Posts under ‘SSA News’

Thirty-eight additional medical conditions have been added to Social Security’s list of conditions which qualify for fast-track Compassionate Allowances in Social Security disabilty claims.
The addition of these new conditions expands the scope of Compassionate Allowances to a broader subgroup of conditions like early-onset Alzheimer’s disease … The expansion we are announcing today means tens of [...]

Remember the earlier post about the 2 year freeze (2010 & 2011) on cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security beneficiaries and how it would result in a net decrease in benefits because while benefits may stay the same, Medicare premiums are likely to go up?
Well, it looks like there may be an extra stimulus payment [...]

The news has been going around for some time that there will be no cost of living adjustment in Social Security benefits (including retirement and disability benefits) for the next two years, 2010 and 2011. However, it looks like the real amount of benefits will actually  decrease for many.
The trustees who oversee Social Security are projecting [...]

The “Social Security Hot Topics” Continuing Legal Education (CLE) program provided quite a bit of information about the state of Social Security.
More judges on the way:

150 new judges already hired in 2009.
20-30 additional judges to be hired before end of 2009
~200 more judges to be hired in 2010.

Applications on the rise:
With the poor economy, more [...]

 
Social Security has opened a National Hearing Center (NHC) in Albuquerque New Mexico. This is Social Security’s second NHC — a hearing office which only handles video hearings. 
Albuquerque initially will hear disability cases for Kansas City and Portland, Oregon — two of the most backlogged offices in the US. Social Security’s first NHC, located in [...]

Everyone is waiting for the one-time $250 economic stimulus payment from Social Security. However, some seniors may have to give the money back!
Social Security beneficiaries received notices last month that they soon will be getting a $250 check courtesy of President Obama’s economic recovery package, but the administration did not say that some recipients may [...]

We all know Social Security cases take too long. Well, get ready for more delays! 
In spite of increasing number of new claims for disability, Governors around the nation are requiring disability examiners (the very people who make the decisions in Social Security cases) take unpaid furloughs. 
The nation’s top Social Security official says benefits for tens [...]

Timegoesby has a post up about scams popping up to scam you out of your Social Security stimulus payments. 
Scam artists saw an opening and immediately began targeting consumers, including elders, to “help them qualify” for the payments. By email and on websites with official-sounding names, these criminals ask for payment or personal information including names, [...]

An email is making the rounds purporting to be a “history lesson” on Social Security for “young whipper snappers” who “weren’t taught or just didn’t know” the following truths about Social Security.  In case you doubt any of these, the email tells you “facts are facts.”
The email tells you:

Social Security is VOLUNTARY and has been since [...]

I was recently asked if children who receive Social Security benefits are eligible for the one time $250 economic recovery stimulus payment.
Originally, it looked like the answer was “no.”  When this article was written in March 2009, the SSA FAQ said the following.
Question: Are children who receive Social Security benefits eligible for the one-time economic recovery [...]

If you are on Supplemental Security Income (SSI), or applying for SSI, you should know that Social Security’s SSI benefits have increased. 
For 2008, the Federal Benefit Rate (the maximum you can receive in SSI) is $674 for individuals and $1,011 for couples. For most people though, this means the maximum SSI benefits you can get [...]

 
What is Social Security doing with its share of the economic stimulus? Building a huge data center, of course!
Using a hefty down payment from the newly signed economic stimulus law, the Social Security Administration has embarked on a $750 million project to replace its outmoded National Computer Center.
The agency received a total of $1 billion in [...]

You may have already heard that part of the Obama’s stimulus package is a one time payment to recipients of Social Security.
The payment will be $250 and it was just revealed that everyone entitled to receive a payment should have it by late May 2009.
Social Security also revealed that if you are eligible for the one time [...]

 
Here’s an interesting tidbit I came across on Notes on Social Security Reform citing the University of Michigan Retirement Research Center winter newsletter:
Does the Rise in the Full Retirement Age Encourage Disability Benefits Applications?
Evidence from the HRS by Xiaoyan Li and Nicole Maestas WP 2008-198

As the Social Security full retirement age (FRA) rises, the relative generosity of Social Security [...]

Social Security attorney Gordon Gates wrote about a Social Security Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) who only approves 11 percent of cases.
In trying to find some insight in to how this ALJ could only approve 11% of cases when most other ALJs approve somewhere between 45-60% of cases, Gordon found the following post from the ALJ [...]