Blog posts

Delores Holton, a 60 year old resident of Fairview Heights in Southwestern Illinois, recently pled guilty to a single count of concealing material from the Social Security Administration. Ms. Holton, who had been receiving Social Security Disability benefits from 2002 through 2008, was using two separate Social Security numbers in order to conceal relevant information from the SSA. She faces sentencing in January of 2013 and could face up to five years in prison in addition to being required to pay back six years’ worth of disability benefits.

For millions who are waiting for months, or is some cases even years, to have their Social Security disability claims processed, it may come as a bit of a bitter pill to hear recent reports of disability claim processing being stalled to increase next year’s bonuses (often, quite substantial bonuses) to managers at the Disability Determination Services (DDS).

October is National Lupus Awareness Month, a yearly effort to support those affected by lupus, provide awareness of the disease and its effects, and fund research for better treatment for current and future sufferers of the disease.

It is believed that at least 1.5 million people currently suffer with lupus, a statistic which increases by about 16,000 new cases annually. World-wide the estimated number of people with lupus is about 5 million.

In a continued effort to address concern for the rising number of disabled and unemployed citizens in the U.S., the Department of Labor has recently expanded its Disability Employment Initiative to include organizations in 7 new states. Through this program, roughly $21 million will be awarded to state organizations that already offer assistance for the unemployed and/or underprivileged.

Although the so-called “Texas Alternate Plan” to retirement and disability insurance coverage provided through Social Security has been in effect in the state of Texas since 1981 and 1982, the recent political debates between Republican Presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney and Rick Perry have brought it to the forefront of the debates’ hot button topic – Social Security reform.

Mental Illness Awareness Week has been observed annually from October 6, 2024-Octobeer 12,2024 since its official establishment by Congress in 1990.

Organizations such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness are highly involved in using this week to raise awareness of mental illness, understanding of it, and support for the mentally ill members of our society.

Those who have been through the struggle to get approved for Social Security Disability benefits know that it’s hard enough to get accepted the first time you apply. Well over 50% of initial applicants are denied benefits, nationwide. The levels of the appeal process usually increase your chances, at the loss of time and money. However, there is still no guarantee you will receive a fair hearing.

Recently, the Social Security’s Inspector General, Patrick O’Carroll, has been spending more time focusing on a tropical island in the Caribbean, and not in hopes of a vacation. Last March, an article was launched in the Wall Street Journal alleging that rates of acceptance for Social Security Disability benefits were much higher in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico than they were in the rest of the United States.

The United States and Canada have long been friendly neighbors that are willing to work together, and that includes matters of retirement benefits. In 1984, the U.S. and Canada made an agreement, aptly named the US-Canada agreement, which allows citizens who have lived and worked in both countries to receive qualifications and/or retirement and disability benefits that they would otherwise not qualify for in just one of the countries because of split residency.

It a continuing effort to streamline the disability claim determination process and eliminate its load of backlogged cases, the SSA has been working closely with health care providers to provide a new way for them to submit the necessary medical records, known as Electronic Records Express.