Social Security offices are closed on Monday, January throughout the country. The reason for the one day closure is the observance of the Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. (sometimes referred to as Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. day or MLK day). This federal holiday recognizes the legacy of…
Earlier this month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”) issued a warning. The warning concerned the manner in which patients take certain drugs. The drugs are two commonly prescribed drugs: gabapentin and pregabalin. The FDA found after extensive study that these drugs may cause serious, even life threatening,…
Starting January 8, 2020, all Social Security field offices will open on Wednesdays from 9 am to 4 pm. On January 1, 2013, the Social Security Administration reduced its Wednesday hours for the over 1,220 filed offices in the United States. The offices, as of that date, closed on Wednesday…
I am excited to have been asked to teach at a NBI Social Security Disability Seminar “Social Security Claims from A to Z” A Practical Walkthrough of the Claim Process, in Indianapolis on December 16, 2019 at the Crowne Plaza Indianapolis Downtown Union Station, 123 West Louisiana Street, Indianapolis, IN. …
The Thanksgiving holiday allows all of us to take time out of our busy everyday lives to reflect on all of the benefits our great country has given us and the support of our family and friends. Our offices will be closed Thursday, Thanksgiving day and Friday so we can…
Does the need for a cane, walkers or wheelchair impact te decision in a Social Security disability case? Maybe. Cane, walkers and wheelchairs are known as assistive devices. At bottom, they are needed to help a person walk. Assistive devices come in all shapes, types and sizes. For example, a…
On December 17, 2018, the Social Security Administration published an advanced notice of proposed rule making in the Federal Register [83 Fed. Reg. 64493] asking for public input about whether the way in which Social Security considers pain in connection with its determination of disability is consistent with current…
What is a Social Security Video Teleconference Hearing? A video teleconference hearing (“VTC”) is a hearing at which the administrative law judge appears from a remote hearing location and the Social Security claimant and his/her attorney is at another hearing location. The “video teleconference” part is how the judge and…
Today marks the 22nd day of the government shutdown. This government shutdown is now the longest in modern U.S. history, exceeding the shutdown in 1995-1996. As many know, there are about 800,000 federal government employees effected by the shutdown. The departments whose agencies have been impacted include the departments of…
Over the last few years, the Social Security Administration has changed the way it decides disability cases. The new key word is consistency. The Commissioner of Social Security now looks for consistency in medical diagnoses, the medical chart of the claimants and consistency in the activities of daily living…