This article from today’s LaCrosse Tribune reports that a woman from western Wisconsin was sentenced after pleading guilty to providing false information to the Social Security Administration in connection with a claim for disability benefits. I frequently advise my clients that the the worst thing they can do in the pursuit of a Social Security disability claim is to provide false information to the Social Security Administration. As this woman learned, it is a federal offense that can result in prosecution and imprisonment. Moreover, even if you are not prosecuted, a lie to Social Security in the disability process will usually be detected. A lie may be be contradicted by a claimaint’s medical records, earnings record, or other sources. If you are caught in a lie, your credibility will be irreparably damaged. In many (most) cases whether you receive benefits will hinge in one way or another on someone’s (e.g., a judge, doctor, or disability examiner) assessment of your credibility as it relates to the conditions and symptoms that render you disabled. So the bottom line is that you must be completely truthful in your interactions with the Social Security Administration…and for that matter with your disability lawyer.
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Donald J. Chewning
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New ALJ database published by Delaware newspaper
January 7, 2010 — Atty. Donald J. ChewningI have previously given the link to a database showing the statistics for denials and approvals of claims by Social Security Administrative Law Judges published by the Portland Oregonian. Recently, The News Journal, a Delaware newspaper, has run a feature on the lack of uniformity in decision making by ALJs. The paper’s website includes another database sortable by state and showing the statistics for the judges from each hearing office.
Article on surge in disability claims on msnbc.com
December 17, 2009 — Atty. Donald J. ChewningThere is an interesting article on msnbc.com entitled Job Losses Send Disability Claims Soaring. It explains how the convergence fo aging baby-boomers with the poor economy has led to a rise in the level of Social Security Disability claims. Further increases in tne near future are epxected.
Social Security disability and disability under FERS
December 15, 2009 — Atty. Donald J. ChewningFederalTimes.com has this short, but helpful, post explaining the interaction of Social Security disability and disability under the Federal Employee Retirement System. In essence, if you are applying for disability under FERS, you must also apply for SSDI.
Recent Wisconsin newspaper coverage of backlog
September 29, 2009 — Atty. Donald J. ChewningOver the past few weeks there have been a couple newspaper articles written about the Wisconsin Social Security disability backlog. On September 19, the Wisconsin State Journal ran an article with the headline, “People seeking Social Security benefits face huge backlog, long delays“. The LaCrosse Tribune followed up with an article on September 20 with the headline “Wisconsin’s Social Security disability case backlog among worst in U.S.; new video conferencing expected to help in La Crosse.” There isn’t much in the articles that isn’t known to folks who follow this blog, but it is interesting to see how the state press is handling the situation.
The Wisconsin State Journal also ran an article about the staffing situation at the Wisconsin Disability Determination Bureau indicating that employees at that state agency – which makes disability determinations at the initial and reconsideration levels – will be subject to mandatory furloughs due to the state budget shortfall.
Don’t think the backlog problem or the bad press for SSA is limited to Wisconsin. In the same week, The Detroit News ran this story about the situation in Michigan.
Social Security Booklet on Wisconsin Backlog of Hearing Cases
September 11, 2009 — Atty. Donald J. ChewningAs I have discussed previously, when a claimant in Wisconsin requests a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge, the wait for the hearing is over well over 18 months. This long wait is one of the toughest things for my clients to deal with. The Social Security Administration (SSA) has issued a report documenting the state of the backlog of hearing cases in Wisconsin. This report is the second quarter update for fiscal year 2009. It shows that the average processing time in Wisconsin is 618 days – more than 128 days longer than the national average. To give an idea of the age of some cases pending in Wisconsin consider the following from the report:
We started FY 2009 with 3,322 Wisconsin cases that will be 850 days old or more by the end of the fiscal year. Through March, we cleared 57.80% of these cases.
The report has some interesting graphs showing the average waiting time over time. It also shows how the current recession has resulted in an increase in the number of hearings requested. The SSA hopes to have the backlog of cases eliminated by 2013.
No improvement in wait for hearings
July 17, 2009 — Atty. Donald J. ChewningAccording to the information published regularly in the NOSSCR Forum, there has been no improvement over the past nine months on disability case processing times at the Wisconsin or Madison hearing offices. The figures in the June issue indicate that the processing time for Milwaukee is 679 days, whereas Madison is at 717 days. In comparison, last November Milwaukee was at 575 days and Madison was at 719 days. Meanwhile, cases in Northeast Wisconsin and the Fox Valley continue to be shipped out of state to the hearing offices in Oakland (591 days), Santa Barbara (561 days) and Pasadena (473 days), California.
Cost of medical records for disability claimants now limited to $26.00 per request
July 15, 2009 — Atty. Donald J. ChewningAs 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.)
Initial claims in Wisconsin up 9% from 2008
July 15, 2009 — Atty. Donald J. ChewningAccording 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.
