Mental Impairments Require Ongoing Documented Treatement

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 Claims are determined by a claimant's ability to work -- not on whether or not they have a disability.

The test is whether the disability (if one is found) impacts the claimant's ability to work.

The Social Security Administration will consider a claimant's:

Residual functional capacity. This means what can a claimant still do; AND
Whether or not a claimant can still work.
Work means work at a former job OR some other type of work.

To win a disability claim for a mental condition it is crucial (and virtually essential) to have a developed record of treatment. This means a record of ongoing mental treatment typically with a longitudinal history. That is an ongoing long term treatment for the mental condition which highlights the depth and scope of the debilitating mental condition.

See Mental Impairment RFC Form for treating physician or psychologist. http://socialsecuritystrategy.com/?page_id=269

The mental treatment records should document the severity of the condition.

Evidence regarding the limitations imposed upon Claimant's ability to work is essential How long the mental condition has been limiting the Claimant's ability to work is important.

If a problem has not been severe enough warrant your seeking treatment the SSA will not believe your condition has truly impaired your ability to work.'

You MUST be able to substantiate how your condition has affected and limited your ability to work.

For children the evidence must show how the condition has prohibited the ability to enter into age-appropriate activities such as school.

While the SSA may decide to send the claimant for an an independent consultative examinination (CE) this rarely will result in a positive outcome for the claimant. The SSA wants to see that the claimant has independently sought treatment for the mental condition AND the mental condition has impaired the claimant's ability to work.

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