Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Personal Injury Blog

Many people know that Social Security Disability benefits are there when someone is injured and unable to work. A surprising number of people, however, underestimate the likelihood that they will need SSD benefits. In addition, most people cannot identify basic facts about disability.

According to statistics complied by the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA), approximately 25 percent of workers who are 20 years old today will become disabled before they retire. The risk of disability is high, and yet most people are surprised at the following facts about disability:

• Arthritis, not work-related injuries, is the leading cause of disability. According to the Council for Disability Awareness, 95 percent of disabilities are caused by chronic illnesses.

• According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), women across all age groups report higher rates of disability than men.

Though neither party may want to take it on, Social Security Disability benefits may prove to be a hot topic of discussion during the 2012 elections.

According to recent estimates by the Social Security Administration (SSA), Congress will have to act soon to avoid steep cuts to Social Security Disability benefits in 2016. What is worse, the SSA now estimates that Social Security's trust funds will be depleted in 2033, two years earlier than previously estimated.

The issue of how to fund Social Security is a difficult one. This year, Social Security is expected to run a deficit of $52 billion. If the two percent payroll tax cut is included in the calculation, the shortfall would be about $165 billion. Of course, the payroll tax cut is set to expire, but there is no consensus about whether it will be renewed. Even if the tax cut is not renewed, there is no guarantee that Congress will decide to put the money back into the Social Security trust fund.

Although similar, Crohn's Disease and irritable bowel syndrome are not the same. But people of any age suffering from either disorder may be eligible for Social Security benefits. The keys to determining eligibility are how long you've endured the symptoms and whether or not you're responding to treatment.

What Is Crohn's Disease?

Crohn's Disease gets its name from American gastroenterologist Burrill Bernard Crohn, who described the disease in a medical journal in 1932. In its most basic form, Crohn's can be described as constant inflammation of the digestive system. It can take place anywhere from the mouth to the anus but usually affects the lower abdominals and intestines. Symptoms include:

• Abdominal pain and cramps
• Chronic diarrhea
• Rectal bleeding
• Fever
• Fatigue

Abscesses and blockage of the intestinal tract can occur in severe cases. Symptoms can come and go and flare up again without warning. And even though doctors may be able to offer medication to control the symptoms, Crohn's sufferers need to learn to live with the condition. Because Crohn's can be a lifelong disease, the Social Security Administration (SSA) may deem sufferers permanently disabled and provide them with Social Security disability benefits.

If you are receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Insurance (SSI) the Ticket to Work Program can help you find and maintain employment. Special rules allow you to work and still receive SSDI and SSI payments.

Through the Ticket to Work program you choose an Employment Network or a State Vocational Rehabilitation agency, which will create a plan to assist you in getting back to work. Incentives while you begin work in a new field include:

• Continued cash benefits

• Continued Medicare or Medicaid

• Vocational rehabilitation, training, job referrals and ongoing support

Trial Work Period

A trial work period allows you to test your ability to work for nine months. You receive full SSDI benefits during the trial work period no matter how much you earn. The trial work period continues until you have completed 9 months of "services" in a 5-year period. Your work counts as "services" if you earn more than $720 or work more than 80 hours in self-employment in a month.

After you complete your trial work period, you begin your Extended Period of Eligibility.

When the Social Security Administration (SSA) awards a person disability benefits, it also determines a timeline for how often the SSA will review the recipient's medical condition to see if the recipient still meets the SSA's definition of disabled.

How Often Does the SSA Review Medical Conditions?

When the SSA first grants a person disability benefits, it puts an applicant into one of three categories for review timelines:

• Improvement expected: the SSA reviews these recipients' conditions every six to eighteen months
  
• Improvement possible but cannot be predicted: the SSA reviews these recipients' medical conditions approximately once every three years
• Improvement not expected: the SSA reviews these recipients' medical conditions once every seven years

What Does the SSA Consider During a Review?

During a disability review, the SSA will request a recipient's medical records and review them to see what treatment he or she has had and whether his or her medical providers see any improvement in the recipient's condition. The SSA may request the recipient have an examination if his or her medical records are incomplete.

Additionally, the SSA will ask the recipient directly for information regarding his or her condition. The SSA also needs information about any employment that the recipient has had since getting benefits and how that employment has affected the recipient's condition.

The SSA then sends all of the information it collects to a Disability Determination Services (DDS) office in the recipient's state DDS reviews the file to determine whether the applicant is still disabled within the SSA's definition.

A study conducted by Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), a research organization affiliated with Syracuse University, has revealed that the Social Security Administration (SSA) has a backlog of over 728,000 disability decision appeals as of March 2011. The number of people waiting on an appeal has increased five percent over the past year, according to TRAC's analysis. Data from the SSA shows that as of May 27, 2011, the SSA had almost 750,000 appeals to process.

Researchers at TRAC pointed out that if the growth in the backlog continues to grow in this fashion, dockets will become even more clogged and the wait times for appeals decisions will increase even more. At the beginning of 2007, SSA Commissioner Michael Astrue announced an initiative to reduce the SSA's backlog of hearing requests entirely by 2012. Thus far, it does not appear that the SSA will meet its goal.

A new website created by the Council for Disability Awareness, a non-profit disability advocacy and awareness group, demonstrates the number of working-age people in the U.S. who acquire a disabling injury or illness that lasts 30 days or more.

According to the CDA, the website, DisabilityCounter.org, is intended to help financial advisors raise their clients' awareness of the occurrence of disabilities, to help employers educate their employees on the risks of disability and the ways to protect against it, and to help individuals become more educated about the frequency of disability.

Statistics from the Social Security Administration show that more than 25 percent of people in their 20s today will become disabled before they become 67 years old. Despite the high odds of acquiring a disability, though, 67 percent of U.S. workers are not covered by private long-term disability insurance, reports the SSA.

We have heard plenty of dire warnings in recent years about the financial health of the Social Security system and its long-term ability to provide benefits for retirement, survivorship and disabilities that prevent people from going back to work. We also deserve a clear reminder that this system is the primary place for many Americans to turn due to the advent of old age, the death of a major breadwinner, or a serious injury, impairment or illness.

Americans must not be tricked into thinking that Social Security is an entitlement program that hands out cash to the undeserving. Like the monthly check that retirees receive based on their years in the workforce (as well as those of a spouse), Social Security disability insurance (SSDI) benefits are subject to a "duration of work" test that determines if the applicant worked long enough while contributing to Social Security via payroll taxes.

Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits can mean all the difference for someone who is disabled or injured and unable to work. Unfortunately, receiving SSD benefits is not always as easy as it should be.

Receiving a favorable decision on an initial claim for disability benefits can sometimes be difficult: in 2011 alone, the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) completed nearly 3.4 million initial disability claims and denied approximately two-thirds of them.

Fortunately, the initial application is only one step in the process and the SSA does allow claimants who are denied benefits to appeal the decision. If the SSA refuses to reconsider its decision, an applicant may request a hearing on the matter before a Social Security administrative law judge.