Any COLA for 2011 will be determined in October by comparing the change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W) from the third quarter of 2009 to the third quarter of 2010. It is likely that there will be no increase. There was a large increase in energy costs in the summer of 2008, which resulted in a 5.8% COLA, paid starting in January 2009. However, prices dropped in the fall of 2008 and have not regained the level of the third quarter in 2008. As a result, there was no COLA for 2010 because there was no increase from the third quarter of 2008 to the third quarter of 2009.

If there is no COLA for payments in 2011, it will be the first time since automatic COLAs began that Social Security and SSI benefi ciaries did not receive a benefit increase for two consecutive years.

About the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation

The Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America is a non-profit, volunteer-driven organization dedicated to finding the cure for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. It was founded in 1967 by Irwin M. and Suzanne Rosenthal, William D. and Shelby Modell, and Henry D. Janowitz, M.D.

Four decades ago, the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation created the field of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis research. Today, the Foundation funds cutting-edge studies at major medical institutions, nurtures investigators at the early stages of their careers, and finances underdeveloped areas of research. Educational workshops and symposia, together with our scientific journal, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, enable medical professionals to keep pace with this rapidly growing field. No wonder the National Institutes of Health has commended the Foundation for “uniting the research community and strengthening IBD research.”

Although Social Security implemented changes in its “Malignant Neoplastic Diseases” criteria in November of 2009, determining disability as a result of cancer can still be difficult. In many cases, extra time is needed for Social Security to decide whether or not disability may be granted. This is due in part to the large number of treatment options available for most cancers. Often, combinations of treatments are prescribed and rotated, enabling deferment of a decision until treatment options have been exhausted (13.00E3). Additionally, if symptoms can be attributed to “temporary” reactions to cancer-treating drugs, a disability decision may be deferred until these symptoms subside and allow for clear judgment based solely on the presence or absence of debilitating cancer (13.00G3). These symptoms resulting from therapies can last up to a year and, in some cases, even longer.

Hodgkin’s Lymphoma: Disability Issues

Although it may seem that Hodgkin’s affects only young adults, there are many individuals over the age of 55 who suffer from the condition. Males aged 45 and older are at risk for diminished success in treating Hodgkin’s, which is generally considered to be a highly treatable cancer. Challenges that prevent these individuals from receiving disability can be severely detrimental to both health and financial viability.

When attempting to collect Social Security disability benefits based on cancerous diseases, Hodgkin’s Lymphoma can be especially difficult. If it reappears over twelve months after completion of treatment, Social Security considers Hodgkin’s a new disease rather than a recurrence (13.00K1c).  This can be frustrating, as a new disease often takes longer than a recurrence to receive a disability decision. Initial disability may also take a year to obtain, as Hodgkin’s must resist treatment for twelve months in order to merit disability. The only other option is to undergo a bone marrow or stem cell transplantation, which secures disability for at least twelve months following the procedure.

Bio: Alexis Bonari is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She often can be found blogging about general education issues as well as information on college scholarships. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.

In the United States, 5.3 million people are living with Alzheimer’s disease, and a new individual is diagnosed with the disease every 70 seconds. Unless something is done, by 2050, up to 16 million Americans will have Alzheimer’s, and a new case will be diagnosed every 33 seconds.

As Social Security disability lawyers, we have seen many hundreds of our clients become destitute while waiting for a decision on their Social Security disability application. The benefits, once granted, are retroactive, but that does not solve the problem of houses and cars lost due to inability to make payments during the long wait. Here are excerpts from a recent Associated Press article on this subject:

The Social Security system is so overwhelmed by applications for disability benefits that many people are waiting more than two years for their first payment.

Nearly 2 million people are waiting to find out if they qualify for Social Security disability benefits. It will be a long wait for most, even if they eventually win their cases.

The Social Security system is so overwhelmed by applications for disability benefits that many people are waiting more than two years for their first payment.

In Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota and other states, the wait can be even longer.

The Social Security commissioner, Michael Astrue, says the delays are unacceptable, particularly for people who have paid payroll taxes for years to support the system and now are unable to work because of debilitating medical problems. Astrue has had some success in reducing a case backlog that has plagued the system for years. But a spike in new applications, linked to the economic recession, threatens to swamp the system again.

Claims typically increase in a bad economy because many people who worked despite their disabilities get laid off and apply for benefits. About 3.3 million people are expected to apply for benefits this year. That’s 300,000 more than last year and 700,000 more than in 2008.

Nearly two-thirds of those claims will be denied by state agencies overseen by the Social Security Administration. Most of these people will drop their claims. But for those willing to go through an appeals process that can take two years or more, chances are good they eventually will get benefits.

“The most important thing we can do to improve the disability process is to make the right decision as soon as possible,” Astrue said at a recent congressional hearing.

“Certainly, I’m not happy with the accuracy of the system, even though it is getting better.” His goal is to clear the backlog of appeals hearings by 2013. “It takes longer to fix something than it does to break it,” he said.

The first step is to ensure that your medical history is well documented – you need to have copies and records of all your treatments, all the medication you’ve been taking, a list of all the visits to the doctor and the emergency room, dates of sessions with your therapist, counselor or chiropractor, and proof all the diagnostic tests that have been performed on you. You also need to get written assessments of your condition from the doctors and other healthcare professionals who have treated you at any time. The assessments and diagnoses must be in writing if you are going to submit them as part of your application.

However, there are some disabilities that are not openly visible and that cannot be proved by blood tests or any other diagnostic tool – fibromyalgia is one such condition. In such cases, your physical therapist becomes an important part of the process of applying for Social Security disability benefits. They specialize in dealing with people who have similar conditions so their written assessments are valuable to the process.

Also, there are rules for SSDI approvals – you have to have a condition or impairment that is listed with them and be able to prove it if you want to be approved automatically. But if your condition does not appear in this list, you may need to prove that you have other lesser conditions that cumulatively add up and prevent you from working at a regular job and earning a steady income.

So when it comes to conditions where the medical diagnosis is inconclusive and where your pain and other symptoms dictate the quality of your life, your physical therapist may be your best bet to get your SSDI approved. All you need to do is find someone who is qualified, licensed, and who knows the seriousness and debilitating nature of your condition.

By-line:

This guest post is contributed by Shannon Will. She writes on the topic of Physical Therapist Assistant Schools, and welcomes your comments at her e-mail address: shannonwills23@gmail.com.

The important thing that claimants seeking disability benefits should keep in mind when their case involves a medical expert is that the expert’s opinion is just that – an opinion. Any Social Security Disability claim file contains a number of opinions that are express or implied in the medical records.  But it is the judge who has the final responsibility to assign appropriate weight to the various competing opinions in the case when rendering a decision.

One way medical experts can be beneficial at a hearing is when there is a lot of new medical evidence requiring an updated medical opinion. The medical expert can review the entire file and give an opinion that a claimant either meets, or equals in severity, a listed impairment. Additionally, the medical expert can offer an opinion on the symptoms that might be related to the diagnosed impairments in the particular case. This testimony can provide the judge sufficient basis to pay the claim. Last week we had at least two claimants who were found to be disabled on this basis.

Recently we have assisted individuals with sciatica in getting Social Security Disability and Supplemental Security Income. Their cases involved other severe spinal disorders as well. The sciatica was, therefore, considered in combination with their other disorders. Spinal conditions are common in Social Security Disability claims.

Three main spinal diseases are included in Social Security’s Listing of impairments. While sciatica is not recognized specifically, it may, in extreme and chronic cases, be equal in severity to one of the recognized spinal disorders, especially when considered in conjunction with other spinal conditions. A determination of “equivalency” to a Listing is one that requires medical judgment.

Regardless of the disease, you or your lawyer should have the following:

∙    a good working list of your symptoms,

∙    a knowledge of the degree of certainty of your diagnosis,

∙    a general understanding of the consistency between your symptoms and your diagnosis,

∙    a good understanding of what evidence might best support your  contention that your symptoms are disabling, and

∙    which legal theory will most likely be accepted by the Social  Security Administration given the particular facts of the entire case.

If you, or someone you know, is suffering from severe sciatica or other spinal disorder, consider contacting us for additional information on how your condition might be disabling under Social Security’s rules. If you are considering filing a Social Security Disability claim, we advise you to speak with an attorney. We handle cases throughout the state of Texas, but we are always happy to give you a referral if we are unable to assist you.

While this is certainly good news for those clients fortunate enough to have their cases decided early, we can’t figure out a pattern. That makes us wonder if perhaps some cases are pulled early just so the average processing time decreases. That’s a cynical view to take, and I have no evidence this is actually happening. Still, it does make us wonder.

Here is the News Release:
Pending Cases Drop Below 700,000; Processing Time Down 72 Days

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, today announced that the number of disability hearings pending stands at 697,437 cases — the lowest level since June 2005 and down more than 71,000 cases since December 2008, when the trend of month-by-month reductions began.  In addition, the average processing time for hearing decisions has decreased to 442 days, down from a high of 514 days at the end of fiscal year (FY) 2008.

“We have decreased the number of hearings pending by almost 10 percent over the last 14 months and cut the time it takes to make a decision by nearly two and a half months.  This remarkable progress shows our backlog reduction plan is working,” Commissioner Astrue said.  “With ongoing support from the President and Congress as well as the efforts of our hardworking employees, I am confident the hearings backlog will continue to diminish.”

Social Security has actively addressed the hearings backlog and increased the capacity to hold more hearings.  The agency hired 147 Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) and over 1,000 support staff in FY 2009, and has plans to hire an additional 226 ALJs this year.  The agency now has four National Hearing Centers to help process hearings by video conference for the most hard-hit areas of the country.  The agency also has aggressive plans to open 14 new hearing offices and three satellite offices by the end of the year.  The first of these offices was opened in Anchorage, Alaska on February 19, 2010.

Often your treating physician will render a medical source opinion. Sometimes they will offer no such opinions even when contacted directly. The judge will, of course, decide the case with or without your treating physician’s opinion because deciding whether you are disabled is an issue reserved for the Social Security Administration. Clients often ask if having their treating physician’s opinion that “they are disabled” is critical to winning their disability benefits. The short answer is that it can be helpful to have such an opinion. But we have won many cases without such opinions, based on other evidence in the file. We often assist our clients in obtaining medical source opinions helpful to winning their disability claims.

Fellow blogger and attorney Gordon Gates has recently posted some good points about medical source opinions as well. We suggest that you read his article.

If you, or someone you know, is suffering from severe health problems keeping you from working, please feel free to contact us. If you are considering a Social Security Disability claim, we advise you to speak with an attorney. We handle cases throughout the state of Texas, but we are always happy to give you a referral if we are unable to assist you.