New York Social Security Disability Lawyer Blog

There are occasions in everyone's life where everything is so positive you don't want the moment to end. Your team wins the championship, graduation, a great concert or unforgettable party. As a Yankee fan I've had my share. As a Bruce Springsteen fanatic, every show is like that. As a triathlete, little compares with the feeling of accomplishment at the end of a race. Hopefully you have had plenty of your own. Two weekends ago I had that feeling in a whole new context.

The Bresnan Bike Tour is a three day, 200 mile charity bicycle ride from Putnam County, New York to Bennington, Vermont. We left Friday morning and rode in the rain for about 12 miles. Going through Northwest Connecticut it cleared and we had great weather going into the Berkshires and up into Vermont. In addition to the beautiful riding and great scenery, I got to know many of the 65 other riders as we rode and ate together. Surprisingly, not everyone was a dedicated cyclist. More surprisingly, although 12 others were, like me, on the ride for the first time, most people had done this many times. Multiple awards were given at Friday's dinner for 5, 10 and 15 years' participation, and one guy received a 20 year award---meaning he has been on every ride! Participants came from as far away as Utah and even the UK.

The money we raise in order to ride goes directly to Special Olympics New York, and to the Westchester ARC, benefitting the developmentally disabled. The veteran riders had strong feelings for the cause and the Tour. Their enthusiasm and dedication was palpable and infectious and immediately felt by the "newbies." It made the long climbs and one intolerable stretch of road under construction bearable if not pleasant.
Our little stories and inside jokes don't mean much to anyone else. But it was truly an unforgettable weekend and it definitely won't be my last Bresnan. Although I ride my bike as much as I can and I help the disabled every day in my practice, this is different. It's not about clients and it's not about miles. Put the two together and you get something entirely different: a cause! If you want to find out more about the Bresnan Bike Tour, or even contribute, go to www.Bresnanbiketour.com.

Lew Insler

HACKENSACK, NJ- Attorney Gabriel J. Hermann will be presenting a free educational seminar entitled, "Social Security Disability: How to Fight for Your Rights and WIN!" on Wednesday, June 17 at 6:30pm at the Hackensack Civic Center, located behind City Hall. The program will cover topics such as mistakes people make when filing for disability, when the best time is to file a claim, and how to maximize benefits from multiple sources. For more information, call (201) 862-9700, or click here.

Recently it's been brought to my attention that the Westchester Department of Social Services has contracted with an organization based in Idaho to handle Social Security Disability claims for some of their local clients.

While it is certainly wonderful that members of New York's most underserved population have access to assistance in obtaining their Disability benefits, it is disturbing to me that the DSS feels the need to contract that service out of New York State.  What I find appalling, however, is that the DSS actually encourages--dare I say--pressures their clients to utilize this service even if those clients have already retained my services.  One of my own clients came to me this week, confused and upset that he was being told by DSS to discontinue his relationship with me.

As an attorney who has been representing Disabled individuals in the Social Security process for over a decade, I know better than most how important it is that a claimant be represented throughout the Disability process, and I am thrilled that people are being encouraged to obtain representation and assistance with their claims.  At the same time, it is frustrating to me that my clients are being pressured to reconsider their choice of representative, and being encouraged to develop what would essentially be a phone relationship with an organization based 2600 miles away, creating a situation where they will never have the opportunity to meet their attorney or any of the staff handling the case.

Gabe Hermann

It has always bothered me that the appeal of a denial of Long Term Disability (LTD) benefits under a group plan is made to the same insurance company who not only has just denied the claim, but also who makes the payments. Despite this inherent conflict of interest, the ERISA statute and its effectuating Regulations compel this "appeal" step before the case can be brought into the judicial system and given an independent, unbiased review in Federal Court.

Because of the complexity and expense of Federal Court, the practical effect this has is that the insurance company makes the final decision in far too many Long Term Disability claims. For various reasons---often, involving financial practicalities----in our practice we have had to tell too many disabled clients that theirs is not a case to be taken to Federal Court.  I'm sure the same is true for every other LTD practitioner out there.

There are many ways this process could be made fairer. I'll mention two here even though I doubt any of them will ever be enacted, due to the imbalance of power between the insurance industry versus individual disabled claimants.

A simple step would be to enact Regulations that force the insurance companies to give deference to a finding of disability made by the Social Security Administration when determining if a Long Term Disability claimant can perform his or her occupation. For reasons too complicated to discuss in this limited space, insurance carriers currently find many ways to say that such a finding does not equate with the analysis they have to make.

Another solution would be to take the appeal process out of the hands of the insurance carriers and create an "ERISA Board," similar to the Social Security Hearing office (ODAR). A claimant would get an opportunity to have a quasi-judicial authority decide the appeal if the insurance carrier initially denied a claim or suspended benefits.

Either option creates a more level playing field that removes the inherent conflict of interest that currently exists, and that effectively terminates many claims before they are ever independently reviewed.

Lew Insler