With all of the focus lately on Judge Daugherty's high disability approval rates and the SSA's outcry against the low percentage of claims that he actually denies, one must ask whether there is too much scrutiny being placed on the judge. After all, no one is scrutinizing the judges with abnormally high denial rates. How can one end of the spectrum be criticized without an investigation of the other?
There is no doubt that the Social Security Administration is inundated with problems. Recently, Charlie Andrus, the Chief Social Security Administration judge in Huntington, West Virginia, has stepped down from his post due to political issues within the disability program and a federal probe into the actions of one of the judges under his supervision.
Sixty-six-year-old Paul G. Smith has received an 18-month prison sentence for Social Security Disability fraud. The chiropractor and former boxing judge's “under-the-table” employment definitely did not pay off when the Social Security Administration was made aware of his actions and prosecuted him due to the fraud he had committed.
June is National Headache Awareness Month, and the goal is to raise awareness and help people to better understand the nature of headaches.
Do you know what is and what is not considered normal?
Do you know how you can get help when suffering from chronic or severe headache pain?
If severe or recurrent headaches have been affecting your life or the life of someone close, the following information may help you better understand the affliction and the options that are available to you.
The Social Security Administration is plagued by financial problems, and the recent budget cuts are not helping matters by any means. In April, Congress passed a budget cut that took approximately $1 billion dollars away from the amount that the Obama administration had requested for the Social Security Administration's budget. As a result of this significant cut in revenue, the Social Security Administration has been faced with a multitude of financial burdens and administrative setbacks.
In a perfect world, the Social Security Disability programs would always work the way it should. Disabled individuals would apply for the benefits they need and a few months later those benefits would start coming in and would keep coming in as needed.
Unfortunately, we do not live in a perfect world. Oftentimes the Social Security Disability system does not work as it should and innocent people suffer because of it. The case of Willie Monteith is a perfect example of this fact.
There is no doubt that there are problems with the Social Security program. It is estimated that the program’s funds will be entirely depleted of funds 2023, if not sooner. This obviously has created a lot of concern and stirred up heated debates at the government level and otherwise. Those who oppose the Social Security Disability program, in particular, claim that a large number of the people who are receiving disability benefits should phased out of the benefits system and put back into the work force.
People applying for disability benefits through Social Security Disability are often surprised to find out that the majority of claimants must undergo a lengthy and complex disability appeal in order to get the benefits they need – a process that can take more than two years to complete. Given the tremendous time and effort that goes into the fight to obtain disability benefits in the first place, many people wonder is whether there is a time limit on benefits once the SSA has approved a Social Security Disability claim.
It is difficult for hard-working taxpayers to view news reports about the discovery of Social Security Disability fraud every day. It is important, however, not to let such frustrations lead to a slanted view of the Social Security Administration or the Social Security Disability program as a whole.
The rumor mill is ablaze and many people are asking whether or not Social Security and Medicare are really in as much trouble as people are predicting. We all knew that the Social Security and Medicare programs were in desperate need of reform, but are they really losing funds faster than anticipated and are the benefits that recipients are currently receiving really at stake? While Social Security checks will not be stopping anytime soon, the outlook is definitely concerning.
