Starting next year, the federal government will begin requiring electronic disbursement of many federal benefits, including Social Security Disability.  While many current recipients of Social Security get benefits electronically, all recipients next year will be required to do so.  Recipients will have the choice of direct deposit or a debit card for those without checking accounts. 

With respect to the debit card option, each month, benefit payments will be added to the cards, which can be used to make purchases or withdraw cash from ATMs.  “There are no fees for using the debit card to make purchases. They can be used at any retailer that accepts MasterCard debit cards. If a card is lost or stolen, the beneficiary is protected from unauthorized use as long as the missing card is reported promptly.”  Debit card users will be limited to one free ATM withdrawal each time a payment is paid to the card. Any additional withdrawals prior to another payment will cost 90 cents each.  As with checking account-associated debit cards, any withdrawals could be subject to fees by the owner of the ATM.

The purpose behind the switch is two-fold.  The first is security.  “In 2010, more than 540,000 federal benefit checks were reported lost or stolen.”  The second is cost-savings.  We have all heard the fire and brimstone predictions of the Social Security fund, and this switch will save Social Security “$1 billion in the next decade,” according to the Treasury Department.

You’ve been injured on the job. You are off work collecting temporary total disability benefits. You fully intend on returning to the workforce once your injuries have healed. So, no need to bother with filing for social security disability, right?

Wrong. It is important to know that you are eligible to apply for social security disability while collecting temporary total disability benefits as a result of a work related injury, as long as you have a disability that will last a year or longer. Often, individuals can collect both temporary total disability benefits and social security disability, albeit perhaps at a reduced rate from social security. However, if your social security disability is reduced as a result of collecting temporary total disability benefits under a workers’ compensation claim, once your temporary total disability benefits end, social security will reassess your case to determine if you are eligible for additional money each month.

In some instances, your temporary total disability benefits may completely offset your social security disability benefits, meaning you will not see any money from social security while collecting temporary total disability benefits. However, the benefit to pursuing social security disability benefits even in this scenario is that, again, when your temporary total disability benefits end, social security disability will reassess your case and you will then be eligible to collect compensation.

Furthermore, even if you have every intention of returning to the workforce once your injuries have healed, you can still be eligible to collect social security disability benefits during the time you are off work recovering. Social security does allow for individuals to collect a closed period of benefits, covering the time you are out of the workforce, and then simply ceasing upon your return to work.

In addition to the financial benefit to social security disability, there is the added benefit of Medicare, which can provide medical coverage to you for conditions that are unrelated to your workers’ compensation claim. In many cases, this is equally as important as the compensation aspect of social security disability. Although your workers’ compensation claim may provide coverage for medical treatment related to your work related injuries, your workers’ compensation claim will not provide medical coverage for any conditions unrelated to your workers’ compensation claim.

If you or anyone you know have questions regarding social security disability, contact Gallon, Takacs, Boissoneault & Schaffer Co., L.P.A. We are here to answer your questions and assist you with getting the benefits you rightfully deserve.

Tax season is officially upon us and April 15^th will be here sooner than you know.  And many people want to know if their Social Security Disability Benefits are taxable.  I am not a tax professional or a tax attorney.  But I am a Social Security attorney.  The answer is that it depends.  It depends on how much you received in benefits and other income.  It depends on how you file your taxes (single/married filing jointly/married filing separate).A tax professional will be able to tell you what is best for your specific situation.  But here is a breakdown of how the taxability of your benefits is determined.

If you are receiving Social Security benefits, you will receive a 1099 form from SSA which outlines the benefits you received.  To determine whether or not those benefits are taxable, you will take 50% of the benefit amount and add to it any: taxable/pensions/wages/interest/dividends/or other taxable income.  Compare this new figure to the “base value”.  The base value is $32,000 for someone married filing jointly ($25,000 if filing single).   If your amount is less than the base value, then you owe nothing in taxes.  However, if your amount is higher than the base value then your Social Security benefits are taxable.  There is a worksheet for you to complete to determine the amount of tax that you will owe on your benefits.

While many cases are still being sent to other hearing offices as well as the National Hearing Center, it appears that some Toledo cases filed less than a year ago are now being scheduled for hearing. Hopefully this progress will continue so that people in the Toledo area including Lima, Findlay, and Sandusky will have less waiting time before their cases are heard by Federal Administrative Law Judges.

It would appear that in some cases, hearing dates are now coming in for claimants who requested a hearing 11 months prior.

(1) Drug and/or alcohol addicts get benefits, why don’t I? As of 1996, it is not possible to receive social security disability benefits based solely on addiction. However, if someone is an active user, determination of their eligibility for benefits will depend on whether their use is “material” to their conditions.  In other words, if a person’s drug or alcohol abuse is deemed to have caused or worsened their condition(s), their case will likely not win.

(2) My doctor said I was disabled and cannot work, so why did I get denied? Your doctor’s opinion on your situation is certainly a piece of your disability application.  However, the Social Security Administration must determine independently whether you meet their definition of “disabled.”  Sometimes a doctor believes a person is not able to work, but SSA disagrees.

(3) Everyone gets denied the first time.  On average, about sixty-five to seventy percent of initial applications are denied. In states, like Ohio, that allow for a Request for Reconsideration, the denial rate is about eighty-five percent at that level.  However, at the hearing level, success rates average around sixty-two percent.

(4) My friend, neighbor, relative, etc. was approved, but there is nothing wrong with them.  A large number of recipients have severe conditions that others are unable to see or they do not tell others about.  It is likely that they, too, had to fight or their benefits. Therefore, focus your efforts on your claim and what you can do to be successful on appeal.

(5) To appeal a denial, I just need to file a new application.  A new application will most likely be denied for the same reason as the last. Historically, and statistically, most claimants are awarded only after being heard by an administrative law judge. A claim will never get that far in the process if you keep filing new applications

(6) I need to file a new application every time I am diagnosed with an additional condition. Once you have filed an application, you should let that application work its way through the application and appeals process. At each step, you are given the opportunity to inform SSA of any worsening or new conditions, making multiple applications unnecessary.

(7) I don’t need an attorney to help me with my claim. You have the right to be represented by an attorney. Statistics show that attorney representation throughout the disability process, and particularly at the hearing level, results in a higher success rate for claimants seeking disability entitlement. Our firm has been representing claimants at all levels in the disability process for over 40 years and stands ready to serve your needs at any appeal level. We work effectively and efficiently to secure the benefits to which you are entitled in an increasingly difficult and delayed system.

As part of their cost savings measures, the Social Security Administration has closed all temporary remote hearing sites.  For us, locally, that affects the Lima area.  Lima, Ohio used to have a temporary remote site where Administrative Law Judges would come in and conduct hearings so that Claimants would not have to travel long distances to get their hearing. 

I have already seen the effects of this for my clients, having to secure transportation from Lima up to Toledo (a distance of over 70 miles).  It is usually a very strenuous undertaking.  The thinking from SSA seems to be to convert some of those temporary remote sites to video sites.  This would allow Judges to conduct the hearings remotely while not requiring Claimants to drive great distances. 

That seems to be the plan for the Lima office but that transition takes time.  In the meantime, you may be eligible for a travel reimbursement from SSA for your travel to your hearing.  I will keep you updated on this as information is released.  If you have questions, please let me know. 

Election Day is upon us and I urge you to vote on November 8th or early vote and to vote NO on Issue 2. If you would like to vote early you may do so this week at your local Board of Elections: We Are Ohio – Action.

Issue 2 is the referendum on Senate Bill 5 passed by the Ohio General Assembly. The referendum resulted from a huge grass roots effort to have the Bill passed on by the voters of Ohio before becoming law. On its face, Senate Bill 5 drastically reduced the rights of public employees including firefighters, police and teachers to bargain about the terms and conditions of their employment. Even the right to bargain over non-economic issues such as classroom size for teachers and protection equipment for firefighters was gutted by the bill.

It is critical that we vote on Election Day. While the most recent polling shows we are gaining momentum ( 25-point lead for Issue 2 opponents is huge, but off-year referendums can be unpredictable, says elections expert | cleveland.com) the key will be turnout. Every vote will be important!

Let’s send a clear message to the legislature and the governor. Please join me in supporting working class families and the middle class in Ohio and vote No on Issue Two.

Parents of high school students turning 18 who receive Social Security benefits must be sure to check in with their local Social Security office to make sure the benefits continue beyond age 18 provided their recipient child is still in school. This information must be provided to the Social Security Administration. Otherwise, monthly Social Security benefits automatically stop when a student turns 18. In other words to receive benefits after 18, a student must continue in high school through graduation. Social Security does not stop benefits before the month the student turns 19 or the first month of which he or she is not a full time high school student, whichever is earlier.

The Social Security Administration announced this week that it is doing something that it hasn’t done since 2009 – give it’s recipients a cost of living adjustment. Social Security really does not have much choice on whether or not to increase benefits. The system as it is set up is based on the Consumer Price Index for urban wage earners and clerical workers and is monitored by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The adjustment will be an extra 3.6% per beneficiary. The new wages will take effect January 1, 2012, for individuals receiving retirement and disability insurance benefits. Those receiving Supplemental Security Income will show changes starting December 30, 2011.

These increases will also mean some additional increases for Social Security. The maximum amount of taxable earnings for Social Security will increase by $3,300 to $110,100. Additionally, the amount of money needed to earn 1 quarter of coverage has gone up $10 to $1,130 (so to get all 4 of your quarters for 2012 and beyond you will need wages of at least $4,520). The level of work to be considered Substantial Gainful Activity has gone up to $1,010/month.

What about SSI payments? Those will go up to $698/month. But what isn’t going up are the income and resource requirements for SSI. For an individual they remain at $2,000 and $3,000 for a couple.  Please let me know if you have any questions about the possible increase in your benefits.

The federal government has concluded that electronic payments are not simply the best way to receive Government money; rather, they will soon be the only way.  The U.S. Department of the Treasury has a new rule phasing out paper checks for Federal benefits and nontax payments by March 1, 2013.  Moreover, effective May 1, 2011, all new recipients of Federal benefits including those filing for Supplemental Security Income and/or Disability Insurance Benefits must receive their payments electronically unless they meet one of the very limited expectations.  It is thought that electronic payments are safer, easier, more reliable, less costly and above all green (good for the environment). If you or anyone you know is still receiving checks in the mail, they should visit their local Social Security office or go to www.godirect.org to sign up for direct deposit or Direct Express.