Depression

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.

Depression in its various forms which include dysthymia, major depression and manic depression is a type of mood disorder. Concurrent with these emotions, a person with depression often suffers from feelings of fatigue and decreased energy levels.

An episode of depression, which lasts for two weeks or longer, may be considered to be major clinical depression. Major clinical depression interferes with our ability to cope with our lives, often rendering an individual unable to function effectively in their everyday life, including work and family activities.

Clinical depression is the leading cause of Disability in United States and Canada.

Depression does not have a specific listing in the social security administration's impairment listing manual. Section 12.04, for Affective Disorders covers depression. To qualify for either social security disability or SSI disability benefits on the basis of this listing, a claimant's medical records must satisfy at least one of the following two sets of criteria. OR REMEMBER A CLAIMAINT MAY MEET THE MEDICAL VOCATIONAL ALLOWANCE IF THE CLAIMANT DOES NOT MEET THESE CRITERIA:

SECTION 12.04 AFFECTIVE MOOD DISORDERS

Characterized by a disturbance of mood, accompanied by a full or partial manic or depressive syndrome. Mood refers to a prolonged emotion that colors the whole psychic life; it generally involves either depression or elation.

The required level of severity for these disorders is met when the requirements in both A and B are satisfied, or when the requirements in C are satisfied.

A. Medically documented persistence, either continuous or intermittent, of one of the following:

1. Depressive syndrome characterized by at least four of the following:

a. Anhedonia or pervasive loss of interest in almost all activities; or

b. Appetite disturbance with change in weight; or

c. Sleep disturbance; or

d. Psychomotor agitation or retardation; or

e. Decreased energy; or

f. Feelings of guilt or worthlessness; or

g. Difficulty concentrating or thinking; or

h. Thoughts of suicide; or

i. Hallucinations, delusions, or paranoid thinking; or

2. Manic syndrome characterized by at least three of the following:

a. Hyperactivity; or

b. Pressure of speech; or

c. Flight of ideas; or

d. Inflated self-esteem; or

e. Decreased need for sleep; or

f. Easy distractibility; or

g. Involvement in activities that have a high probability of painful consequences which are not recognized; or

h. Hallucinations, delusions or paranoid thinking; or

3. Bipolar syndrome with a history of episodic periods manifested by the full symptomatic picture of both manic and depressive syndromes (and currently characterized by either or both syndromes);

AND

B. Resulting in at least two of the following:

1. Marked restriction of activities of daily living; or

2. Marked difficulties in maintaining social functioning; or

3. Marked difficulties in maintaining concentration, persistence, or pace; or

4. Repeated episodes of decompensation, each of extended duration;

OR JUST "C" ALONE

C. Medically documented history of a chronic affective disorder of at least 2 years' duration that has caused more than a minimal limitation of ability to do basic work activities, with symptoms or signs currently attenuated by medication or psychosocial support, and one of the following:

1. Repeated episodes of decompensation, each of extended duration; or

2. A residual disease process that has resulted in such marginal adjustment that even a minimal increase in mental demands or change in the environment would be predicted to cause the individual to decompensate; or

3. Current history of 1 or more years' inability to function outside a highly supportive living arrangement, with an indication of continued need for such an arrangement.

12.04 Affective disorders: Characterized by a disturbance of mood, accompanied by a full or partial manic or depressive syndrome. Mood refers to a prolonged emotion that colors the whole psychic life; it generally involves either depression or elation.