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Posts Tagged ‘SSDI’

Repetitive Stress Injury and Receiving Social Security Disability

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

Most of the time, repetitive stress injury will not disable you or qualify you to receive Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits. This is because the Social Security Administration requires that your disability has to last for at least one year in order for you to qualify for Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits. 

However, if your repetitive stress injury is going to cause you to be unable to work for one year or longer, or it is in conjunction with other disabling conditions that will keep you from working for over a year; you may then qualify for Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits from the Social Security Administration. 

This may be your situation. You may have applied for Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits from the Social Security Administration and been denied.

If you plan to appeal the denial, remember this. People who are represented in the appeals procedure by a skilled disability attorney like the one at socialsecurityhome.com are approved more often than those people who are not represented by a lawyer. 

Repetitive stress injury refers to any of a loose group of medical conditions resulting from the overuse of some kind of tool or instrument. For example, it could be a knife, guitar or computer. It can be anything that requires repeated movements. 

 Repetitive stress injury is a syndrome that affects nerves, tendons and muscles in your upper back, arms and hands. The medically accepted condition in which repetitive stress injury occurs is when muscles in these areas are kept tense for extremely long periods of time. This is due to repetitive motions and/or poor posture. 

Repetitive stress injury (RSI) is also known by several other names. It is also called repetitive strain injury, cumulative trauma disorder (CTD), occupational overuse syndrome or work related upper limb disorder (WRULD). 

The people who are most at risk for getting this syndrome are those whose job requires them to make the same repeated movements over a long period of time. Repetitive stress injury is common among assembly line workers, computer workers and guitarists. 

You may think that this syndrome is nothing serious, just a minor nuisance. However, repetitive stress injury is no small, laughing matter. It accounts for 34% of all lost-workday illness and injury, and it costs $20 billion a year. An estimated $50 billion a year is lost by businesses, annually, due to decreased productivity, sick leave and medical costs linked to repetitive stress injury. 

There are several varied signs and symptoms of repetitive stress injury. Some of these are: 

  • Recurring soreness or pain in your hands or wrist, shoulders, neck or upper back
  • Weakness, lack of endurance and loss of gripping strength
  • Numbness or pain while lying in bed
  • Numbness, tingling, coldness or loss of sensation
  • Muscles in your arms and shoulders feel wiry and hard to the touch. 

If you can’t work because of a repetitive stress injury, don’t wait. Contact the tough disability attorney at socialsecurityhome.com, today.

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Can my Social Security Disability Benefits be garnished to pay child support payments?

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009

To answer this question, you must determine what type of Social Security Disability benefits you are currently receiving. The Social Security Administration offers two types of disability benefits: Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

Supplemental Security Income or SSI is a social security disability benefit given to certain qualifying individuals including: the aged, blind and disabled who meet certain income and resource levels. Income and resource levels change each year and can be found on the Social Security Administration’s website.  Supplemental Security Income is given to these individuals for clothing, housing and food expenses.

The federal government funds Supplemental Security Income through general tax revenues not the Social Security Trust Fund.  The federal government treats Supplemental Security Income as a public welfare benefit similar to food stamps and does not consider Supplemental Security Income or SSI to be income for the purposes of child support payments. Therefore, the federal government does not allow Supplemental Security Income benefits to be garnished.

In contrast, Social Security Disability Insurance or SSDI was money paid into the Social Security Trust Fund through employment taxes based on a percentage of the employee’s earnings. The goal of the Social Security Trust Fund is to allow for the replacement of income for certain employees who become disabled and are unable to work.

According to the federal government, the Social Security Disability Income or SSDI benefit is considered a substitute for lost wages and is eligible to be garnished for child support payments. One benefit of Social Security Disability Insurance, however, is children of qualifying disabled workers who receive Social Security Disability Insurance payments may be eligible to receive Social Security Disability Insurance or SSDI benefits until a certain age (18 under most circumstances) and these SSDI payments may be subtracted from the child support amount owed. 

If you have questions regarding your Social Security Disability benefit or the garnishment of you Social Security Disability benefits to pay for child support, it is important to contact a Social Security Disability Attorney who can answer all of your questions. Social Security Disability Attorneys can also answer questions about applying for Social Security Disability Benefits or help you recover any Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income benefits you may have lost.

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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Disability

Saturday, March 14th, 2009

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a type of anxiety disorder that is triggered by an extremely traumatic event. You can develop PTSD when a traumatic event happens to you. It can also happen when you see a traumatic event happen to someone else.

A lot of people who witness traumatic events or are involved in traumatic events have a brief period of difficulty in coping and adjusting. Healthy coping methods and time usually help these traumatic reactions to get better on their own. In some cases, however, your signs and symptoms can get worse or last for months or years. Sometimes these traumatic events may even completely disrupt your life. In these cases, you may have post-traumatic stress disorder.

PTSD can affect survivors of such traumatic events as torture, war,  an airplane crash,  a natural disaster or a physical or sexual assault. Post-traumatic stress disorder can also affect rescue workers at the site of mass casualties or other tragedies. These kinds of events may cause intense helplessness, fear or horror.

The disorder has been called by other names, including shell shock, combat fatigue, battle fatigue, combat stress, traumatic war neurosis or post-traumatic stress syndrome. In the American Civil War it was called “soldier’s heart.”

Approximately 7 to 8% of people in the United States will likely develop post-traumatic stress disorder in their lifetime. The lifetime occurrence (prevalence) in combat veterans and rape victims ranges from 10 to as high as 30%. In any given year about 5 million American adults have this syndrome.

Your or a loved one may be one of the millions suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. It may have become so severe that you or your loved one is unable to work. PTSD may be the reason for you or your loved one’s disability.

If this is true, you are probably in need of financial help. You may have applied for that help from the Social Security Administration in the form of Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits.

If you or your loved one was denied, what will you do now? If you have decided to reapply or appeal the denial by the Social Security Administration, here is something to think about. People with a trustworthy disability lawyer are approved more often than those who do not have an attorney.

SocialSecurityHome.com is the right place to find a capable disability lawyer. A wise disability lawyer at SocialSecurityHome.com will help and guide you or your loved one in reapplying or appealing the denial by the Social Security Administration. Our dedicated advocates will help you fight for the disability benefits that you or your loved one suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder deserve.

How much do you know about post-traumatic stress disorder? The more you know, the better prepared you will be to deal with this disorder. Here is some more information that may be useful and helpful to you. (more…)

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Getting Benefits From SSDI

Thursday, February 26th, 2009

Difficulties surrounding disability can be bad enough without having to stuggle with the money. You might not have expected the amount of time, effort and, most of all, money that goes into trying to keep the disability from consuming their entire lives. Bouncing back and forth between doctors and specialists while attempting to keep or find a job is a hard way to live and quickly puts many disabled individuals into financial hardship. In such circumstances, seeking financial assistance through Social Security Disability or SSDI can be a very effective means of getting things back in control.

However, the process of receiving SSDI benefits itself can be a very time consuming endeavor that leaves many who were unprepared frustrated and lost. You have to channel your frustrations and disappointment into some research and hard work. Take the time to familiarize yourself with SSDI at the beginning so that the filing process will not confuse you. There are many resources available here on Social Security Home that will give you the tools that you will need in order to successfully file your claim and start receiving benefits.

If spending hours sifting through legal documents is not your idea of a good time, then hiring an experienced attorney is a necessity. There are many affordable attorneys who specialize in SSDI who will be able to answer questions about your specific case and represent you throughout the entire filing process. More information about these attorneys as well as resources for finding a lawyer in your area can be found by continuing to explore Social Security Home.

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Does Social Security Provide Temporary Disability Benefits?

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

Sometimes a minor injury or illness can leave a person unable to work. Most times, a temporary disability can leave you with no income to cover your expenses. Persons with no paid sick leave at their jobs and no private short-term or long-term disability insurance may be left holding the bag when it comes to covering their everyday living expenses.

Disability benefits from the Social Security Administration will not cover short term disabilities. To qualify for Social Security disability benefits or Supplemental Security Income (SSI), a person must have a condition that results in permanent or long-term issues that make it impossible for them to work.

In most cases it is left up to the employee to obtain coverage for a temporary disability. However, temporary disability benefits are available in five states, the territory of Puerto Rico and for railroad industry workers nationwide. Rhode Island, California, New York, New Jersey and Hawaii are the only states in the country to offer a temporary disability benefit.

The administration of the benefits varies by state, but most of the programs are run through the states unemployment offices. The railroad workers plan is managed by the federal government. The benefits provide coverage for persons with a minimum amount of work history who are temporarily unable to work as a result of an illness or injury that was not the result of a job-related cause that would qualify them for workers’ compensation.

Benefits are based on the claimant’s past earnings history. The longest a person can collect the temporary disability payments varies from 26 to 52 weeks.

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Applying For Disability

Monday, February 16th, 2009

The process of applying for disability can be difficult and complicated. The Social Security Administration doesn’t make it much easier with its explanations of what information is necessary for your Social Security disability application to be considered.

Consulting an attorney experienced in Social Security disability applications early in the process can help you sort through the process.

An disability application submitted to the Social Security Administration will result in the applicant being considered for Social Security disability insurance benefits (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

Dealing with a disability can be trying for the disabled person and their loved ones. Getting the help of an experienced disability lawyer can help lessen some of the stress of dealing with a Social Security disability application.

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Can I get Supplemental Security Income Benefits if I live outside the United States?

Monday, January 26th, 2009

No, unlike the Social Security Disability Insurance program, if you are receiving Supplemental Security Income payments you must live in the United States or Northern Mariana Islands. It is important to talk to the Social Security Administration if you have to leave the United States for an extended period of time. If you leave the United States for a full thirty day period you may have your Supplemental Security Income Benefits suspended.

Other reasons your Supplemental Security Income Benefits could be suspended or denied include:

• If you are a fugitive felon
• If you are sent to prison
• If you intentionally lower their resources or income to qualify for Supplemental Security Income benefits.
• Non-United States Citizens (Certain exceptions may apply-contact the SSA for more information)
• If you leave the United States for a full 30 consecutive days may have their benefits suspended.

Definition for Supplemental Security Income Benefits:

Supplemental Security Income benefits or the SSI program is a disability program which will provide individuals with monthly supplemental income payments. This Supplemental Security Income benefit program is different than the Social Security Disability Insurance program because an individual does not have to have worked and accumulated “work credits”. To qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) an individual must have limited income and resources. The income and resource amount allowed is determined by the federal government. You also must be: age sixty-five or older, or partially or totally blind or have a medical condition that will not allow you to work for at least twelve months or result in death. The method used to determine an individual’s disability is similar for both the Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance programs.

If you qualify for Supplemental Security Income benefits the base supplemental payment amount in 2009 per individual is $674 and the standard supplemental payment amount is $1,011 per couple. Certain states may add additional supplemental payments onto the basic federal standard amount. Certain other payments as well as your living arrangements could also affect the Supplemental Security Income payments you may be eligible to receive.

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Widow, Widower and Surviving Spouse disability benefits

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

Disability claims can be filed with the understanding that benefits will be based on the work history of a deceased spouse or former spouse. Disability claims for a widow, widower or surviving divorced spouse require that the deceased spouse or former spouse was fully insured at the time of their death. In order to be eligible, you must have been married for at least nine months if you are widowed or 10 years in case of divorce.

You must be at least 50 years old and your disability must have begun within 7 years of the death of your spouse or former spouse. If your disabilities start within seven years of the time you were entitled to mother’s or father’s benefits, you are also still eligile for disability benefits as a widow, widower or divorced spouse.

The end of the seven years is referred to as the end of the “prescribed period” and functions similar to the way “date last insured” operates in regular social security disability cases.

Sometimes in widow or widower’s cases, the Social Security Administration evaluates disability as of a “controlling date.” The “controlling date” is the latest date by which a widow or widower may become disabled and still be entitled to benefits for the earliest possible month.

Proof of disability in these casesis based on a much more stringent definition of disability. You must prove that you are incapable of any gainful activity.

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