"Takers" Invest Hard Work In "Taking" Their Own Money Back

To contact us Click HERE

"Yes, there has been some liberalization of the criteria — if you have multiple interacting conditions or mental illness, you may qualify in ways you didn’t before — but that liberalization is pretty reasonable," he said. "It’s still quite hard to qualify for DI."  Paul Krugman

 If you've ever applied for Social Security disability (SSDI) or the redheaded stepchild of social security - supplemental security income (SSI) - then you know when it comes to the challenges one endures in obtaining this benefit that "quite hard to qualify for DI" is like saying a bunker-buster bomb is "quite loud" when it goes off. 

In most places around the country, anyone who wants to apply for SSDI/SSI has a daunting task just in the wait times associated with a filing; most folks wait years for a determination.  The first-time app denial rates are so high even a broccoli spear will tell you not to hold your breath on that first submission. 

The good peeps over at Disability Informer share this handy table and info for your consideration:

 The following is a table of average wait times for determinations on Social Security Disability claims, per the Social Security Administration.  The listed times include denials and awards.

Level	Name	Wait time (days)
1	Initial application	101
2	Reconsideration	No data
3	Hearing	491
4	Appeals Council	261
5	Federal District Court	No data

*This information was current through the end of the 2009 fiscal year.
The 10 states with the longest wait times are Alabama, the District of Columbia (D.C.), Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

LIKELIHOOD OF BEING AWARDED SSDI BENEFITS
On a national level, at the application stage the award rate was 36%, and  the denial rate was 64%.  At the reconsideration stage 14% of the cases won and 86% lost.  At the hearing level, the amount of winning cases was 63%, a dismissal rate of 16%, and a denial rate of 21%.  At the appeals council level, the approval rate was 2%, the dismissal rate was 2%, 22% were remanded for a new trial and 73% lost.  At the federal court level, 5% were approved, 8% were dismissed, 47% were remanded for a new hearing, and 40% were denied.  (Many thanks for your work, Disability Informer)

While the above snapshot doesn't mention whether these claims were filed by attorneys representing disabled clients, I suspect this is the case because I don't think I've ever met anyone who has simply filed the form online or at the Social Security office themselves and received their benefits.  It's an arduous, difficult, time-consuming, technical process that requires a high level of skill and knowledge to get an application successfully through the bureaucratic review process, trust me.  It also has some very tough medical reviews by bonafide physicians one must pass through before you are considered, and not just any ol doc will suffice.  You'll need to pay a visit to a doc selected by the SS office, and anything you and your regular doc have done together over the past 20 years gets barely a glance, the first time around, anyway.

The chance of you somehow defrauding the government of a chunk of change that you paid into the system through ssdi payments from your work in this country over the long-term is pretty slim as well.  See, you'll be required to re-certify on a regular basis once you are approved because there's a chance that you might get better during your time spent "taking," and Unka Sam, see, he don't take kindly to malingering takers, nosireeBob.

There are some ways to fast-track an SSDI application but these are very few and really far between - the SOAR Program is probably the finest example of this and in some places, a good SOAR team can get a person through the entire process and approved within 60-90 days (Nashville's Park Center SOAR Team has empirical evidence supporting this).   Unfortunately, not all SOAR practitioners are created equal, and it's hit and miss whether you'll: A. even find a SOAR Team in your area.  B. find one that will accept you (criteria for a SOAR intervention is strict and narrow). And C. Find a SOAR Team that can get you through the process quickly even when they do accept you (a lot depends upon your own access to your medical records, your condition, and your ability to make appointments).

And the party don't start once you get approved for your benefits, either.  The amount one receives from SSDI is such a pittance that if you currently live in some form of housing, chances are you'll be moving to a cheaper place soon.  If you're living in a cardboard box in an alley somewhere, chances are you'll remain there for some time to come because although you may have gotten lucky and received a small "lump sum" payment due to the length of time it took to approve you, you still won't have enough to cover the average cost of market rate rent until you are approved for "affordable housing."   Affordable housing basically means the landlord cannot charge you more than 30% of your income and a subsidy via a Section 8, Shelter Plus Care, or VASH voucher pays the rest.

The process for obtaining one of those rental subsidy vouchers are damned near as arduous as applying for SSDI, most offices that accept the apps are closed indefinitely because of the backlogs and open only in small windows of time (Nashville opened the application period for approximately 8 days in 2012 after about an 18 month closed period) and in many cities, wait times can be up to 4 years. So you'll be "taking" your way through society homeless for some time to come, even with your SSDI check in hand.

As someone who works with folks who are at various points along the SSDI application continuum, I can assure you that for the vast vast majority of them, actual work would not only be far easier for them to go do, it would be much more beneficial for them to do as well, and they know it.  The reason they cannot work is because....well, they cannot work.

They are sick, whether mentally or physically, and to suggest that somehow, these folks are simply sucking the resources out of the public coffers and living a life of blissful, retired luxury in the process is not only patently false, it's offensive and absurd as well.