Wisconsin Disability Blog

As I mentioned in a previous post, as part of the biennial budget bill, 2008 Wis. Act 28, the legislature has now set limits on the amounts that health care providers can charge for medical records.  Previously, these were set by administrative code section HFS 117.  The new law, which appears to have an effective date of June 30, 2009, creates a new statutory provision (Wis. Stat. § 146.83(1f)(4)) that limits the maximum amount that a health care provider can charge disability claimants appealing a denial of benefits to the amount that SSA reimburses the state DHFS for medical records.  I have been in contact with the folks at the State who order and pay for medical records in disability claims and have been informed that the reimbursement rate is $26.00 per records request.  The rate per page authorized by the new statory provision is $0.35.   Because it is typical for a representative to pass the cost of medical records onto the clients in these cases, this is a big change — one which could save claimants a good deal of money in their efforts to prove their disability claims.  

(Note: The limits on medical records will only apply to medical providers in Wisconsin.)

According to the newest addition of the NOSSCR Forum through the 35th week of 2009, there have been 31,432 disability claims filed in Wisconsin.   In comparison, there were 28,831 claims filed during the same period last year.  The result is a 9% increase in initial disability claims.  The explanation for this is the current economic recession.  When you factor the economy in with the aging baby boomer population, I expect we will continue to see an increase in disability applications.

A huge development relating to Wisconsin disability appeals was squeezed into the state budge bill late last month.  As part of that bill, the legislature changed what health care providers can charge for copies of medical records.  An article about these changes is available at the Wisconsin State Bar website.   As it relates to disability appeals, there are two major provisions:

1.  In cases involving appeals of denials of disability benefits (SSDI or SSI), health care providers may charge no more than the amount that the Social Security Administration reimburses the state copies of patient health care records.  This should result in a decrease in the out-of=pocket costs to disability claimants who are trying to provide medical information to SSA in appealing their denial of benefits.  Unfortunately, I haven’t received an answer from the State yet as to what the SSA reimbursement rate is.  I am working to get that information as quickly as possible and will post it here once it is available. 

2.  Medicaid recipients are now entitled to one free copy of their medical records.  Many disability claimants are on state Medicaid (for instance, if they have children).  They can get a copy of their records to help their disability claim at no cost. 

These changes are part of a revamped Wis. Stat. § 146.83.  These changes apparently were effective as of June 30, 2009.  The changes have not yet been incorporated into the revisor’s version of the statutes.

Every year the Social Security Adminsitration releases a report of the SSI recipients by state and county.  You can find the Social Security Administration’s list of Wisconsin counties and the number of SSI recipients in 2008 for each county here.  The report does not give you a comparison of the counties by population, so if you’re interested in figuring out what percentage of a particular county’s population is on SSI, you need Wisconsin population data from the Census Bureau to make the comparison.   

For instance, Winter, Chewning & Geary, LLP has offices in Manitowoc and Brown counties – both of which are comparable in terms of the percentage of residents on SSI.   In Brown County, there are 3,513 blind or disabled individuals on SSI, of those 710 are children.  Brown County has an estimated population of 245,018, meaning that roughly 1.4% of the population of that county is on SSI for blindness or disability (I’ve not included the “aged”).  Meanwhile, Manitowoc county, a county of only 80, 641, has 1,060 disabled or blind SSI recipients, incluidng 226 children — roughly 1.3% of the population.  Meanwhile, Douglas County in far northwest Wisconsin has a rate of almost 2.5%, and Milwaukee County has a rate of 3.5%.  Menomonee County with a popluation of only 4,571, has 183 SSI recipients -a rate of 4%.

I am happy to inform clients and potential clients that Winter, Chewning & Geary, LLP has opened an office in Green Bay to faciliate meeting with Social Security disability clients who cannot travel to our main office in Two Rivers.  Our new office is located at 529 S. Jefferson St., Suite 104, Green Bay, WI 54301.  This location is conveniently located approximately 5 blocks from the Green Bay hearing office of the Social Security Office of Disability Adjudication and Review.  A map of the location is available here.  Appointments at this office can be made by calling 1-866-691-5762.

I am pleased to announce that Winter, Chewning & Geary, LLP has redesigned its website at www.wisdisability.com.  The site has general information about the Social Security disability application and appeal process and background information about myself and the firm.