Judges and Senators Trump the Social Security Administration

September 1st, 2009. By janem

The DesMoinesRegister.com recently published a story about Todd Lindberg, a former truck driver with one amputated foot and not much left of the other foot (due to diabetes) who has lived 18 months in a storage garage. Of course he qualifies for social security disability benefits that would pay for decent accommodation and maybe some cash left over for groceries; instead he is one of about 736,000 people waiting way too long to have their claims processed. That’s an increase of more than 556,000 from last year due to a “massive backlog” of unresolved disability claims at the Social Security Administration.

(Currently 7.4 million Americans receive disability benefits with an average monthly check totaling $1,063.)

There’s an even sadder story: Last year, another truck driver died in the lobby of a Social Security office while waiting to be called into the office for a hearing on his three-year-old claim for benefits.

In its infinite wisdom, the Administration recently denied a 55-year-old woman benefits: she was born without a right hand. More recently, arthritis crippled her left hand. However, last month, U.S. District Judge Robert Pratt rejected the agency’s finding and ordered the disabled woman be paid benefits she first claimed five years ago. In another case, a judge ruled that the Social Security Administration had “relied on facts that were clearly erroneous” in denying a woman benefits who suffered from migraines.

Back to Lindberg: It took two and a half years for a judge to approve his application for federal disability benefits-only after U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin intervened. So what’s causing the holdup?

The Social Security Administration is notoriously denying claims. Is it their mandate?  In fact about two-thirds of claims for benefits are denied at the get-go, which leads to an appeals backlog. Fortunately most applicants who appeal eventually receive benefits but it can take months of going back and forth and oftentimes applicants are better off getting legal help: it’s less stressful and generally speeds up the process by not having to go through yet another denial and appeal.

Case in point:

Four years ago, Kara Schroeder of Iowa City was living out of a van in California and picking up her mail at a homeless shelter. The Social Security Administration mailed her a notice that she needed to see a doctor and verify that she was still disabled, but it was sent to the wrong address. Guess what? Her benefits were cut off…To make a long story short, Schroeder finally got reinstated with the help of a Legal Aid attorney but her problems continue…

Tags: Social Security

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