“I’m a victim of patient dumping,” said James Flavey Coy Brown, explaining his ordeal at a press conference on a recent lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on his behalf.Brown, a longtime sufferer of psychosis—and a beneficiary of Social Security disability—was discharged from Nevada’s Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital in Las Vegas.  Rawson is [...]

[bs_row class="row"] [bs_col class="col-sm-2"][/bs_col][bs_col class="col-sm-8"] [/bs_col][bs_col class="col-sm-2"][/bs_col] [/bs_row] Recently, USA Today published a lengthy article discussing Social Security disability, and delineating the options for people who do not wish to rely solely on benefits for this government program. “The Social Security Administration provides some form of disability benefits as a safety net,” said [...]

[bs_row class="row"] [bs_col class="col-sm-2"][/bs_col][bs_col class="col-sm-8"] [/bs_col][bs_col class="col-sm-2"][/bs_col] [/bs_row] Earlier this month, the Social Security Administration published a “fraud advisory,” warning beneficiaries that it has learned of a number identity theft schemes that try to illegally divert Social Security benefits, including Social Security disability benefits.  Apparently, scammers have been obtaining personal information from beneficiaries [...]

[bs_row class="row"] [bs_col class="col-sm-2"][/bs_col][bs_col class="col-sm-8"] [/bs_col][bs_col class="col-sm-2"][/bs_col] [/bs_row] On April 29, 2013, new rules for how the Social Security Administrations treats visual disorders will take effect.  The changes are purposed with both clarifying the evaluation of visual disorders and assessing claims in a more timely fashion.  The new rules (published here: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-03-28/pdf/2013-06975.pdf) also [...]

[bs_row class="row"] [bs_col class="col-sm-2"][/bs_col][bs_col class="col-sm-8"] [/bs_col][bs_col class="col-sm-2"][/bs_col] [/bs_row] Social Security Administration is Adept at “Weeding Out Disability Cheaters” A recent article (found here: http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2013/04/10/opinion/ssa-procedures-weed-out-cheaters.html)—itself a response to another opinion piece published to the contrary—extolled the lengths to which the Social Security Administration goes to ensure the integrity of the disability claims process. That [...]

Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Weighs in On Social Security Disability Debate In response to all the negative media attention currently being poured onto Social Security Disability, the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD)—a coalition of about 100 disability advocate organizations—recently weighed in. The CCD was particularly outspoken against a recent NPR story by Chana [...]

Media Split Over Relationship Between Social Security Disability and the Unemployment Rate On Friday, the U.S. Department of Labor released the latest national employment statistics.  And, though the unemployment rate fell to a four-year-low of 7.6%, that trajectory is seen largely to be a mask for another, less encouraging trend.  Labor force participation rates—meaning, the [...]

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)—a potentially debilitating autoimmune disease—currently afflicts about 0.6% of the adult population in the United States (affecting women about 2-3 times more often than men).  It generally results in an inflammatory disorder that attacks joints, making movements painful and disabling.  Left inadequately treated, sufferers can be rendered immobile or severely hindered.  And, while [...]

At 13 years old, Rhode Island resident Maria Borino Provancha had ten-inch metal Harrington rods inserted into her back.  For her entire life, Ms. Provancha has been suffering from back pain and scoliosis.  The rods helped—they straightened her spinal column and slowed the damage being done to her body.  But they also led to other [...]

[bs_row class="row"] [bs_col class="col-sm-2"][/bs_col][bs_col class="col-sm-8"] [/bs_col][bs_col class="col-sm-2"][/bs_col] [/bs_row] Currently, there is a mandatory five-month waiting period for receiving Social Security Disability benefits for all prospective beneficiaries—even for those given 12 months or less to live. The potential inequities of this requirement hit home, in particular, for Susan Young, a Long Island resident who [...]