Claimants for Social Security disability and SSI benefits may not be aware that the evaluation of their claim is not made by the Social Security Administration but rather by a state agency which contracts with SSA; the Disability Determination Service (DDS). The Social Security Advisory Board (SSAB) recently issued a report evaluating the effectiveness of…
The annual Social Security & Medicare Trustee Report was released at the end of March and the news was mixed.The Social Security retirement trust fund will be unable to pay full retirement benefits, unless something is done to shore it up, in 2033. However, the Social Security disability trust fund is in much better shape.…
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…
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…
Full staffing has been restored to Social Security’s Office of Disability Review branches. This means hearings will be scheduled, medical evidence will be exhibited, the phones will be answered and (most importantly) decisions will be written.
The catch is that ODAR employees are not being paid and won’t be until the partial government shutdown is solved so they may not be very happy employees. I was at the Valparaiso, IN ODAR this week and heard the word “involuntary servitude” used.
If you have contact with ODAR employees be nice and thank them for their service!
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