New York Social Security Disability Lawyer Blog

In the most recent newsletter, Lew Insler discusses the negative ramifications of a recent Social Security ruling. To visit our newsletter online, click here.

Thanks to everyone who participated in our drive to raise money for area food pantries! Over the holiday season, we offered to donate $10 for every new "Like" on our Facebook page, and we raised $520. Lew and Gabe will be rounding this up to $600, to be distributed equally between the following food banks:
• Tarrytown Community Opportunity Center Food Pantry
• Dutchess County Community Action Partnership: Beacon Food Pantry
• Center for Food Action (Hackensack)
• Daily Bread Food Pantry (Danbury)

Let's all make an ongoing effort to donate food and other necessities to a food banks serving our local communities!

We are proud to announce that Insler & Hermann, LLP has been selected for the 2011 Best of Danbury Award in the Miscellaneous Business Legal Services category by the U.S. Commerce Association (USCA).

The USCA "Best of Local Business" Award Program recognizes outstanding local businesses throughout the country. Each year, the USCA identifies companies that they believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and community.

Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2011 USCA Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the USCA and data provided by third parties.

Between now and New Years, for every new "Like" we get on Facebook, we will donate $10 to the following food pantries (up to $1000, to be distributed equally):

• Tarrytown Community Opportunity Center Food Pantry
• Dutchess County Community Action Partnership: Beacon Food Pantry
• Center for Food Action (Hackensack)
• Daily Bread Food Pantry (Danbury)

Tell your friends!

Check out our new newsletter, and be sure to sign up for future issues!

Shana Tova!

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy Rosh Hashana

from all of us at Insler & Hermann!

September 11, 2011: I had a hard time watching the reading of the names of the dead this morning. Whatever you might think about how our country has responded to the events ten years ago, our thoughts are with the innocent people who died due to the cowardly acts of terrorism perpetrated on September 11, 2001 and the brave people who died trying to help save them. I am planning to visit the site later this month to pay my respects in person when I will be serving as an arbitrator in the Wall Street area.

Lew Insler

Wishing everyone a happy Fourth of July!

Within the disability spectrum, our clients who suffer from Multiple Sclerosis tug at my heartstrings just a little bit more than most. Perhaps because they are invariably vibrant, successful people who are totally blindsided by the disease, they are very sympathetic clients and we usually expect their claims to be decided favorably.

However, there are two reasons why winning an MS disability case is not always as easy as it might appear at first glance.

The first is that in many cases, people suffering from MS are not actually diagnosed or treated until many years after their symptoms arise. They might see many doctors before they are correctly diagnosed, or they might not see a doctor at all. Just this week I reviewed a set of records where the claimant was diagnosed with MS and spent the next year treating for Lyme Disease before accepting that MS was the cause of his problems and starting to take Copaxone.

The result of a delayed diagnosis in some cases is a loss of retroactive benefits. In the worst case scenario, a correct diagnosis is not reached until after the claimant's disability coverage has expired, and no claim at all can be brought. Other than asking a doctor for a retrospective opinion, which the judges often do not credit, we can't do much about this problem.

The other reason that MS claims can be tricky to win is that very often the medical records don't contain all of the claimant's relevant medical complaints or they state that the claimant is "doing well." There are two reasons that happens, and both can be dealt with by an experienced attorney.

Often, patients don't tell their doctors the full extent of their problems, and sometimes the doctors either are not paying attention or do not see the need to record the patient's medical complaints in detail. Both of these situations can be remedied by having the client make a special appointment with their physician to go over their complaints, and to make sure that their chart is accurate and that the doctor notes the length of time the complaints have been present.

When the records say "doing well," it usually means "no change," or is in relation to a baseline that relates to the patient's medical condition, not that he or she has no problems or limitations. When we see a notation like that in the records, we have the doctors complete a Functional Capacity Assessment in which they have to note the patient's specific limitations and the findings that support them. Most neurologists who deal frequently with MS patients are quite willing to complete these forms for us.

My best advice to anyone with MS fighting a disability claim is to seek treatment immediately, and make sure to tell your doctor about all of your medical complaints. And that goes back to what I always tell ALL of my clients when they ask me "what do I have to do?" I tell them: "your job is to try to get better, and we'll take care of your claim."

Lew Insler, Esq.

Several months ago I wrote about the New Jersey health insurance program available for individuals with pre-existing conditions (click here for that blog entry).

A similar program exists in New York State as well.

As with the New Jersey plan, pre-requisites include:
• having a pre-existing condition - although, in New York, the conditions are specifically identified and if an application's condition is not on the list, eligibility is subject to medical review.
• Not having had health insurance coverage for 6 months
• Being a legal US resident and a resident of New York State

Rates are as follows:
$421 for residents of the 5 counties that make up New York, Nassau and Suffolk, and counties North of the city including Ulster, Dutchess, Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Sullivan.
$362 for all other counties of New York State.

Please note that this program is first come, first served and thus will likely fill up quickly. If that happens, the state and GHI (the plan administrator) will create a waiting list.

Click here for an application and further details.

Happy New Year!

Gabe Hermann

As an advocate for the disabled, I frequently see firsthand how disability and the corresponding inability to earn the income necessary to pay bills---most significantly rent or mortgage---has forced my clients out of their homes while they wait for their Disability claims to be approved.

While the latest news from the banking industry that many of the largest national banks are suspending foreclosure proceedings while they investigate fraud in the mortgage granting process (see: NYT 10/8/10: Largest U.S. Bank Halts Foreclosures in All States) offers a reprieve for those of my clients who own their homes but are far behind on their mortgage payments, there is also good news now for those of my clients who need access to affordable housing in a community that adequately meets their needs.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced last week that they will be issuing approximately 4300 housing assistance vouchers totaling nearly $33 million to thousands of non-elderly Americans with Disabilities to assist them with their housing needs. To read more, visit http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD/press/press_releases_media_advisories/2010/HUDNo.10-214.

Gabe Hermann

In Monday's Bergen Record, it was reported that New Jersey has started to offer health insurance to uninsured New Jersey residents who suffer from a pre-existing condition. The program, called NJ Protect, is available to any US citizen or legal resident who can prove residency in New Jersey and can document that he or she has been uninsured for 6 months and suffers from a "pre-existing condition." The requirements for eligibility for the insurance are clearly explained in great detail on the NJ Protect website.

It is reported that this program is expected to help up to 21,000 previously uninsured people in a program to be administered by Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey. I actually expect far, far more to fill out applications in the hopes of securing health insurance that is even moderately cheaper than what is otherwise available for people with chronic medical conditions.

As an attorney assisting clients with their Disability claims, I often hear about my clients' difficulties getting and affording health insurance. Hopefully, this program will make things easier for many of my clients that have been receiving their treatment in oversubscribed clinics and from physicians not trained to treat their chronic conditions.

Gabe Hermann

Insler & Hermann, LLP, is delighted to congratulate Partner Gabe Hermann, Esq. and his wife Miriam on the birth of a baby girl. We wish the entire family well!

First impressions mean a lot, especially when we as Disability attorneys are trying to determine the strength of a case the first time we meet a potential client. Many claimants come in with a family member or close friend who has taken on the role of caregiver to one degree or another. A recent incident involving my wife has given me more appreciation for those other people who come in and sit with the claimant, often answering many of my questions.

My wife is a strong bicyclist, but she fell about two weeks ago when she hit a stretch of bad road. She suffered a mild concussion, stitches in her face, and bruising and road rash over her whole left side. She had to take a week off from work and I had to take her to the doctors plus take on the shopping and meal preparation (I wouldn't call it "cooking").

This week she's back to work but still not driving, so I take her to the train station and pick her up. She shouldn't have any permanent problems, but I have gained a definite appreciation for the important role that caregivers play. Without ever planning to be in that role, and for no reward, they are forced to make changes in their routines and priorities to take care of a person who can no longer do things that were always second nature.

My wife, who works in the health care field, said to me that she has gained some appreciation of what it means to be "disabled." And I will definitely have a different first impression whenever the person I am interviewing needs to be accompanied by someone just to get to my office.

Lew Insler