(REMASTERED) Q&A: Social Security Disability Today | 9.25.2011

0:21 Good day, and welcome to another edition of Q and A Social Security Disability Today. I am your host, Attorney Reeves, and this show is proudly brought to you by the Reeves Law Firm, dedicated to representing the disabled and discriminated, the Reeve's Law Firm. Hope you enjoyed today's Q and A and let's go ahead and get started. Let's go ahead and get started with our very first question. Typically under a continuing disability review, what Social Security is doing is they're looking at your condition right now as compared to when you were last determined to be disabled. The question is actually very good because it actually does focus on the fact that your doctors will be given the opportunity to render an opinion as to how your condition

1:08 affects you currently. Now, keep this in mind because a lot of people don't realize this. Your doctors are probably not going to know that you're doing undergoing a continuing disability review, because Social Security is not what you tell them that. What's going to happen is they're going to ask for copies of your medical records. They're going to review those medical records in comparison to what those records were at the time. What I would and what I mean by the time at the time you were lads found to be disabled. What I would recommend is, if you know you've got a continuing disability review, make sure you let your doctor know. So this way your doctor is aware that a review is going on with your case,

1:44 so that this way they're not caught off guard. So if they want to put a statement in there about how you are today, this way it's already in your record. All right. Second question, A lot of times people's continuing disability review or deny because Social Security determines that your condition no longer disables you. It's a phrase that we referred to as called medically improving. Now, a good point was made. The medical improvement is kind of vague. It's not necessarily medically improved, meaning you weren't as worse as you were before. Meaning medically improved means to the point where you're able to perform substantial gainful activity. It's another way of saying they think your condition has improved to

2:29 the point where they now think you can go out and you can work. So when they're looking at your condition, remember when they previously found you disabled, they had the standards they relied upon. They determined at that time you met that standard. Now they're saying that your condition has improved upon, meaning that your condition is not as bad as it was before, and that based on the improvement that you've sustained, you should be able to get back out into the workplace. So that's what they mean by medical improvement. Okay. Third question, Yes, it is possible to find out on the day of your hearing whether the judge is going to improve approve you there. Here's one of the things that I tell people all the time. Traditionally,

3:15 judges don't tell you at the hearing. Why because the written decision is really more important because that's the decision that allows you to appeal the judge's decision. It's the judge you felt got the judge got it wrong. More importantly, it gets you paid if they approve you. Some judges will tell you at the hearing, but I always tell people going in, do not sit here with your fingers cross hoping they're going to tell you there, because most times they don't. It's rare that they do, So go into the hearing expect them not to tell you whether you were approved or deny and just put on your best case and just hope for the best. Fourth question, would it be helpful for your doctors to write a source what we call a medical source statement. Absolutely, but

4:07 be mindful of this. A lot of times people put a lot of faith in the fact that if their doctor writes letters saying they're disabled, they think it's a slammed up. It's important for you to make sure you understand does your doctor believe that, after treating you for a period of time that the way of your medical evidence deems you disabled. Why do I say that because some doctors will write you a statement just to do a favor to you, but their medical records don't really support what their statement is. The key is, and this is where you want to make sure you have a great relationship with your doctor. Talk to them and ask them do they think that you're disabled? Meaning do they think based on your conditions can you work? And if

4:45 their records support it, then the letter that they provide will be very helpful. Alter be mindful of this. If you've got several doctors, they're only going to give an opinion about how your condition limits you from their expertise, meaning you can't ask the doctor that you're dealing with for your back to talk about your high blood pressure.

5:04 You can't ask your cardiologists to talk about how you needs a doing. They're going to focus their responses based on their level of expertise. So it's very possible that if they write letters on your behalf, they may all be entirely different. So keep that thought in your mind so you don't freak out because one of them writes a letter in a way, it was it that you didn't expect. Okay, fifth question. One of the things that I tell people all the time is stop focusing on specific things. You want to look at the big picture.

5:41 And this is what I mean by this. Like in the example that was provided here, then the person asked about job law and medications going to multiple doctors. Well, let's be real here. If your job loss was because you stopped to take care of your parents, that's not going to help your case. If the medications you're taking are over the counter medications, that isn't necessarily mean your condition is that severe. If the three doctors you go to all say you're not disabled, then the fact that you've been out of work, you're taking medication and gone to multiple doctors don't really mean a whole lot. The important thing you want to look at is does your medical records support the severity of your condition? Meaning did

6:18 you lose your job because you couldn't go to work because of your condition? Are you taking significant pain medications or narcotics or other medications that give an indication of the severity of your condition. Are the three doctors you're going to all saying that you're disabled. It's important to remember it's not about the actual specific instances that you think will show that you're disabled. Does the evidence you have demonstrate the severity of your condition? Okay, let's get down business question number six. I love when people ask me about the onset date of your disability. Keep this in the back of your mind. You can have an onset date that goes all the way back to the beginning of time, meaning I've represented kids in kids cases.

7:08 This is usually when you see this a lot where the parents applied for SSI benefits like today, the child is nine, so they say they became disabled from birth. Okay, first and foremost, is it possible to get an onset dat of disability going back to the date of their birth, which would be ten years ago, nine years ago. Absolutely, The key is the application, because for instance, that person's application is an SSI application, which means the date of the application is the earliest you get paid. So it doesn't matter if they were you know, if they were born ten fifteen years ago. If this is the first application and they just filed today, guess what if they get proved today, it starts today. Same thing. What we

7:48 call a DIIB application. You can get up to a year before. So let's say that they determine your disability began nineteen eighty five or nineteen ninety five. That's great. But if you just filed your application for the first time today, the most you're going to give is a year before. So please don't have this thought in your mind that going further back with your onset data is going to get you more money. It's the application that's the base of reference, all right, Question number seven. Most people wonder about that what we call that five month waiting period, and this really applies to disability insurance benefits claims and disabled widow with disabled widows benefits. When you apply for disability and you a legend onset data disability,

8:37 typically your eligibility for benefits starts five months after that. Remember this is assuming that you're not in that whole over year laughter we talked about in the previous question. So when you hear somebody make a reference of five months, they're referring to that five month waiting period where you're not going to receive any benefits during that five month window.

9:04 All right, Dan, all right? Question number eight? How long will it take to get your back pay? People? This is what I tell people all the time, from cradle to grade, once you get your decision approved to when everything gets done, it should take no more than sixty to ninety days. It shouldn't, but keep in mind it all depends on the kind of case you have. Meaning, if you have a straight supplemental security income case, the local office, once they do the resource interview, may be able to process it fairly quickly. But if there's a concurrent application, meaning you have a supplemental security income case plus a disability insurance income benefits case, they have to determine if there's an offset. Did you get workers come,

9:42 are you getting VA benefits? Are there any lump sum monies? A lot of times people get so fixated because you know by the time you win, you're so anxious to get your money you want to get it now. But keep in mind this Social Security has to have the time to make sure they calculate it correctly for two reasons. One, if there's some offense, they want to calculate it correctly. Secondly, and this is why you really need to be patient when this happens. If they miscalculate your money because of something they didn't take an account, you've got all the government money. So I always tell people, I know it's been a long wait, sit your behind over there in the corner and be patient because this is the one

10:20 part of the process you don't want them to mess up. Give them the time to fix it. If it's over about ninety days, then you want to contact them and find out what's going on and what can you do, because it usually means that there is an issue they're trying to resolve and you may be able to assist them at that time. All right, Ninth and final question of the day. Will it be one big backcheck or will it be broken apart? How does it work? It depends on the type of claim. Let me tell you why I say this, But disability insurance benefits cases or disabled widow benefits. You usually get one large lump sum supplemental security. They break it up into segments, meaning you get it every six months, so you'll get a portion now,

11:07 another six months so you'll get another portion, and then the remainder later. So that's typically how they do it. So you may get one lump sum for the DIB DWB A side is going to be broken up into pieces. So I hope those questions were answered today. I want to keep them rolling out. About nine of them today, so I was really bumping and jumping. I hope this helps you out. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day and by all means, keep those questions coming