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    • COLA: 3.2%Attorney User Fee: $117SSI Amounts: $943 for individuals and $1,415 for a couple/monthFICA wage base: $168,600Quarter of coverage amount: $1,730Substantial gainful activity amount (non-blind): $1,550/monthTrial work period threshold: $1,110/month

      5 days ago
    • As is often the case, the Social Security Administration is lagging behind the medical community. This time the so-called “long hauler” COVID patients are getting short shrift. SSA doesn’t recognize that COVID symptoms can last for a long time after the test results are negative and, perhaps permanently. Attorney Crawforth has represented several of these…

      a month+ ago

    News

    • Summer 2021 Newsletter STILL STANDING…AND PRACTICING I published the first issue of Social Security & You in Spring of 1993.  Some years I’ve published more issues than others.  The most recent issue was dated Spring 2019: over 2 years ago.  The world was a much different place then.  Especially for me.  Read the full newsletter…

      2+ years ago
    • Spring 2019 Newsletter An Opioid Story I’ve changed his name. Let’s call him Gerald. He was a laborer. And by that I don’t mean that he just did physical work. He was a card-carrying member the Labor’s Union local. And that meant a lot to him. I represented him for Social Security disability and Michigan…

      4+ years ago

    SEQUESTER IS HERE

    Displaying a stunning lack of leadership, the President of the United States and United States Congress have jumped off the proverbial financial/political cliff.  The finger pointing began immediately.  As of April 1, 2013, mandated spending cuts will be applied to all branches of the federal government.

    What will this mean for the Social Security Administration?  It is true that Social Security benefit amounts will not be affected.  But for the staff at Social Security  Field Offices and branches of the Office of Disability Adjudication & Review (ODAR), the sequestration applies.  This may mean a 20% reduction in hours and pay as personnel are “furloughed” one day a week for 22 weeks.  Or employees could be terminated and facilities closed.

    The sequester will mean delays in processing time at Field Offices, longer waits for service on the toll free 800 number, longer waits for a hearing at the ODAR, and a longer wait for decisions after the hearing.  An SSA Fact Sheet prepared prior to the sequester predicted a loss of 5,000 employees.  It was estimated the wait for a hearing would increase by a month.  Ironic, after SSA succeeded in reducing the backlog at the ODAR level in the past couple of years through an aggressive judge-hiring and ODAR-building program.

    Maybe the sequester won’t prove to be the disaster many have predicted. Maybe we will adjust and digest the “new normal”. But it won’t be without some suffering.

     

    Call today if you have questions about the Michigan Social Security Disability Attorney and Lawyer Services provided by William Crawforth.

    To schedule an appointment call 800-864-1244 or fill out the contact form at the top of this page.

    • State Bar of Michigan
    • Washtenaw County Bar Association
    • National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives

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