Social Security judges
Reading Between the Lines to Find Evidence of Disability
Earlier this week I appeared with a client at a hearing who had a very extensive and complicated medical history. Her complaints included pain and discomfort in her lower extremities – from the hips to the feet, chest pain, breathing problems and low back pain.
In reviewing her record, I noted ten (10) diagnoses, including:
- fibromyalgia
- lupus
- unspecified autoimmune disease
- unspecified neurological disorder
- bulging disc (without impact on spinal cord)
- mild congestive heart failure
- shortness of breath of unspecified cause
- depression
- anxiety
- post traumatic stress
My client did not want to come in to the office for her pre-hearing conference so we spoke on the phone. When I spoke to her, it was clear to me that she saw herself as being disabled – she was able to talk at length about all of her medical issues. My client was living with an adult child and relied totally on support from her children and relatives. Her sense of self and identity was tied to her medical issues and she had given up any sense of financial or personal independence. [Read more…] about Reading Between the Lines to Find Evidence of Disability
Social Security’s Decision Making Process – Better, but Still Room to Improve
Social Security has made great strides in converting from an unwieldy paper file system to an almost fully electronic system. From my perspective as a lawyer, hearing preparation has become significantly easier now that I can access my clients’ electronic files from my office – in the past if I wanted to review a file I would have to make a special trip down to the hearing office.
Social Security deserves a great deal of credit for making this transition – there were some bumps in the road, but, by in large, the new “paperless” system works fairly well.
That being said there is another area where I continue to voice strong criticism of Social Security – and that has to do with the inconsistency in hearing results by the administrative law judges.
Earlier this week, I was scheduled for a hearing in one of the local hearing offices. SSA does not tell us who the judges are until the day of the hearing so I did not find out which judge was assigned until I arrived. [Read more…] about Social Security’s Decision Making Process – Better, but Still Room to Improve
Hearing Preparation Tip: Prepare for Questions About Your Physical Capabilities
At my law firm, I schedule a pre-hearing conference with all of my Social Security disability clients prior to their hearings. Generally I schedule these meetings two to four weeks prior to the hearing and I prefer to conduct them in person.
I schedule these meetings to help my clients prepare for questions they will be asked. Equally important, I get the opportunity to evaluate how my client answers questions and to assist them in improving how they testify.
In cases involving impairments that result in physical limitations, I present to my clients a series of questions that they will definitely hear at their hearings. Often I find that in this practice session my clients do not answer these questions clearly and we have to practice several times to tighten up their presentations.
Often, our pre-hearing conferences run close to 2 hours – which is about twice as long as the actual hearing will last but I feel that this time investment is worthwhile so that my client can become comfortable with how I ask questions and my client can practice in a less stressful environment. [Read more…] about Hearing Preparation Tip: Prepare for Questions About Your Physical Capabilities
Changes Coming to Social Security’s Disability Programs?
Social Security's disability trust fund will run out of money in two or three years unless Congress acts to add funding to the program. As such SSA's disability programs are coming under increased scrutiny by members of Congress. In this video I talk about Senator Tom Coburn's recently released report alleging significant inefficiency in SSA's disability decision making process and his suggestions to reduce the number of approved cases.
We are already seeing fewer approvals and tougher judges. Here's what you need to know if you want to improve your chances at winning in this challenging environment for claimants.
Claim Approval Tip: Submit a Doctor Completed Functional Capacity Form
My colleague and fellow Tulane Law School alumni Gordon Gates recently published a timely article on his blog discussing the disturbing trend that allowance rates by Social Security judges are down sharply.
Rumors have been floating around the Social Security representative community that Social Security has issued a directive to judges encouraging them to approve fewer cases. SSA officials have denied this, although I hear that Freedom of Information requests have been filed to investigate further.
Gordon notes that in his jurisdiction – Maine and New Hampshire – SSA’s own statistics show that allowance rates are down across the board – sometimes by as much as 20%. The same case that would have been approved last year may be denied this year – perhaps for no other reason than SSA’s need to save money.
The trend that Gordon writes about seems reflective of a culture of secrecy that permeates Social Security.
- They apparently have new standards for approving cases, but they will not tell us what has changed.
- Approval rates by judges in the same hearing office may vary by 50% or more but SSA has done nothing to address the arbitrary nature of claim adjudication.
- Judges are asking claimants if they have filed for unemployment benefits and are using that fact as evidence that a claimant has the capacity to work (I question the logic of a correlation)
- As of January, 2012, SSA will no longer reveal to representatives or claimants which judge will be assigned to a particular case – thus making it more difficult to prepare for hearings
It is not too difficult to see a trend here – Social Security’s disability program is running out of money and SSA will henceforth make it more difficult to recover disability benefits.
From my perspective as a claimant’s lawyer, I can adjust to tighter standards but my plea to Social Security – reveal the new standards so I can properly advise my clients. [Read more…] about Claim Approval Tip: Submit a Doctor Completed Functional Capacity Form