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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

    New Social Security Rule Requires Submission Of All Evidence

    logo-ssaFor as long as I’ve been practicing Social Security law (which is 35 years as of this spring) there have been judges who ask the Claimant’s representative if the file is complete or if all records have been submitted.  Some even have gone so far is to ask for so-called “independent’ medical exam reports created in connection with Workers’ Compensation or other injury litigation.

    I have always complied with these requests although there is no doctor patient relationship between the examiners and the patient.  It is certainly arguable that such records need not have been submitted.

    Now a new rule promulgated by the Social Security Administration requires representatives to submit all “evidence known” related to the disability claim.  But what does “related” to the claim mean?  If a Claimant alleges a mental disability does medical evidence pertaining to physical medical treatment need                                                                 to be submitted?  What about postings on social media?

    Many feel this new rule will add an additional burden to a Claimant and his or her representative.  Others say the Claimant or the representative have always had the burden to submit all known evidence, whether favorable or unfavorable so the rule merely clarifies the rule.  As for the reports of examiners, the argument is that the representative can address the weight to be given such evidence in a brief or at the hearing.

    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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