Crespo v. Colvin: SSDI Appeals
Crespo v. Colvin, a case from the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, involved a claimant who applied for Supplemental Security Income for his mother. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a program administered by the United States Social Security Administration (SSA). SSI is designed for disabled children of low-income families and blind or disabled adults. This program is different from the Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) program that is designed for people who have worked long enough to earn quarterly credits to qualify for disability benefits. As our Boston disability attorneys can explain, when another a person (usually a family member, but it can be a court appointed guardian) applies on a disabled claimant’s behalf, this is known as representative payee situation under …
Voigt v. Colvin: Social Security Disability Appeals Process
Voigt v. Colvin, a case from the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, involves claimant who applied for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits, only to have the Social Security Administration (SSA) denied his application. Claimant was 40 years old at the time he applied for SSDI benefits. Claimant was employed as a trained machinist until 2002. It was then that he applied for total disability. His claimed disability was primarily related to mental illness, including severe depression and bipolar disorder, as well as chronic back pain, hip trouble, and an anal fissure. When he first applied for benefits, SSA denied his application. After a series of appeals, he was able to have a hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ). ALJ determined claimant was capable …
Wounded Warriors Denied for Social Security Disability Benefits
During the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it was impossible to watch the news without seeing the consequences to brave men and women of our armed forces. Many were killed, and even more were sent home with serious disabilities caused by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and other combat-related injuries, including traumatic brain injury (TBI). According to a recent news article from Forbes, wounded service members have been sending open letters to their respective Congress members asking for help with the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits application process. One of those letters was from a medically discharged U.S. Army soldier. He describes how he became disabled and what has happened since getting back to the United States. After he completed his last …
Difficulties in Obtaining Disability Benefits
Every week, we see a new rash of news articles about the fate of the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program. Most focus on the fact that by the end of 2016, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will not have enough money in its budget to pay all disability awards. There is expected to be a 20 percent reduction in the budget if Congress doesn’t act quickly to fix the pending deficit. One way to fix this predicted crisis is to shift money from the Social Security retirement benefits to the SSDI and Supplemental Secularity Income (SSI) benefits fund. The retirement fund is currently fully funded through 2030, so if money is reallocated to the disability fund, there is time to work on a long-term solution or do another …
Social Security Benefits Finally Awarded – Upon Death of Claimant
According to a recent news article from NBC 11, the husband of a woman suffering with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (commonly called “ALS” or “Lou Gehrig’s disease”) had been fighting with the United States Social Security Administration (SSA) for nearly a decade before benefits were finally awarded only days before his wife’s death.