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Archive for August, 2010

Billions in SSDI payments questioned in subcommittee, GAO report–including an employee of the SSA itself

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

[Editor's note: This is the third of three installments examining the need for legal counsel and improved legislation for those needing help with disabilities–and against those who game the system. Part One is here; Part Two is here.]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a disturbing report in late June that contends the Social Security Administration (SSA) may have made fraudulent or improper disability payments to thousands of individuals, including more than a thousand federal employees.

As reported Aug.4 in The Washington Post, the SSA disputes the audit:

“Almost 1,500 federal workers might have received improper or fraudulent Social Security payments in the past several years, according to a government audit disputed by the Social Security Administration.

Payroll records vs. benefits data link nearly 70,000 others

“Government Accountability Office investigators matched civilian federal payroll records with benefit data from the Social Security Disability Insurance program and the Supplemental Security Income program to yield their estimates.”

Beyond the 1,500 federal employees, the GAO audit (see the summary here) finds questions about “62,000 individuals [who] received or had renewed commercial driver’s licenses after SSA determined that the individuals met the federal requirements for full disability benefits” and another “7,900 individuals with registered transportation businesses who were receiving SSA disability benefits.”

A tiny fraction?

WP columnist Joe Davidson, writing a day later, at first tries to downplay the significance of the numbers, saying that 1,500 of the millions of federal employees represents a tiny fraction. That’s not “many out of a current federal workforce of 2 million” Davidson writes. “And even that comparison overstates the problem.

“Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the investigations panel under the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, put the numbers in a more precise context.

” ‘GAO matched a database of Social Security disability recipients against federal payroll databases covering about 4.5 million persons who worked for government agencies for varying periods of time from October 2006 to December 2008,’ he said as he opened the hearing.

“Fifteen hundred out of 4.5 million ‘represents a very small percentage,’ he accurately noted, ‘only three-hundredths of 1 percent.’ ”

“If only all rates of fraud or improper activities were so low.”

Larger questions for endangered SSDI program

We catch his drift, but can’t co-sign for such a forgiving attitude. In the first place, it overlooks the nearly 70,000 other folks who may have received improper payments. More important, such forbearance downplays the threat to a disability program that is running out of funding.

Davidson does recover a sense of accountability, though, when he says, “Yet any improper activity is too much, particularly by federal workers who are trusted to safeguard tax dollars, not abuse them. And every penny of the $1.7 million that the GAO found in improper monthly payments to federal workers is too much.”

Let’s see– $1.7 million x 26 months … on my calculator, that comes to $44.2 million in possible overpayments. And, remember, that’s only for the 1,500 federal folks, for the period Oct. ’06 to Dec. ’08.

It gets worse. According to the WP article, nearly $11 billion is stake for a longer period:

“The SSA made $10.7 billion in overpayments to disability beneficiaries from 2004 to 2008, according to Senate aides. [Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.)] is especially concerned and familiar with fraudulent payments from his time as a practicing medical doctor and as part of his service on President Obama’s bipartisan debt commission, aides said. The Oklahoma Republican also is a fierce critic of the salaries and benefits earned by federal workers and other spending for government operations.”

Coburn and Senators Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) requested the GAO audit, which was featured at the Aug. 4 subcommittee hearing,  “Social Security Disability Fraud: Case Studies in Federal Employees and Commercial Drivers Licenses.”

Another $3 billion

Other incidents of overpayment have been found, too. For example, this is not the GAO’s first probe of the SSDI or SSI systems. According to the printed version of Coburn’s opening statement for the hearing, a previous GAO investigation found “nearly $3 billion in overpayments from 1999 to 2003 in the DI program alone.”

Regardless the fractional amount overall, this is simply too much money to be wasted, period–and especially for a program in such dire straits, as we wrote here: “The Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) fund, however, is in trouble. And fixing it requires way more than Band-Aid legislation in the next few years. In short, the fund is financed mostly by a 1.8 per cent payroll tax and at current rates will be in serious trouble in only five years. And by 2018, a short three years later, it will be broke, according to a recent study by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which makes a brief available here.”

Here’s an excerpt from Coburn’s statement:

“We cannot afford to allow healthy people to waste our money. Nor can the Disability Insurance Trust Fund afford it. The Congressional Budget Office recently concluded that the Trust Fund will be exhausted by 2018.

“GAO’s investigation into fraud in the Social Security disability programs is not its first. In 1997, they designated the SSI program as “high risk” due to years of mismanagement and overpayments. GAO also previously identified nearly $3 billion in overpayments from 1999 to 2003 in the DI program alone. In today’s report, GAO found $10.7 billion more in overpayments from fiscal years 2004 to 2008.

“In response to these numbers, SSA’s disappointing reply was that ‘overpayments are unavoidable.’ This is unacceptable. It is also in direct contradiction with the President’s mandate that overpayments in government programs be eliminated.”

SSA Commissioner objects

SSA Commissioner Michael J. Astrue vigorously disagreed with the GAO report, quoted in the WP piece, calling the report ” ‘fatally and hopelessly flawed,’ and said auditors improperly compared payroll data with SSA data.”

In his printed statement for the hearing, Astrue said:

“Of the 20 cases that GAO reviewed, GAO investigated only one problematic CDL case and only one problematic case involving a commercial vehicle company. GAO did not conclusively prove fraud in any of these 20 cases and has referred only 5 of these cases to our Office of the Inspector General (OIG).

“We do not intend to minimize the importance of the issues raised in this investigation, and we take our stewardship responsibilities very seriously. Nevertheless, the results apply to only these 20 non-representative cases, and after reviewing these 20 cases, we found that we had already detected overpayments for half and believe that we would have identified the remaining cases through subsequent enforcement activities if earnings were reported on the W-2 or as self-employment income to the IRS.”

Gregory Kutz, managing director of GAO’s Forensic Audits and Special Investigation division acknowledges the preliminary nature of the findings. From the main report itself:

“Thousands of federal employees, commercial drivers, and owners of commercial vehicle companies received Social Security disability benefits during fiscal year 2008, though we could not determine the extent to which beneficiaries improperly or fraudulently received payments. Because further investigation is required to determine whether these individuals are entitled to receive payments, our analysis provides only an indicator of potentially improper or fraudulent activity.”

Curiously, one of the disputed cases was for an employee who works for the SSA, and SSA officials had no idea until informed by the GAO. According to the WP story, “And in an ironic twist, a Social Security Administration worker from Arizona received $11,000 in overpayments after she was hired by the agency in 2007/ The SSA did not have information about her disability in her files, the GAO said.”

Stay tuned–these questions aren’t going away anytime soon.

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Epidermolysis Bullosa and Receiving Social Security Disability

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

Epidermolysis bullosa is a group of inherited disorders that causes your skin to be extremely fragile. Because of this, skin blisters develop in response to minor injury, heat or friction from scratching or rubbing.

Most types of epidermolysis bullosa show up in infants and young children. However, signs and symptoms may not appear until adolescence or early adulthood in some people who have mild forms of this disorder. Some babies are born with blisters. The mild forms of epidermolysis bullosa may improve with age, but severe forms can cause serious complications and can be fatal.

There are three main types of epidermolysis bullosa. There are several subtypes under each of the three main types. The three main types are:

  • Epidermolysis bullosa simplex – This type usually begins at birth or in early infancy. It is the most common and least severe type of this condition.
  • Junctional epidermolysis bullosa – This type usually begins at birth. It is usually a severe form of this disorder.
  • Dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa – This type usually begins at birth or in early childhood.

In addition to these three main types of the disorder, researchers have proposed a fourth type called hemidesmosomal epidermolysis bullosa. This is a type that is associated with muscular dystrophy.

Another rare form is called epidermolysis bullosa acquista. It is not an inherited form of the condition like the other types. It is believed to be an autoimmune disorder where your immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in your body.

The main effect of epidermolysis bullosa is the eruption of fluid-filled blisters (bullae) on your skin. Usually these appear on your feet and hands as a result of friction. Depending on your type of epidermolysis bullosa, these blisters typically develop in different areas. The blisters may heal without scarring in the milder forms of this condition.

There are other effects that you may have. These include:

  • Atrophic scarring
  • Excessive sweating
  • Loss or deformity of your toenails and fingernails
  • Dysphagia
  • Internal blistering that may occur on your esophagus, stomach, urinary tract, intestines, throat or upper airway
  • Hyperkeratosis
  • Dental abnormalities
  • Scarring alopecia
  • Milia.

The effects of epidermolysis bullosa and/or conditions resulting from or along with it can be disabling. This could be the case for you or a loved one.

If this is true, you or your loved one may need help. You may need financial help.

You or your loved one may have applied for Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits from the Social Security Administration because of the disability caused by epidermolysis bullosa and/or conditions along with or resulting from it. Were you or your loved one denied?

If you or your loved one is going to appeal the denial by the Social Security Administration, always remember. People with a disability lawyer like the one at Social Security Home are approved more often than people without an attorney

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Cerebral Palsy and Receiving Social Security Disability

Monday, August 30th, 2010
US Navy 081028-N-3173B-027 Cmdr. John King ass...
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Cerebral palsy is a general term that refers to a group of disorders that begin during the early stages of life. Cerebral palsy affects the ability of your child with disability to coordinate body movements.

These disorders are caused by damage to the brain of your child with disability early in the course of development. This damage can take place during fetal development, the birth process or the first few months after the birth of your child with disability. Cerebral palsy can range anywhere from mild to severe.

There are three main types of cerebral palsy:

  • Spastic cerebral palsy is what most children have. This type of cerebral palsy causes muscles to stiffen making movement difficult.
  • Athetotic cerebral palsy is what about one in five people with cerebral palsy have.  It is also called extrapyramidal cerebral palsy. It affects all of the body and usually causes slow, uncontrolled movement.
  • Ataxic cerebral palsy is the rarest kind of cerebral palsy. It affects coordination and balance.

There can be a wide range of ways that cerebral palsy may affect your child with disability. These signs and symptoms do not get worse with age. Some of these effects are:

  • Variations in muscle tone from too stiff to too floppy
  • Tremors
  • Stiff muscles and exaggerated reflexes (spasticity)
  • Lack of muscle coordination when performing voluntary movements
  • Asymmetrical walking gait, with one leg or foot dragging
  • Excessive drooling or difficulties sucking, swallowing or speaking
  • Difficulty with precise motions like buttoning a shirt or writing.

Some children with cerebral palsy are extremely mentally retarded, while others are exceptionally intelligent. Some need a wheelchair and lifelong care, but others need little or no help.

Your child with disability may be one of those who needs lifelong care. Your child with disability may be disabled because of cerebral palsy.

If this is true, you may need help for your child with disability. You may need financial assistance.

Have you thought about applying for Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits for your child with disability from the Social Security Administration because of the disability that is caused by cerebral palsy? Have you already done this, and your child with disability was denied?

You may be wondering what to do next? Do you have any recourse? What options are open to you?

One option that you have is to appeal the denial by the Social Security Administration on behalf of your child with disability with cerebral palsy. If you do this, here is something that you need to know.

Your child with disability is going to need a confident disability lawyer like the one you will find at Social Security Home to represent them in this process. This is true because people who have a caring disability attorney are approved more often than those people who do not have a lawyer.

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‘Grim Sleeper’ suspect a long-term disability recipient

Sunday, August 29th, 2010

[Editor's note: This is the second of three installments examining the need for legal counsel and improved legislation for those needing help with disabilities–and against those who game the system. Part One is here.]

Two cases in recent news are intriguing, the first concerning a suspected serial killer who has been drawing disability checks from the city of Los Angeles. The second centers on the Social Security Administration (SSA), which administers the nation’s retirement, SSDI and SSI payments and, according to the Government Accountability Office, may have handed out nearly $2 billion in unwarranted payments from 2004 to 2008.

Such different cases, yet such chillingly similar questions.

Authorities say conviction wouldn’t stop payments

Breaking the news about Lonnie Franklin Jr. on Aug 19, the LA Weekly reported that even if he is eventually found guilty and sentenced, it is possible that Franklin–or his family–will continue to receive benefits until he dies.  The Weekly calculates that he has received about $300,000 to date. “If Franklin lives 25 more years, to age 82,” writes Christine Pelisek, “the bite will hit $1 million.”

On Aug. 23, The New York Times reported that Franklin “pleaded not guilty Monday to murdering 10 women and trying to kill one more person over two decades. The pleas were entered by a lawyer for the defendant, Lonnie Franklin Jr., 57.”

Disturbing questions

Besides the horrific nature of the crimes and the body count, the grim possibility exists that, if Franklin is indeed the perpetrator, then his gruesome acts were, in effect, subsidized by city pension. Furthermore, the payments escalate over time because they are based on a formula pegged to inflation. Even more galling are the possibilities that Franklin may have sustained the injuries while committing the crimes or, at the other end of the spectrum, that the injuries may been minimal and damages should not have been awarded at all:

“Was Lonnie Franklin Jr. permanently disabled with a bad right shoulder because he was picking up old-style garbage cans?

“Many of the brutal Grim Sleeper killings he allegedly committed occurred during the same years and even the same months that Franklin claimed a rotator cuff injury. The killings required heavy lifting and brute strength, particularly to dispose of the bodies.

“Some victims were wrapped in rugs and hefted into big garbage bins, or dragged into alleys, at the same time Franklin was on city-approved ‘Injured on Duty’ leave and being paid his full monthly salary, $2,200, to stay home.”

Privacy concerns

The Weekly says that the city can’t provide details of Franklin’s injury reports, including whether witnesses existed, because of privacy rules. However, some details have been found:

“But it is known that Franklin submitted an injury claim two months after cocktail waitress Debra Jackson, allegedly his first victim, was found dead and covered by a carpet, her body dragged into an alley west of Vermont Avenue on August 10, 1985.

“On April 15, 1987, Bernita Sparks’ 165-pound body was found heaved into a commercial garbage bin in an alley near 94th and Western Avenue. Seven months later, on November 10, 1987, Mary Lowe was killed, her body hauled into an alleyway.

“Nine days after Lowe was killed, Franklin was granted paid temporary injury leave from his city job.

“While he was still on leave in January 1988, being paid $2,200 a month by the city, police say he killed Lachrica Jefferson.

“Then, still on city leave for his shoulder injury in September 1988, police say he sexually assaulted and murdered Alicia ‘Monique’ Alexander.

A reluctant ruling?

Two orthopedists disagreed over Franklin’s injuries in the early 90s, so a third specialist was brought in to make a ruling. That doctor decided the disability status was warranted, but apparently it was a reluctant ruling: “A third doctor, finally brought in to settle the case, ruled that ‘Mr. Franklin must unfortunately be considered disabled.’ ”

Even worse, it may simply have been a ruling of convenience. “Recently, trying to imagine what city officials were thinking 19 years ago, Bruce Whidden, executive director of the Los Angeles Personnel Department, says pension officials may have thought ‘it was cheaper to pension him off instead of making him a workable employee.’ ”

Beyond the spectacular ironies of Franklin’s case, the episode brings into question municipal disability pensions in general.

Lack of fraud enforcement vs. ‘skyrocketing’ payments

“City officials tell the Weekly that once a city employee such as Franklin wins a ‘disability pension,’ Los Angeles has no fraud unit employed to recheck workers occasionally, to make certain they are not committing fraud against taxpayers.

“This news about Franklin comes at a time when the cost of retirement benefits for city employees is under intense scrutiny. Los Angeles city pension payouts will skyrocket by $800 million over the next five years, dramatically eroding money available for core public services to L.A. residents.”

[Next: Part Three--The SSA and the GAO Investigation.]

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Acute Myelogenous Leukemia and Receiving Social Security Disability

Friday, August 27th, 2010

Leukemia is one of several different cancers that affect your blood and/or bone marrow. It is characterized by an abnormal accumulation of blood cells that are usually leukocytes (white blood cells).

The term “leukemia” may refer to a wide group of diseases. Leukemia is divided into groups and categories both pathologically and clinically. The first division is between the chronic and acute forms of leukemia. The type of blood cell that leukemia affects is the next division.

This division is between lymphocytic and myelogenous leukemia. Lymphocytic leukemias include acute lymphocytic leukemia and chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) is one of the types of myelogenous leukemia. It affects your bone marrow and blood.

Acute myelogenous leukemia gets its name from the word “acute” which indicates that the disease develops rapidly and affects immature blood cells, rather than mature blood cells. “Myelogenous” is a reference to a group of white blood cells called the myeloid cells that the disease affects. These cells normally develop into various kinds of mature blood cells like white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets.

Acute myelogenous leukemia is known by several other names. It is called acute myeloid leukemia, acute granulocytic leukemia, acute myeloblastic leukemia and acute nonlymphocytic leukemia.

Over 10,000 new cases of acute myelogenous leukemia are diagnosed every year in the United States. It is more common in whites than in other races. Men are more likely than women to get acute myelogenous leukemia.

The incidence of acute myelogenous leukemia increases with age. The median onset age is 65. It is the most common acute form of leukemia that affects adults, although it can develop at any time at any age.

In the early stages of acute myelogenous leukemia, it may affect you or appear like flu or other common illnesses. The effects can be different depending on the kind of blood cell the disease is affecting. Some of the effects may be:

  • Pain or tenderness in your bones
  • Shortness of breath that increase with physical activity
  • Weight loss
  • Bleeding from your nose
  • Skin lesion or rash
  • Fever
  • Fatigue and lethargy
  • Abnormal menstrual periods in women
  • Bleeding from your gums
  • Bruising easily
  • Paleness
  • Frequent infections.

These effects produced by acute myelogenous leukemia may be where you are unable to work. It may be the cause of your disability.

Do you need help? Do you need financial help?

Have you applied for assistance from the Social Security Administration for Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits because of the disability caused by acute myelogenous leukemia? Were you denied?

If you appeal the denial, remember this. You will need an established disability lawyer like the one at socialsecurityhome.com in this process. The reason for this is because people represented by an experienced disability attorney are approved more often than people without a lawyer.

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Binswanger’s Disease and Receiving Social Security Disability

Thursday, August 26th, 2010
Otto Binswanger
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The term dementia describes a medical condition that is caused by changes in the normal activity of very sensitive brain cells. These changes in the way the brain works can affect memory, speech and the ability to carry out daily activities.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia in older people. The second most common cause of dementia in older adults is vascular dementia. This type of dementia affects the blood vessels in the brain.

Multi-infarct dementia is the most common form of vascular dementia. It accounts for 10-20% of all the cases of progressive, or gradually worsening, dementia.

It usually affects people between the ages of 60-75. Multi-infarct dementia is more likely to occur in men than women.

Binswanger’s disease is named after Otto Binswanger. It is also called subcortical leukoencephalopathy. In 1894, he described a new clinical and neuropathological picture that he termed “encephalitis subcorticalis chronica progressiva,”.  It is this disease that is named after him, Binswanger’s disease. This disease is a rare form of multi-infarct/vascular dementia.

Some of the ways that Binswanger’s disease may affect your loved one is by causing cerebrovascular lesions in the deep white-matter of their brain, loss of memory and cognition and mood changes. Your loved one will usually show signs of abnormal blood pressure, blood abnormalities, stroke, disease of the heart valves and disease of the large blood vessels in the neck.

There are other ways in which Binswanger’s disease may affect your loved one. Some of these include:

  • Slowness of conduct
  • Clumsiness
  • Difficulty walking
  • Urinary incontinence
  • Lack of facial expression
  • Speech difficulty
  • Forgetfulness
  • Changes in personality or mood
  • Short-term memory loss
  • Inability to act or make decisions.

These signs and symptoms usually begin after the age of 60. They are not always present in all the people with Binswanger’s disease, and may sometimes appear only as a passing phase.

If this describes a parent or loved one, you may have applied for financial help on their behalf from the Social Security Administration for Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits because of the disability caused by Binswanger’s disease. Was your parent or loved one denied by the Social Security Administration?

If so, you may be trying to decide what to do next? What options do you have?

One thing that you can do is to appeal the denial by the Social Security Administration. If this is what you decide to do on behalf of your parent or loved one, consider this.

Your parent or loved one will need the representation of a smart disability lawyer like the one you will find at socialsecurityhome.com in this procedure. The reason for this is because people who have a skilled disability attorney are approved more often than those people who do not have a lawyer.

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Hypothyroidism and Receiving Social Security Disability Benefits

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010
Thyroid
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Your thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland that is located at the base of your neck. It lies right below your Adam’s apple. Your thyroid gland produces hormones that have a huge impact on your health. These hormones affect all aspects of your metabolism. These hormones produced by your thyroid gland affect things all the way from how quickly you burn calories to the rate at which your heart beats.

Your system functions properly as long as your thyroid releases the right amounts of these hormones. The balance of chemical reactions in your body is upset when your thyroid doesn’t produce enough hormones. When this happens the condition is known as hypothyroidism, or underactive thyroid disease.

Hypothyroidism is far more common a problem than you might think. Over 5 million people in the United States have this condition. As many as 10% of women may have this condition to some extent. In fact, millions of Americans have hypothyroidism and do not know it.

There are many effects that you may have with hypothyroidism. Some of the early effects of this condition are:

  • Constipation
  • Fatigue
  • Unintentional weight gain
  • Thin, brittle fingernails
  • Paleness
  • Weakness
  • Depression
  • Intolerance of cold
  • Muscle or joint pain
  • Thin, brittle hair.

There are other ways that you may be affected as hypothyroidism progresses into a later stage. Some of these are:

  • Flaking, dry skin
  • Hoarseness
  • Speech that is slow
  • Decrease in smell and taste
  • Thinning of eyebrows
  • Thickening of skin
  • Abnormal menstrual periods in women
  • Puffy hands, face and feet.

There are also some other effects that can occur with hypothyroidism. Some of these are uncoordinated movement, muscle spasms, pain and atrophy, joint stiffness and overall swelling, loss of appetite and loss of hair.

You may have hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism and/or complications along with or resulting from this condition may be the reason why you are disabled and unable to work.

You may be looking for help if this is the case. You may be searching for financial help.

Have you applied for Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits from the Social Security Administration because of the disability caused by hypothyroidism and/or complications resulting from or along with it? Were you denied?

You may be planning on appealing the denial by the Social Security Administration. If this is what you decide to do, here is something critical that you should know.

You will need an experienced disability attorney like the one you will find at socialsecurityhome.com to help and represent you in what can be a long and trying process. The reason why this is true is because people who have an established disability lawyer in their corner are approved more often than those people who are not represented by an attorney.

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Beyond twists of fate and bureaucratic blunders, leukemia victim’s spirit shines on with gift for others in similar need

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

Some current headlines reinforce the need for legal counsel and improved legislation for those needing help with disabilities–and against those who game the system. In this three-part installment, the first case we’ll look at is reminiscent of that of Heather Russell, which we covered here, a glaring example of the glacial response of the bureaucracy and the unnecessary pain it inflicts on patients when they most need help.

From one extreme to another

Diana Smith’s case adds a twist, in that one agency’s apparent quest to be helpful apparently negated another agency’s ability to help the victim of a rare leukemia.  However, well before those agencies got involved, she already was riding out a whipsaw of events.

The Sunrise, Florida woman, survived by three-year-old son, Cameron,  was pregnant with another child when she was diagnosed in July 2009. Her doctors advised terminating the pregnancy because of the chemo she would need to battle the leukemia. Cameron’s father–Smith’s fiance, Eddie Velez–stepped up ready to sell a valuable comic-book collection to go toward treatment costs, reports an Aug. 16 article in the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Theft

In August, the comic books were stolen from Velez’s home in Ohio. In March, Smith told the paper that the thief had yet to be apprehended.

Told she needed a bone marrow transplant, according to an Aug. 20 account of a CBS affiliate, Smith was able to raise more than $100,000 with community help and maybe a Facebook campaign (we couldn’t find the Facebook page),  to get in line for the operation. Former Miami Dolphins player Kim Bokamper and other celebrities also participated.

Son gets benefits

Also in March, in what must have seemed like a stroke of good luck, “Smith was contacted by the Social Security Administration and was informed that her three year-old son was entitled to receive Social Security disability payments. Even though she didn’t ask for it, she signed the form and received her son’s first check.”

Medicaid withdrawn

But the luck didn’t hold–even though the SSA seemed to be trying to help, the new benefits put her at odds with Medicaid: “In April, Medicaid canceled her universal health care policy because her income level had risen with her son’s payments – making her ineligible for the insurance program.”

Well, at this point, we all see this coming–given the Medicaid withdrawal, the hospital also stood down:

“Jackson Memorial Hospital then informed Smith that they couldn’t go forward with the transplant because the risk was too high. The universal policy from Medicaid would help shield the hospital from liability in this kind of case; without it they are subject to liability issues.

“Even though Smith offered to cancel her son’s disability benefits, she was told it’s too late.”

Legislators intercede

To break the inter-agency logjam, U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D- Miramar, and state Sen. Dave Aronberg, D- Greenacres, had to intervene, and somehow they got the Medicaid coverage reinstated. So the bone marrow transplant was performed in May, and Smith was able to visit her son at home on Mother’s Day. “She was ordered to spend forty five days in the hospital followed by three months of bed rest,” says the CBS affiliate.

She died in August–perhaps a victim of the delayed medical procedure. Most likely, we’ll never know.

Leftover funds

But the story doesn’t end there.

In the end, she added her own loving spin to the harsh twists she had faced. As it turns it, the fundraiser brought in about $90,000 more than what her procedure cost. She had it set up such that nobody “involved in Smith’s fundraising effort has access to the unused donations, according to Jason Hare, patient program coordinator for the Bone Marrow Foundation,” says the Sun Sentinel.

“The leftover money, held by the New York-based Bone Marrow Foundation, will go toward fulfilling Smith’s wish: to help another Broward County resident whose life may depend on a similar operation.

” ‘I know it was really hard for me to collect the money, so I want to help someone else,’ Smith told the Sun Sentinel in March. ‘If it wasn’t for my friends and people donating, I wouldn’t have been able to do it.’ ”

[Next: Part Two discusses revelations that a suspected serial killer has been receiving disability payments from the city of Los Angeles for 19 years. Read it here.]

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MRSA Infection and Receiving Social Security Disability

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010
MRSA SEM 7821 lores
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MRSA stands for methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) bacteria. This bacteria is known by other names according to the place where a person acquires it. If the MRSA infection is acquired in a hospital, it is called hospital-acquired MRSA (HA-MRSA). If it is acquired in the community, it is called community-acquired MRSA (CA-MRSA).

In the past decade or so the number of MRSA infections in the United States has increased significantly. It is estimated that the number of MRSA infections treated in hospitals doubled nationwide, from approximately 127,000 in 1999, to 278,000 in 2005.

MRSA infection is a bacteria known for causing skin infections. In addition, it can cause many other infections. It is sometimes referred to as a “superbug” because of its ability to become resistant to several antibiotics.

There are different ways in which MRSA infection may affect you. Some of these effects are:

  • Boils – These are pus-filled infections of your hair follicles.
  • Sty – This is an infection of your eye gland.
  • Cellulitis – This is an infection of your skin or the tissues and fat that lie    immediately below your skin. These usually start as small red bumps in your skin.
  • Abscesses – These are collections of pus in under your skin.
  • Impetigo – This is a skin infection with pus-filled blisters.
  • Carbuncles – These are infections larger than an abscess, usually with several openings to your skin.

One serious problem with MRSA infection is that sometimes the skin infection can spread to almost any other organ in your body. When this happens, more severe symptoms develop. MRSA infection that spreads to your internal organs can become life-threatening. Fever, low blood pressure, chills, severe headaches, joint pains, shortness of breath and “rash over most of your body” are symptoms that require immediate medical attention, especially when associated with skin infections.

You or a loved one may have MRSA infection. This may be the reason why you are disabled and unable to work.

You or your loved one may need help if this is true. You may need financial help.

You or you loved one may have applied for Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits from the Social Security Administration because of the disability caused by MRSA infection and other conditions resulting from or along with it. Were you or your loved one denied?

You or your loved one may be thinking about appealing the denial by the Social Security Administration. If this is what you decide to do, here is something important for you to remember.

You or your loved one will need the representation of a caring disability attorney like the one you will find at socialsecurityhome.com in this procedure. This is true because people who are represented by a confident disability lawyer are approved more often than those without an attorney.

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Migraine Headaches and Receiving Social Security Disability

Monday, August 23rd, 2010
Migraine Incidence by Age, Gender, Type
Image via Wikipedia

A lot of jokes are made about headaches. However, migraine headaches are no laughing matter. They can be an extremely disabling condition.

Migraine headaches are a type of vascular headache. Migraine headaches are caused by a combination of the enlargement of blood vessels (vasodilatation) and the release of chemicals from nerve fibers that coil around these blood vessels.

Your temporal artery enlarges during a migraine attack. (The temporal artery is an artery that lies on the outside of your skull right under the skin of your temple.) The nerves that coil around your temporal artery release chemicals when the enlargement of the temporal artery stretches them. These chemicals cause pain, inflammation and further enlargement of your artery. The increasing enlargement of the artery magnifies the pain you experience with migraine headaches.

Migraine headaches are a huge problem in the United States, as 28 million people suffer with them. They are more common with women than men. Up to17% of women and 6% of men have suffered from migraine headaches.

There are several warning signs and symptoms lasting from hours to days that a migraine headache is on its way. Irritability, euphoria or depression, yawning, sleepiness, and cravings for salty or sweet foods are some of these warning indications.

The primary sign or symptom of migraine headaches is an intense, pounding or throbbing pain that is usually unilateral, but about one third of the time is bilateral. This pain can involve your temple, forehead, eyes, or the back of your head.

Migraine headaches often activate your sympathetic nervous system. This is what causes the symptoms of vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea. This also leads to a decrease in blood circulation that results in pallor of your skin, as well as cold feet and hands. It is also your sympathetic nervous system that contributes to blurred vision and sensitivity to light and sound. When you are suffering with migraine headaches you usually want to be in a quiet, dark room. This is also due to the activity of your sympathetic nervous system.

Migraine headaches may be why you or a loved one is unable to work. This disoreder may be the cause of your disability.

If this is true, you or your loved one may need help. You may need financial assistance.

Where will that help come from? Who will you be able to turn to for help?

Have you or your loved one applied for Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits from the Social Security Administration because of the disability caused by migraine headaches? Were you or your loved one denied?

If you or your loved one is planning on appealing the denial by the Social Security Administration, there is something that you need to know. People who are represented by a caring disability attorney like the one you will find at Social Security Home are approved more often than those without a lawyer.

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