(REMASTERED) 10.30.2011 (Disability improved; 100% service connected)

0:22 Good day, and welcome to another edition of Q and DA Social Security Disability Today, presented to you by the Reeves Law Firm. I am your host, Attorney Anthony Reeves, and as always I enjoy your questions. So let's get started, all right. Our first question actually falls into the category of what I call the continuing disability review. Let me go ahead and give you a breakdown. Have a younger individual who basically, for lack of better words, is expecting their condition to improve over time. They're twenty two years old, so they understand, and so part of their condition was on the fact of their obesity, and they want to know they're expected to get better because they're going to be going undergoing a condition, whether they expect them to

1:11 lose the weight, they're going to probably either go to lap ban or gast you bypath something like that. The question is are they obligated to let Social Security know that their condition is improved or just wait until the review of their case and then just agree with their determination. That is an awesome question, and so let me see if I can attack it accordingly. Really, what you're focusing on is if you are aware that your condition is going to improve based on some procedure or something that's going to happen. Are you obligated to let Social Security know exactly when it happens. Well, here, it's a tricky way of manswering it, but this is what I would tell you. First and foremost. Social Security is going to

1:48 do a disability review every three to five years. If you fall into the situation like this where you believe that as a result of some procedure you have that your condition has improved by all means, let social Security know. But keep in mind this. Now, this is where I tell people you won't know until you actually get there.

2:08 So my philosophy is get to that point first. What do I mean? Well, and the example that was provided where we're talking about a gastric bypass, maybe the person has bad needs, bad back, diabetes, a variety of different health problems that are exacerbated, meaning it's made worse because of the obesity. So you get a gastric bypass. Well, I'm gonna tell you the moment you come out from underneath the knife, you're not gonna be okay right away.

2:31 It's gonna take a while. You're gonna have to condition your body to lose in the weight, condition your body in terms of your diet. A lot of things are gonna happen to you before you get to the point where you're able to return back to work. Once you have seen the improvement to the point where you believe you're able to engage in work, then what I would tell you then to do is that then try to see if you're a condition of the proof to the point where you can go back to work. Now, after trying to go back to work, if you notice that you're able to function for at least a couple of months more, social Security is going to know automatically. But here's what I would probably do, just in the interest

3:09 of covering yourself. If you have the surgical procedure. After you've had the surgery, let social Security do Now. There's gonna be some people out here who are going to disagree with me, and they're gonna say, oh no, no, your condition could get worse, you could have complications. But my philosophy is it is always a lot easier for you to make arguments to defend what you've done if you've come clean. Then if you try to keep that information to yourself and Social Security has to find out about it after the fact. So to answer your question, do you have to necessarily tell them that your condition is improved. What you need to do is not someone say I have the surgery, I'm doing better. Let Social

3:48 Security know that you have undergone a surgical procedure to address the disability impairment that you have. So let's say you're bound disableed. Becose you had a hard condition, and then you go in and you get a bypass. Well, let's so security know. So this way they can never say they weren't made aware of the fact that there were some changes in your medical condition. Remember, you bear the responsibility of proving that you are disabled. It is a lot easier to defend your position if you've told them upfront. Then if you're in a position where you're trying to play clean up at the end. So the long answer to the question that was proposed to really is this, then let me get it too a short answer.

4:31 If you know that you're receiving disability benefits based on a particular condition, and you undergo some procedure that it's meant to correct that condition, let sooc of Security know upon your completion. What will probably happen is that they will do a disability review at that particular point in time to determine whether or not your condition has improved, and then at that particular point you make the decision.

4:54 If they've made determination that your condition has improved, then if you choose not to appeal it, then course you just agree with their determination. You just keep on rolling. In any event, it makes it easier for you because if they make a determination that you haven't improved, if nothing else, at least they're aware of the change in your condition. And always remember this, even if you undergo some procedure to improve your condition, there's no guarantee your condition will improve. But as long as you kept Social Security in the loop this way, you've covered yourself all right.

5:33 Our second question really focuses on a disability determination by another agency. This person asked the question, if they're receiving one hundred percent service connected disability benefits, what are their chances of getting Social Security? Okay? And that is also an outstanding question because I get this every now and then.

5:52 Here's what you need to understand. There's really two fundamental principles that come into play whenever you're dealing with with a situation where you've been found disabled by somebody else. Premise number one, social Security is not bound by any disability determination made by another agency. In other words, just because somebody else determine your disabled does not mean Social Security has to make that same determination. The standards by which they determine your disabled is totally different. And I always tell people that, so Security tends to be one of the toughest, so they don't look at disability the same way maybe the VA does, or maybe a state retirement or long term disability. Social Security is not bound

6:34 by whatever determination is made by some other agency. The other premise is that a disability determination made by another agency is persuasive. Now some of you are going to be scratching your head and having a Kodak moment like wait a minute, wait, wait a minute. You're telling me that because somebody else found me disabled, they're not bound by it, but it's persuasive. So what are you saying? Well, this is what I'm saying saying. Think of it almost like a kid going like a kid going like this this.

7:03 I'm gonna give you a kid analogy. Let's say that you and another child want to go to a concert and the child's argument is, well, Johnny's going, why can't I go? What's your parents going to say? Well, just because Johnny's going doesn't mean that you can go. Okay, But what if I tell you that Johnny's dad is going with them? Oh, well, then that's persuasive to me, because now that I know that Johnny's going, Johnny's dad's going, I know somebody's going to be there to watch you.

7:32 Then yeah, I think I'll let you go. Now you're probably scratching your head. Wait a minute, you won't let me go because john Because just because Johnny's not going, Johnny's going, I can't go. But because Johnny' dad's going, you let me go. It sounds confusing, But let me see if I can put it in the basic more basic terms, the fact that some other agency made a determination of regarding disability. It's actually persuasive in the sense that it provides a feel of evidence that Social Security can look at to determine whether or not you are disabled. Typically, VA determinations can be very helpful because usually when the VA makes a determination, they're also looking in from the concept of employability. So in some instances the determination by

8:15 the VA can be extremely helpful. I always tell my veteran clients, because I have a lot of veteran clients that I deal with when who've been in this situation or I've dealt with them a lot of these over the years, and I always tell them the same thing. Don't ever allow yourself to believe that just because you're getting VA benefits or service connected disability benefits, that it's a slam dunk you're going to get Social Security. However, the fact that you are getting VA benefits does help with your case. It helps strengthen your case as long as the disability determination by the VA or any other agency and the records they rely upon is consistent with the records in your file. So the long answer to

8:54 this is this the Lasson excuse me. The short answer to your question is this, if you're getting disability benefits from another agency, whether it be VA or something like that, it is going to be helpful to your case, or let me strike that it could potentially be very helpful to your case. But remember this, just because somebody else found that you're disabled does not mean that Social Security will automatically determine that you are disabled. And trust me, I've represented more than my fair share of clients who had disability from one agency, and Social Security still denied you because the standard by which Social Security measures your disability is completely different from other agencies, so keep that

9:32 in mind. Would you and your friends like to have a live conversation with Attorney Anthony Reads about questions you have about Social Security disability or supplemental security income, Feel free to contact Q and A Social Security Today to schedule a Disability Questions and Answers webinar with Attorney Anthony Reads.

9:54 Please send an email to contact at Reevesfirm dot com for more information on how you and your friends can schedule a live conversation with Attorney Anthony Reeves to have your questioning answer. All right, I want to thank you again for joining me for another edition of Q and A Social Security Disability Today. And for those of you who celebrate the Halloween festivities, have a safe holidays. Make sure you keep an eye on the kids. Be mindful of the fact that there'll be a lot of parents and children walking with their children out in the streets tomorrow, so make sure you'll be safe and more importantly, keep an eye out because we're all a family, so we're all in this together. Have a wonderful day everyone. Thank

10:31 you for your questions, keep them coming. And this again is Anthony Reeves. That's who I am and it is another edition of your Q and AA SO Security Disability Today, Cost change