Social Security Administration to be affected by across the board budget cuts, benefits will not.

The mandatory budget cuts called “Sequestration” scheduled to take effect on Friday, March 1, 2013 across the board in the Federal Government and will not affect beneficiaries directly (anymore than anyone else in the country, which could be quite a lot). Payment of benefits will not be affected but, the sequestration cuts will affect all other aspects of Social Security Administration budget, including the day-to-day operations of the Agency.

 The sequestration on the Administration’s operations, field office and hearing offices will be affected. The Administration has estimated in there released “Fact Sheet” that sequestration will result in longer waits in field offices (average of 30 minutes) and for the 800-number.

If a person has filed a disability claim and is at the initial level the wait for a decision will be about two weeks longer.  Two weeks is an optimistic assessment because the state agencies that are funded by the federal government may have their funding cut even more by those state governments trying to reallocate those funds to other areas where federal funding will also be reduce but the same across the board cuts of the sequester. 

Sequestration would result in the loss of over 5,000 more SSA employees; this does not even OK include the employees at the state agencies who make the initial and reconsideration decisions on disability claims.  At the Hearing office the Hearings will be delayed by a month or longer for a determination and a drafted decision. The administration has concentrated much if its resources over the last six years to reducing the backlog and that progress in reducing the backlog would be eroded.

The Administration will try to prioritize reductions to avoid furloughs, they still remain possible. With each furlough day, the hearing office would not be able to hold 3,000 hearings.

 By limiting budget dollars to the administrative duties of the Administration an advocate representing your interests in dealing with the Social Security Administration is now more important than ever. 

If you have a question about the Social Security Disability process please call Attorney Patrick B. Cavanaugh at 1-866-915-4497 for a free consultation.

 

 

The Tattered Safety Net

The Washington Post ran an editorial responding to those who have read about the imminent crisis in funding for Social Security — and then blame it on the disabled. But as the Organization that Attorney Patrick B. Cavanaugh is a Sustaining member of, the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives, has noted:

We all have a stake in seeing deserving people with disabilities get the benefits they need and have earned.

There are significant societal costs when claimants are improperly denied benefits. These costs include increased home foreclosures and evictions; homelessness; family dissolutions; bankruptcies; welfare payments; strains on Medicaid and other residual indigent health care systems from postponed care; human suffering when a claimant cannot obtain medical treatment; and sometimes even death.

Moreover, there are strains on the Social Security system that should not be blamed on disabled Americans who need support.

The SSDI program provides income to nonelderly adults most of whom have worked in the past and have contributed to the fund-but are determined unable to work now because of a medical condition that is expected to last at least a year or to result in death.

Many factors have increased the number of people receiving SSDI benefits: the aging Baby Boomers; increases in the number of women working; and increases in life expectancy, with more people surviving what once might have been fatal disabilities due to medical advancements.

See: Washington Post: the-tattered-safety-net-for-the-disabled

Nebraska and Iowa Social Security Disability Attorney Patrick B. Cavanaugh is on top of the changing landscape associated with the Social Security Disability funding and can help disability claimants navigate through this confusing time.  Please call Attorney Patrick B. Cavanaugh at 1-866-915-4497 for a free evaluation of your claim.

Facebook Page reviews a no no for ALJ hearings

Administrative hearings to gain social security disability benefits are non-adversarial proceedings according to the Social Security Disability Regulations.  However many times the judges find themselves in the position of prosecutor and will cross examine the claimant seeking Social Security Disability Benefits.  Therefore it was an interesting twist on the sometime claimant-hostile atmosphere at the Social Security Administration (SSA), administrative law judges who hear disability cases have been told by SSA that they cannot use information gained from websites, including Facebook, when deciding cases. SSA’s reasoning apparently is that reviewers can’t trust information posted online and that mere act of typing in queries could compromise protected private information.

Read more: Washington Times: Websites off limits to Social Security Judges

Nebraska attorney, Patrick B. Cavanaugh,  is familiar with the  ins and outs of all the current Social Security Disability regulations and Hearing office rules.  If you have been denied benefits or are awaiting a hearing call Attorney Patrick B. Cavanaugh 1-866-915-4497 for a free case evaluation.