New York Social Security Disability Lawyer Blog

Beginning on March 1, 2011, Social Security checks will no longer be mailed out to new recipients of disability benefits.

The Treasury Department recently announced that all United States Government benefits payments will be made electronically to beneficiaries via direct deposit or onto a special debit card. Social Security Disability and Supplemental Security Income claims allowed on or after March 1, 2011 will be affected. Those whose claims were allowed before that date will have until March 1, 2013 to make the conversion if they are receiving their checks in the mail.

For those who do not have a bank account into which the benefits can be deposited, the Treasury Department has a Direct Express debit card to which payments will be made. That same card also accepts payments of Veterans benefits, Unemployment benefits, and Railroad Retirement benefits.

The move to paperless transactions is hoped to improve government efficiency and reduce costs normally associated with manually sending those checks in the mail. An estimated $48 million is expected to be saved annually on postage alone, and it will reduce or eliminate the problems associated with lost checks and fraud.

Brian Anson

A disturbing trend has emerged at local Social Security offices that is hurting everyone applying for Social Security Disability and SSI benefits. Many local offices have little more than half the staff they used to, as budget cuts over the past decade have made it impossible to replace the many experienced and knowledgeable employees that have either retired or moved on in their careers.

The result is that even with electronic filing, cases are often not being sent to the State Agency in a timely manner to start the medical evaluation that is the heart of the process. Although at our own firm we file our initial applications electronically, there are still actions that the local staffers must take to process the claim. More and more, those are not being done or are greatly delayed, despite their routine nature.

Additionally, we are finding that due to inexperience and limited training, the SSA staffers often fail to complete the routine clerical process, leading to difficulties for the claimants at the end, after their claims have been approved and they are expecting payment.

Like any other process, doing it right at the beginning is much quicker and simpler than having to correct mistakes as a case goes on. The more time our staff spends trying to correct mistakes made by the Social Security Administration, the less time we have to actually help claimant's win cases.

It is the same on the other end of the phone calls we have to make: if the SSA personnel were acting quickly and efficiently, they would be able to help more people. We employ a number of former long-time SSA employees and I value their opinions and observations greatly in this area. They tell me the problems are due to the Social Security Administration's lack of manpower and the employees' lack of training and experience.

It is not Social Security's fault that their budget requests were cut year after year after year. But the result is an agency that, at the local level, is simply incapable of doing what once was routine when it comes to handling Disability and SSI claims.

Lew Insler

Last month, I wrote with excitement about how I was finally going to view my clients' claims files on a special Social Security representatives' website, using highly secure passwords and access codes provided by the Agency. Well, after using the resource for nearly a month, I can say that I am pleased with the efforts that they put both into securing my client's information from inappropriate eyes and providing me access to the information.

I won't say that the process is without hitches; cases that are coded to my partner or to my associate are not accessible using my access codes, for example. However, for the cases that I can pull up, there is tremendous value.

Now, rather than waiting for a hearing office to respond to my telephone or fax request for a CD of the Administration's file, I can just log on and review what they have. I can cross check the claims file with what we have to make sure I don't supply duplicate records. Sometimes I can even identify how the case was analyzed and bring that to the attention of an attorney adjudicator at the hearing office, with a request that they review it and consider approving the claim without a hearing. These are all good things.

I have also learned that we are still very much reliant on the hearing office staff in making sure that what we submit is properly entered into the claims files. On the other hand, I have received positive feedback from some of the staff at the hearing offices who no longer have to respond to my request for a CD by stopping what they're doing and burning a disc for me.
Overall, I give the process a high "B" and look forward to monitoring the ongoing evolution of the hearing office claims process in response to feedback from myself and other attorneys and representatives.

Gabe Hermann

On May 8, 2010, I had the privilege of volunteering my time and expertise in Disability Law alongside several other local professionals at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society's Law Day in White Plains, New York. The other volunteers brought their respective expertise in areas such as matrimonial law, financial planning, job discrimination, and estate planning. The issues and questions presented to me throughout the course of the day ranged from the relatively straightforward to the legally complex. What became clear however, is that Social Security Disability plays a significant role in the lives of not only those seeking it, but also those currently receiving it. Thus, an award of disability benefits does not necessarily end the complications which may arise depending on the individual's particular circumstances.

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society and its volunteers provide invaluable services to individuals with MS and I feel privileged to have made my particular contribution. A special thanks to the staff for their continuing efforts to serve and assist individuals suffering from MS. I look forward to working with them again.

Brian Anson