Blog posts

When an applicant sends a disability claim to the Social Security Administration, an adjudicator who works for the SSA review’s the applicant’s file to determine whether or not the individual qualifies for Social Security Disability benefits. While this file is under review, a number of factors are taken into consideration including the applicant’s past relevant work activity. Recently the SSA has created rules that affect how past relevant work experience is viewed.

When a Social Security Disability applicant files a claim for Social Security Disability benefits, there are a number of “stages” that this claim goes through. When the applicant’s claim is first filed, it is handled by one of the SSA’s field offices and then once the field office is done with the claim, another agency (usually referred to as Disability Determination Services of DDS) handles the remainder of the claim processing.

February is Heart Health Month and it is a topic that warrants a significant amount of interest due to the severity of heart disease in our nation and its prevalence worldwide. Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death across the globe. In many cases, the people who suffer from a heart-related illness are unable to work due to the symptoms that are caused by the disease and/or the effects of the treatments and/or surgery that are required to address the illness.

When an individual qualifies for Social Security Disability benefits, that individual receives a set monthly payment to help them meet their basic living expenses. When an individual is incapable of managing their own finances, the Social Security Administration determines that a representative payee should be responsible for managing the disability payments that are provided to a disability recipient and manage the expenses of the recipient in question.

Social Security Disability benefits are not easy to get. Anyone who has ever been through the disability claim process understands this fully. It would be nice to think that once those benefits begin, the battle is over. Unfortunately, for some disability recipients, a new battle begins when disability payments start – a battle against fraud and misuse of their disability income.