Facts dictate that there is truly a prevailing disability claim increase in California. Such is blamed towards the increased rate of accidents in this state. However, authorities are quite reluctant to be responsible for this phenomenon.

To prove and provide evidence for the increased casualty rate, the findings of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) should be noted. This government agency stated that in 2010, about 2,715 fatalities were recorded in California.

Assuredly, any survivors of such accidents may be bound to suffer from a debilitating injury.

Disabled individuals might be workers who could not even presently figure the way out in such a frantic condition. If this happens, then they are suggested to seek the assistance of a Los Angeles long term disability lawyer. This professional would help them file a formal claim for benefits.

An employee however, should have paid an adequate amount of social security tax to be able to qualify for benefits. Moreover, disabled former employees should have stopped working for at least 12 months after the accident.

Basically, the SSA helps ill or disabled employees. However, the SSA also has the power to either grant or reject claims, depending on whether or not applicants are able to present evidence or at least follow certain guidelines set by the agency.

With this, applicants are encouraged to provide the necessary documents to prove their disability. They must also possess the following generalized requirements:

• The claimant should have worked for an adequate amount of time, which enables him or her to provide an ample amount of Social Security tax;
• The claimant must be 18 years old and above;
• The claimant is a citizen of the United States and has resided within the country for some time;
• The claimant should have acquired an infirmity that rendered him or her unable to work for at least 12 months;
• The medical condition or injury is expected to last for at least twelve months or could result in death. 

As a disability claim applicant, you must be aware of the medical requirements that the Social Security Administration set for either the Social Security Disability (SSD) or the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. The requirements would serve as your guide so that your claim could be speedily approved.

The medical criteria

 The medical criteria are one of the two requirements set by the SSA; the other being the non-medical criteria. The medical criteria must be considered so that you can have a chance to be qualified for either of the two disability programs.

The medical criteria for SSD or SSI eligibility are largely based on the “disability” definition of the SSA. A person filing for disability benefits must be considered as having a severe medical condition that is long-lasting (expected to last for a year at the very least) and limits the person physically or mentally in such a way that he or she cannot do any work activity and perform work substantially.

Accordingly, your claim should consist of medical evidence that would prove that you indeed have a severe impairment that keeps you from doing any work activity. The disability examiner at your state’s Disability Determination Services (DDS) would evaluate your medical evidence by employing the sequential evaluation process. The said process involves five steps constituting five questions:

1.)    Are you working and earning a substantial and gainful income at the time you applied for benefits?

-If you do, then you are denied benefits.

-If not, your claim moves on to the next step.

2.) Do you have a severe impairment?

-Using the SSA’s definition of disability as basis, if the DDS considers your impairment as “severe,” then your claim moves on to the next step.

3.) Does your impairment meet or equal a listing in the Impairment Listing Manual?

- If your claim does match or at least equal a listing in the so-called “Blue Book,” then you are already eligible to receive benefits.

- If your claim does not, your case moves on to next question.

4.) Can you still do your past work?

- If you cannot perform your past work because of your mental or physical limitations, then your case will proceed to the final step.

5.) Can you do some other type of work?

- If you cannot, based on the DDS’s assessment that you indeed cannot perform other jobs based on your age and training, then you may be considered as “disabled.”

To attain your much-needed benefits, you must retain legal representation at once. This would increase your chances of eventually receiving disability benefits, especially if your claim is denied. You must retain the services of any Los Angeles Social Security claim lawyers for your claim to be processed quickly and successfully.

There are many drawbacks when you are disabled. Depending on your disability, there are a lot of things that you can’t do now. This can leave you unable to perform the manual and mental work that you once used to perform.

More than losing some of your abilities, you may also end up needing additional money for your medicines or any additional service you might need to survive.

You don’t always have people to look out for you or help you with those above-mentioned needs. During these times, it’s probably only the government that you can turn to for help. The government realizes this and that is why it came up with additional social security benefits that aim to help people with disabilities.

Supplemental Security Income—or SSI is a program of the United States government that extends assistance to individuals with a low income. Such potential SSI beneficiaries can be the elderly, blind, or disabled.

The idea of this new measure is for the government to be able to reach out and help as many disabled American citizens as possible. This effectively replaces the federal-state adult assistance programs of the past.

It could be remembered that former President Richard Nixon was passionate about bringing reform to the nation’s welfare programs. While there had been legislations aiming to help the blind, the permanently and totally disabled, and the elderly, he believed that this should be federalized and run by the Social Security Administration (SSA).

While having the same purpose with the older legislations, the newer measure has been restructured and now aims for the standardizations of the level of benefits, as well as eligibility. This incorporation to the Social Security Act is perfect not only for people of old age, but also for those who have been suffering from different kinds of disabilities.

Now, disabled people are getting their desperately needed monetary assistance to help them get by with their daily lives. For these people, receiving this kind of assistance lets them pay their bills, take care of their health, and sustain their daily needs.

Through this new system, people who need the caring of the government the most receives their end of the taxes which the citizenry has paid for.

If you are from the Los Angeles and are suffering from a disability, are blind, or too old to still perform manual work, you don’t have to worry for the government has your back.

Accordingly, a Los Angeles SSI lawyer can be of great help when making claims for SSI. He will give you that much-needed legal advice on how you can ask for SSI benefits and help you with the entire process. Just submit your application and the corresponding requirements and you may soon receive your claims.

If you have been long disabled or you got incapacitated lately and you fear for your future, you should worry no more. You can now fend for yourself and survive through your disability for your government will take care of you.

There is a simplified difference between Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). First, SSDI is for people who were disabled permanently and cannot work in accordance to the definition provided under the Social Security Act. This meant that the person is not able to engage in any substantial gainful activity (SGA) because of a medically identifiable physical or mental impairment that in the end could lead to the death of the person.


It is also vital that the ailment is expected to last for not less than 12 months. Moreover, he or she must be able to collect sufficient work credits to have an ample amount of money to pay the insurance beforehand.


On the other hand, SSI is provided to poor people. The Social Security Administration (SSA) has a set standard to determine if the person is really living below the social norms of the society. He or she must be more than 65 years old, and may be disabled or blind.

 
Making Appeals

In 2009, the SSA had announced that applications for the disability benefits rose close to 17 percent in the whole United States, which is at about 3 million. Moreover, the agency further stated that they expect the number to rise up to 10 percent in 2010 and that meant 3.3 million new applications. 


Taking this logically, it is clear that not all of the claims would be approved by the SSA. Some of them could be rejected.



Giving the benefit of the doubt, those handling the SSA had permitted applicants with rejected benefits claims to file an appeal. An appeal must be done within 60 days based on the date written in the denial letter. An appeal actually has four levels, but this article will focus on the initial application only:

·         Request for Reconsideration (RFR)

This is the primary step in making an appeal. An RFR is a document filed by the applicant and through it, he or she is telling the SSA office that someone other than the previous agent who handled the case should investigate if there really is a disability. The new agent will then review the available documents to see if the claimant is eligible for the social security disability benefits. No hearing will be conducted; nonetheless, if the SSA states that the applicant no longer has a disability, then that person will be required to appear before and explain to the agent. 

It is said that only 30 percent of initial Social Security disability claims are approved by the Social Security Administration (SSA). Meanwhile, there are only three possibilities that may happen to the remaining 70 percent of claims. Applicants may forget their claims (giving up their right to benefits in the process). Some may file a disability claim anew. Some others, however, may pursue an approval by reversing the decision via an appeal.

Accordingly, if your claim was denied by the Social Security Administration (SSA), then it would be best that you do the third one, which is to have the federal agency reverse its previous decision through an appeal. You can do so within 60 days of your receipt of the SSA’s letter notifying that your claim has been denied.

Incidentally, one of the most important parts of the appeal is the disability hearing. It is an informal hearing presided over by an administrative law judge (ALJ). If you get denied during the first stage of the appeal (the reconsideration stage), it is best that you try again and go for the disability hearing. To help you out in the whole process, retaining the services of any Los Angeles Social Security claim lawyers will suffice.

Coming in prepared for the disability hearing is very important. The first thing that you must consider when you prepare for it is to retain the services of the said lawyer. With your reputable lawyer at the helm, the chances of getting your claim approved at the hearing will increase. Your lawyer can handle your case properly, as well as explain during the hearing why you are qualified for disability benefits.

Also, before the scheduled date of the hearing is provided to you, it is best that you collect additional medical records for your disability claim. First, though, you must review the records that the Social Security office used to determine if you are disabled or not.

Point of advice: take advantage of the opportunity after reviewing your claim. If you feel like you’ve missed out on important information in your previous claim, it would be best to include them prior to submitting your claim before the disability hearing.

Source: http://www.socialsecurity-disability.org/blog/how-prepare-social-security-disability-hearing

Any worker who gets disabled because of a physical or mental ailment may apply for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits. Once approved, not only will he or she receive monthly benefits, but also his or her dependents, particularly his or her children.

Every month, nearly 4.4 million children receive around $2.5 billion worth of benefits from their parents who are disabled. They also receive them if one or both their parents are either retired or deceased. Consequently, the amount of benefits they receive would help them sustain the necessities needed for them to live. Such Social Security benefits keep the family’s financial future stable.

If you have a child and you are receiving SSDI benefits, your child can also get benefits as long as your child is:

·         Your biological son or daughter;

·         Your adopted child; or

·         Your dependent stepchild.

The child must also fulfill the following requirements for him or her to receive disability benefits:

·         Must be unmarried;

·         Younger than 18 years old;

·         18 to 19 years old and a full-time student who is not higher than Grade 12; or

·         18 or older and also disabled.

Note that in the fourth requirement, your child’s disability must have started before he or she reached the age of 22.

In applying for benefits for your child, you must present his or her birth certificate and Social Security number, as well as your own SS number. If you are applying for disability benefits for your child, you have to collect medical proof that would help prove his or her disability.

Accordingly, the SSA could give your child’s claim either an approval or a denial. If you disagree with the latter, you can always file an appeal on behalf of your child. In this regard, it is advised that you retain the services of any Los Angeles Social Security Claim Lawyers.

Workers who are unable to work because of a disability should keep in mind that being partially impaired doesn’t qualify them for Social Security disability benefits. Accordingly, if you have a partial disability and you want to acquire benefits, you should talk with a Los Angeles disability lawyer to explore your possible options.

To begin with, the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program of the Social Security Administration (SSA) is designed to help people with total disability. Accordingly, to become eligible for SSDI benefits, you must meet the following criteria:


·         You are unable to perform work you once did;

·         You are unable to carry out any kind of work because of your disability; and

·         Your medical condition is expected to last for at least a year or is expected to result in death.


Medical proof is needed to be qualified for this program. You must have enough evidence that you indeed have a total disability, from lab results, clinical tests, doctor’s diagnosis, to your doctor’s statements regarding your limitations brought by your medical condition. The SSA would then determine if your disability falls on their Impairment Listing Manual or “Blue Book.” If the federal agency verifies your disability, then you are automatically qualified for total disability.


Incidentally, SSDI does not cover partial or even short-term disability; however, you can still qualify for other benefits, such as the following:


·         Worker’s compensation. If you got injured or you incurred a disability while you are on the job, you can receive worker’s compensation benefits. This program is designed to provide employees like you who were injured on the job with supplementary income and costs that are enough to cover your medical recovery and rehabilitation.




·         Long-term disability benefits. This is another option in which you can receive compensation so that you can recover from your injury right away. However, you may have to still work on a job, albeit on a less hazardous environment that wouldn’t compromise your condition and your recovery.

It was announced May of this year that the Social Security Administration (SSA) is providing statements online for beneficiaries 18 years old and above. This is said to be a cost-saving move that would help the federal agency save about $70 million dollars a year.

The online statement would basically contain an estimate of how much benefits an individual can receive, and the amount of money earned through the course of his or her career. More importantly, this would also keep a beneficiary informed of his or her estimated benefits that will have an impact upon reaching the retirement age.

An individual must, however, sign up a secure account to access the information. Upon completion of registration, the beneficiary may consider these important tips when looking up his or her online statement:

·         Along with the online registration for the online statement is the registration for a text service. After signing up for the service, he or she will receive a text message every time someone enters his or her account. This would help provide information security.

·         The Commissioner Michael J. Astrue has said that it is best for the individual to check his or her online statement once every year, preferably on his or her birthday. The online statement is updated every year, with new earning information supplied in the account.

·         Checking the record of earnings is a must for the individual with an online statement. The calculations of the Social Security payments are based on the individual’s 35 highest-earning years while he or she is at work.

·         The online statement’s main purpose is to help make certain decisions upon reaching the age of retirement, since it provides an estimate of the monthly payment he or she is expected to receive between the ages 62 to 70. If he or she delays claiming for retirement benefits, it is highly likely for him or her to have an increase in benefits.

An applicant can attain this new development of the SSA if his or her claim is approved. To speed up the process of the application, he or she can retain the services of a Los Angeles disability attorney. The reputable disability attorney will make every effort to help get his or her claim approved.