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…
A bottleneck at the Disability Determination Service level is being addressed by the Office of Hearings Operations (OHO) by transferring “a significant number” of Attorney Advisors to the DDS for one year stint.
The OHO also reports 56 new Administrative Law Judges have been hired and will start their training this month.