Speaking with the SSA

Average SSD Payment

The average SSD payment in 2008 was $1,063 a month. Once you have received disability payments for two years, you automatically qualify for Medicare coverage.

Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Nebraska, Illinois, Missouri, the District of Columbia and Alabama face the 10 worst Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) hearing-level processing backlogs.

Hearings are held when an SSDI decision is appealed, many people have already waited 12 or more months following their application, denial and, for many, reconsideration. By the time they reach the hearing, it's not unusual for applicants to have waited two to four years for an SSDI decision.

The 10 states with the lowest wait times are Delaware, Maine, Texas, Louisiana, West Virginia, Utah, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Connecticut and Hawaii.

The SSA reports the national average processing time for a hearing decision is now 442 days, down from 514 days in September 2008. The total hearings backlog has decreased by more than 71,000 cases since December 2008.

Last year, more than 2.8 million people filed SSDI applications, and the SSA projects 3.3 million will file disability claims in 2010. The SSA recently reported that the level of initial claims pending now exceeds 1 million people - nearly a 40 percent increase over the level from FY 2008.

High Rate Claim Denial in Texas

In Texas at the initial claim level (the application), SSD and SSI claimants have been denied at the rate of 61.5%.

For those who were denied and chose to file appeals, Texas claimants were again denied at an even higher rate: 84.2%.

More initial claims are denied than are approved and an astoundingly high percentage of first appeals are likewise denied.

Steps to protect your Social Security Disability, Veteran's or Pension Benefits:

Do NOT commingle Social Security and exempt benefits with nonexempt funds.

Do NOT obtain a loan or credit card from the bank where your Social Security or pension is deposited. If sued, go to court and demand proof of the debt.

If your bank account is frozen, file an exemption claim within 10 days.

IRS and SSD

The IRS can take money each month from a Social Security disability check.

The practice is part of the agency's Federal Payment Levy Program, which allows up to 15 percent of any federal payments a delinquent taxpayer receives to go directly to the IRS until their overdue taxes are paid in full.

The IRS employs an automated levy system that withholds Social Security payments to taxpayers with incomes below the poverty line. If this is happening to you ... call.

Ask for a person -- not a computer -- to provide a review. You may be classified by the agency as unable to pay.

IRS Taxpayer Advocate: 1-877-777-4778

If your reasonable expenses are more than your income you may be eligible to have an IRS levy from your bank account refunded. The IRS will have a telephone interview with you to determine your ability to pay. This includes and discussion of your assets and resources. They will then ask for your monthly expenses. Typically you will have to fax the IRS your last three months of bank statements.

While the IRS has ten days to decide on a refund they actually can and usually do act more quickly. You bank may require 72 hours to restore your funds. In reality the IRS may act more quickly than your bank.

There is a possibility that you will have a partial restoration of funds rather than a full restoration.

A restoration of funds for hardship and a classification of 'unable to pay' does not mean your debt is forgiven. You will continue to owe your debt. However, your funds for living expenses may be partially or fully restored.

Social Security Disability

Social Security Disability is all about your ability to work. The bottom line is: are you able to perform a simple, unskilled sit down type of job. This means can you sit at a toll both and make change or can you work as a telephone call center assistant.

The only issue is are you able to perform this simplest of all jobs 5 days a week, 8 hours a day.

The issue is NOT can you find such a job. The issue is could you perform such a job?

Speaking with a Social Security Claims Representative

A SSA claims representative will document in your file exactly what you say. Be consistent with your statements because you are building a record.
A Social Security Claims Representative will document in your file his or her impression or your demeanor and attitude. If you say your pain is unbearable but your demeanor is not consistent with that statement, the Claims Representative will document that impression in your file.
You should consistently address your capacity to work. Your medical diagnosis, while important, is actually less important than the mental and physical activity limitations that arise from that diagnosis. For example, if you have a herniated disc in your back, but it does not prevent you from sitting all day with occasionally breaks to stretch, you may not be found disabled. By contrast, if you have irritable bowel syndrome that flares up three days a week, and results in your having to use the restroom for ten minutes at a time every 30 minutes, your probably will be found disabled. No jobs permit unscheduled breaks totaling 20 minutes an hour, but there are plenty of jobs that offer a sit-stand option.
Clearly state your limitations. "I can only walk about 30 yards, then I have to stop and sit down because my back tightens up. If I overdo it and walk more than 3 blocks, the pain in my back gets so intense that I have to go to bed for at least two days."
I can only sit for 15 minutes at a time before I have to stand up and walk around for 5 to 7 minutes.
I only sleep 2 1/2 to 3 hours per night and I do not feel rested when I wake up.
On a scale of 1 to 10, my back pain is always at a 5 or 6, but it spikes up to an 8 or 9 at least four days a week, and it stays at that level for five hours or until I take a pain pill that puts me to sleep.

Lee Ann Torrans
Attorney at Law
6532 LBJ Freeway
Dallas, Texas 75240

http://socialsecuritystrategy.com

ltorrans@gmail.com

214-500-5410 (cell)
214-231-2886 (E-fax)

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