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Social Security Announces Nationwide Launch of Compassionate Allowances

Process Will Fast Track Applications For People with Cancers and Rare Diseases

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, on October 27, 2008 announced the national rollout of the agency’s Compassionate Allowances initiative, a way to expedite the processing of disability claims for applicants whose medical conditions are so severe that their conditions obviously meet Social Security’s standards.

“Getting benefits quickly to people with the most severe medical conditions is both the right and the compassionate thing to do,” Commissioner Astrue said. “This initiative will allow us to make decisions on these cases in a matter of days, rather than months or years.”

Social Security is launching this expedited decision process with a total of 50 conditions. Over time, more diseases and conditions will be added. A list of the first 50 impairments — 25 rare diseases and 25 cancers — can be found at www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances.

Before announcing this initiative, Social Security held public hearings to receive information from experts on rare diseases and cancers. The agency also enlisted the assistance of the National Institutes of Health.

Compassionate Allowances is the second piece of the agency’s two-track, fast-track system for certain disability claims. When combined with the agency’s Quick Disability Determination process, and once fully implemented, this two-track system could result in six to nine percent of disability claims, the cases for as much as a quarter million people, being decided in an average of six to eight days.

“This is an outstanding achievement for the Social Security Administration,” said Peter Saltonstall, President of the National Organization for Rare Disorders. “It has taken Social Security less than a year to develop this much-needed program that will benefit those whose claims merit expedited consideration based on the nature of their disease. Disability backlogs cause a hardship for patients and their families. Commissioner Astrue and his staff deserve our thanks for a job well done.”

“Unfortunately, many hardworking people with cancer may not only face intensive treatment to save their lives, but they may also find themselves truly unable to perform their daily work-related activities and as result, may face serious financial concerns, such as the loss of income and the cost of treatment,” said Daniel E. Smith, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. “The Social Security Administration’s Compassionate Allowances program will help streamline the disability benefits application process so that benefits are quickly provided to those who need them most.”

“This is America, and it simply is not acceptable for people to wait years for a final decision on a disability claim,” Commissioner Astrue said. “I am committed to a process that is as fair and speedy as possible. The launch of Compassionate Allowances is another step to ensuring Americans with disabilities, especially those with certain cancers and rare diseases, get the benefits they need quickly.”

If you don’t have a bank account, your days of dealing with paper checks from Social Security may be over.

Social Security recipients can now get monthly payments on a prepaid debit card. The Direct Express Debit MasterCard is being rolled out in 10 states by the Treasury Department and Dallas-based Comerica Bank. It’s an alternative to paper checks and direct deposit. But as with every financial product, there is some fine print. Here’s what you need to know about the Social Security prepaid debit card.

The card is aimed at people without bank accounts. About 4 million Americans receiving Social Security benefits do not have bank accounts and must receive paper checks, which are vulnerable to financial crimes like check fraud and more minor problems such as delivery delay. There’s also the issue of where to cash them. “They have to use check-cashing services,” says Bill Hardekopf, CEO of the credit card comparison website LowCards.com, about people without bank accounts. Check-cashing services can average $40 per check, according to the Brookings Institution.

The southern states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas will receive information about the debit card first because they have more low-income Americans without bank accounts than other areas of the country and are the most likely to be hit by nasty weather like hurricanes that can delay checks, according to Judith Tillman, the Treasury Department’s Financial Management Service commissioner.

There are no sign-up fees, monthly fees, or overdraft fees, which plague the users of many other prepaid cards. And no credit check is required to enroll. “With this particular card, the fees aren’t as high as many of the other prepaid cards,” says Michelle Jun, a staff attorney for nonprofit Consumers Union. You can get access to the cash loaded on your card from a bank or credit union teller or as cash back with purchases at retailers. You can also set up free “low balance” alerts when the account balance falls below a certain level and notification of deposits by phone, e-mail, or text message.

Debit card users can withdraw cash from Direct Express network ATMs free once a month. Additional cash withdrawals at network ATMs, which include Comerica Bank, Charter One, Privileged Status, Alliance One, PNC Bank, MasterCard ATM Alliance, and MoneyPass, are 90 cents each. If you use a nonnetwork ATM, you will be charged two fees: the Comerica 90-cent fee and a surcharge by the nonnetwork ATM, which can be as much as $3. To find a network ATM, you can use an ATM locator feature at USDirectExpress.com or call (800) 741-1115. Unused ATM withdrawals can be carried over from one month to the next.

If you’re going to be traveling abroad, you may want to leave your Social Security debit card at home. Comerica charges $3 and 3 percent of the amount withdrawn to use ATMs outside the United States in addition to a possible surcharge for using a nonnetwork ATM. For debit purchases in foreign countries, you’ll also be charged 3 percent of the price.

A paper statement mailed to you costs 75 cents per month. This fee is easily avoided by checking your account balance online and printing it out. But try not to pay any bills while you are logged in to Comerica’s website, or it will cost you 50 cents per bill. Instead pay bills online at the merchant or utility’s website if it accepts MasterCard. And hold on to your card. After one free replacement each year, it will cost you $4 per card—and an extra $13.50 if you need to have it delivered overnight.

If your card is lost or stolen, the amount of money you could lose depends on how quickly you notify Comerica. If you call within two business days, you may lose up to $50, but if you wait longer, you could lose up to $500. For fraudulent transactions, you need to let Comerica know within 90 days to limit your loss to $500, or you could be stuck paying an even larger amount. (For most other debit cards, you have only 60 days. The Department of the Treasury negotiated an extra 30 days of protection for the Direct Express card.) MasterCard says you will not be held liable for an unauthorized use of your card involving a signature-based transaction where your pin number was not entered.

If you already have a bank account, you can avoid many of these fees by signing up for direct deposit and using your own debit card. With your own bank account, you can get unlimited and free in-network ATM withdrawals from a financial institution near your home and accrue interest on your Social Security dollars until you spend them. (Balances on a prepaid debit card garner no interest.)

Sheri R. Abrams, Attorney at Law, was among the attendees at the Annual Stetson University Law School Conference on Special Needs Trust Preparation, which took place October 16-17, 2008 in Tampa, Florida.

Special needs Trust Preparation is one of the fastest-growing areas of estate planning. Attorneys in this field focus on helping individuals with special needs and their families plan for a more secure future. The attorneys must combine compassion with skilled estate planning and a knowledge of the public benefit programs on which many individuals with special needs must rely.

These Conferences put on by the Stetson University Law School provide attorneys in this growing field of law with access to a collegial community and practice tools to assist them in fulfilling their clients’ needs.

This conference in Tampa featured presentations by nationally recognized leaders in special needs planning and related disciplines who shared insights on the latest developments and legal strategies in the field.

To learn more about Special Needs Planning Services offered by Sheri R. Abrams, please call 703-934-5450 and set up an initial consultation or see our website at www.virginiaspecialneedstrusts.com.

Social Security benefits for 50 million people will go up 5.8% next year, the largest increase in more than a quarter century. The increase, which will start in January, was announced October 16, 2008 by the Social Security Administration.

It’s the largest increase since a 7.4% jump in 1982 and is more than double the 2.3% rise that people getting Social Security got in their monthly checks this year.

The 5.8% rise in the cost of living adjustment is a sharp departure from recent years. The COLA increases have been below 3 percent for all but three of the past 15 years.

The biggest cost of living benefit on record was a 14.3% increase in 1980. Social Security benefits have been adjusted every year since 1975.

In more good news, the cost of living increase will not be eaten up by higher monthly premiums for the part of Medicare that pays for physician services. Because of gains in the Medicare Part B trust fund, that premium will hold steady at $96.40 a month, although higher-income people including couples making more than $170,000 annually will see their premiums increase.

The average retired couple, both getting Social Security benefits, will see their monthly check go up by $103 a month to $1,876.

The standard Supplemental Security Income payment for a couple will go from $956 per month to $1,011. The SSI payment for an individual will go from $637 per month to $674 per month.

The average monthly check for a disabled worker will go from $1,006 to $1,064.

Sheri Abrams, Attorney at Law, will be teaching a class on Social Security Disability Law for NBI on October 6, 2008.  For information please go to http://www.nbi-sems.com/Enbi/Brochurepdfs/45828.pdf.

The Social Security Administration’s Inspector General concludes in a recent report that many banks are violating federal law by garnishing accounts that receive electronic deposits of Social Security benefits.  The practice could imperil millions of low-income seniors and people with disabilities who rely on Social Security.  When people owe money to credit card companies and other types of lenders, the creditors often use garnishment as a way of gaining partial payment of the debt. In order to garnish a debtor’s account, a creditor must go to court and obtain an order compelling the debtor’s bank to relinquish a set portion of the account, often on a monthly basis in accordance with the debtor’s deposits.  However, federal law prohibits garnishment of accounts receiving direct deposit of Social Security benefits, except in very specific situations, such to collect child support or unpaid federal taxes.  Unfortunately for many indebted seniors and people with disabilities, many state courts and most banks are unaware of the federal law regarding garnishment.  Therefore, courts routinely issue, and banks carry out, garnishments of accounts they have no business depleting. These accounts often hold the only source of income of a senior or person with a disability.. After they were alerted to the situation, Sens. Herb Kohl (D-WI), Max Baucus (D-MT) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) requested that the Social Security Administration’s Inspector General investigate.  In a recently released report, the Inspector General found that in a 12-month period, the 12 largest U.S. banks withheld more than $1 million from accounts holding government benefits and no other funds. The banks also withheld an additional $29 million from accounts holding benefits mixed with money from other sources.

Hundreds of thousands of Social Security disability (SSDI) claimants are waiting up to three years for a resolution of their disability appeals, according to a article in the New York Times. During the long wait for an appeals hearing, more and more claimants are losing their homes, filing for bankruptcy, dying from their illnesses or even committing suicide. The average wait now exceeds 500 days, and the backlog of cases numbers 755,000; in 2000 the wait was 258 days and the backlog was 311,000 cases. The Social Security Administration’s (SSA) plan to hire 150 appeals judges to tackle the backlog is caught in the showdown between Congress and the White House over domestic appropriations. President Bush proposed a $9.6 billion budget for the SSA for fiscal year 2008, but an additional $100 million is needed to hire more SSA judges. Congress had approved an increase of $275 million for the SSA in November, but Bush vetoed the bill that included the increase. If the standoff continues and the government operates through continuing resolutions, the SSAA’s spending will remain at last year’s level, which would not only scuttle the plan for new judges but conceivably lead to furloughs, according to SSA Commissioner Michael A. Astrue. The increased backlog in appeals over the last decade is the result of litigation, funding shortages, and the rising number of SSD applications from baby boomers in their 50s and 60s. About 2.5 million disability cases are filed each year, two-thirds of which are denied initially by state agencies based solely on the documentary record. Most claimants give up at that point or after their request for local reconsideration is denied. But two-thirds of the more than 575,000 claimants who appeal eventually win reversals after a hearing before an SSA judge. Federal officials predict that the lack of additional judges will mean even longer waits and more personal hardships for claimants. The long delays are also a strain for state welfare agencies that provide cash assistance to some SSD claimants during their long wait for an appeals hearing. Like his predecessors, Commissioner Astrue has promised faster decisions. He indicated that the SSA has begun a process for the speedier initial approval for claimants who are clearly eligible and that more hearings are being held by video. But indications are that there will be no significant impact on the backlog without major increases in funding, judges, and support staff.

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The law offices of Sheri R. Abrams, P.C. have moved to a new location right across from the Courthouse in Fairfax City Virginia.

Our new address is: 4015 Chain Bridge Road, Suite I, Fairfax, VA 22030

Our telephone number remains the same at (703) 934-5450