President Trump and temporary government employee, ElonMusk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) madechanges in how the Social Security Administration handled certainmatters, such as applications for benefits and change of addressduring the early days of the new administration. All new applications for benefits were held 3 days, under the newpolicy, to check for fraud. Combined with…
On May 7, 2025 Frank Bisignano was sworn in as the new Social Security Commissioner. Mr. Bisignano comes from Fiserv, a leading global payments and financial tech company, where he served as Chairman & CEO.
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…
The Social Security Administration has released the so-called “Waterfall Charts” for 2023. These charts show the level of awards and denials of Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits (DIB) & Supplemental Security Income benefits (SSI).
At the initial application level 39% of claims were allowed and 61% denied.
At the reconsideration level 15% were allowed and 85% denied.
At the hearing level before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) 45% were allowed, 24% were dismissed and 30% were denied.
After a Request for Review the Appeals Council allowed 1% of claims, 3% were dismissed, 13% remanded and 83% were denied.
Finally, after a United States District Court review 1% were allowed, 5% were dismissed, 61% were remanded and 33% denied.
These numbers are fairly steady from 2022. ALJ dismissals were up 13% and ALJ allowances were down 6%.