in September 2010. I would expect that once that office is open, SSA will reconfigure service areas of the different hearing offices so that all of the Indiana hearing offices will have shorter waiting times.
Social Security Compassionate Allowances Expanded For Disability
Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, announced that the agency is adding 38 more conditions to its list of Compassionate Allowances. This is the first expansion since the original list of 50 conditions – 25 rare diseases and 25 cancers – was announced in October 2008. The new conditions range from adult brain disorders to rare diseases that primarily affect children.
Compassionate Allowances are a way of quickly identifying diseases and other medical conditions that clearly qualify for Social Security and Supplemental Security Income disability benefits. It allows the agency to electronically target and make speedy decisions for the most obviously disabled individuals. In developing the expanded list of conditions, Social Security held public hearings and worked closely with the National Institutes of Health, the Alzheimer’s Association, the National Organization for Rare Disorders, and other groups.
“The diagnosis of Alzheimer’s indicates significant cognitive impairment that interferes with daily living activities, including the ability to work,” said Harry Johns, President and CEO of the Alzheimer’s Association. “Now, individuals who are dealing with the enormous challenges of Alzheimer’s won’t also have to endure the financial and emotional toll of a long disability decision process.”
“This truly innovative program will provide invaluable assistance and support to patients and families coping with severely disabling rare diseases,” said Peter L. Saltonstall, President and CEO of the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD). “On behalf of those patients and families, I want to thank Commissioner Astrue and his enthusiastic team for creating and now expanding a program that will have a direct impact on the quality of life of thousands of individuals.”
“The initiative not only assists those whose applications are quickly processed, but also assists those whose applications need more time and attention from SSA adjudicators,” said Marty Ford, Co-Chair, Social Security Task Force, Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities. “We are pleased to see today’s expansion and look forward to working with Commissioner Astrue on further expansion of this decision-making tool and other ways to expedite determinations and decisions for disability claims.”
“We will continue to hold hearings and look for other diseases and conditions that can be added to our list of Compassionate Allowances,” Commissioner Astrue said. “There can be no higher priority than getting disability benefits quickly to those Americans with these severe and life-threatening conditions.”
Social Security will begin electronically identifying these 38 new conditions March 1.
New Compassionate Allowance Conditions
- Alstrom Syndrome
- Amegakaryocytic Thrombocytopenia
- Ataxia Spinocerebellar
- Ataxia Telangiectasia
- Batten Disease
- Bilateral Retinoblastoma
- Cri du Chat Syndrome
- Degos Disease
- Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease
- Edwards Syndrome
- Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva
- Fukuyama Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
- Glutaric Acidemia Type II
- Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), Familial Type
- Hurler Syndrome, Type IH
- Hunter Syndrome, Type II
- Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
- Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa, Lethal Type
- Late Infantile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses
- Leigh’s Disease
- Maple Syrup Urine Disease
- Merosin Deficient Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
- Mixed Dementia
- Mucosal Malignant Melanoma
- Neonatal Adrenoleukodystrophy
- Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses, Infantile Type
- Niemann-Pick Type C
- Patau Syndrome
- Primary Progressive Aphasia
- Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy
- Sanfilippo Syndrome
- Subacute Sclerosis Panencephalitis
- Tay Sachs Disease
- Thanatophoric Dysplasia, Type 1
- Ullrich Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
- Walker Warburg Syndrome
- Wolman Disease
- Zellweger Syndrome
Here is the list of the previously announced conditions.
Social Security Disability and Computer Usage
There are rumors that an administrative law judge stated in a seminar that he went on line and researched to see if the claimant had job applications pending during the claim. The speculation is that the ALJ is using on-line research skills to see if current resumes are being posted by the claimants. Why would this be important to the ALJ?
When you apply for Social Security Disability, you are stating that you cannot do an 8 hour a day job 5 days a week. If you have posted your resume seeking work, some might conclude that you really think you can work. The old adage “you cannot have your cake and eat it too” comes to mind. Some will conclude that you really are not disabled and you are only using the Social Security Disability system to provide you a means of support while you are looking for work. After all, if you cannot work, why would you be posting your resume seeking work?
Perhaps you posted a resume on line shortly before you became disabled. Have you forgotten about it? Did you remember to remove it from the site when you became unable to work? Even if you did, can it still be retrieved from the web?
Much has also been made in the news media about potential employers looking at social media sites such as Facebook and MySpace to see what they can learn. If someone might research you, what might they learn about you at these sites? If you participate in an online chat group, how might your comments be misconstrued? Also, if you are posting all the time, what might that say about your computer skills and your ability to concentrate? Do not assume that the postings are private because it is a disease support group web site. Who knows, your ALJ may actually belong to the support group and be reading about you.
There used to be an ALJ in Indianapolis that would state that he got on the SSA system the day before the hearing and personally ran the earnings records to see what it showed. He would then ask the claimant pointed questions about the latest findings. You need to be prepared to answer the ALJ’s questions about what the internet reveals about you. You may hear the ALJ begin a question with “I see on the web that…..”
