Smoking and Social Security Disability Benefits

At a Social Security disability hearing, your claim will be decided by an Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ"). If you are applying for disability benefits, you should be aware that there are ALJs who are biased against smokers and will use it as a reason to deny claims.

Pain and smoking
Studies have shown that smokers tend to be less responsive to chronic pain treatments. Particularly in cases of spinal surgical procedures, smoking also can interfere with healing. Everydayhealth.com states that smoking makes chronic pain worse, increases pain sensitivity and perception, and interferes with pain medication. Because of the research, there are some ALJs who believe that a claimant would not be disabled and would not have as much pain if they simply stopped smoking and will deny benefits because of it. Some ALJs also deny benefits for conditions like emphysema or other lung diseases if the claimant smokes because they believe the claimant's condition would improve by stopping smoking.


Credibility:
The ALJ may also question your believability if you say you cannot afford to see a doctor or pay for pain medication, yet you smoke. Appeals courts have agreed with ALJ's who have found that a claimant was not believable in saying that they could not afford treatment but were able to buy and smoke cigarettes.

If you are applying for Social Security Disability or SSI benefits, consider quitting to avoid the problem of ALJ bias against smokers. For additional help with your disability claim, contact a disability attorney.

Copyright (c) 2010 by John V. Tucker and Tucker & Ludin, P.A. All rights reserved. For assistance with your Long Term Disability claim, ERISA Disability benefit claim, Social Security Disability claim, or Veterans Disability compensation or pension claim, call Disability Lawyer John Tucker at (866) 282-5260.

Now You Can Check Social Security Judge Approval Rates

In Portland, Oregon, the local newspaper called The Oregonian has done a great service to Social Security claimants and the public. For what I believe is the first time, Social Security has released statistics about how often Social Security Administrative Law Judges approve disability cases. The Oregonian did a Freedom of Information Act request and obtained the information. Now, you can go to their website and type in a Judge's name and search their approval rates for 2006, 2007, and 2008. Here is the link: http://www.oregonlive.com/special/index.ssf/2008/12/social_security_database.html?app


Copyright (c) 2008 by John V. Tucker and Tucker & Ludin, P.A. All rights reserved. For assistance with your Long Term Disability claim, ERISA Disability benefit claim, Social Security Disability claim, or Veterans Disability compensation or pension claim, call Disability Lawyer John Tucker at (866) 282-5260.

DISABILITY TIP OF THE WEEK: Unemployment Payments

If you file for unemployment when you leave your job due to a disability, you damage your chances of receiving Long Term Disability benefits from your insurance company and from the Social Security Administration. When you file for unemployment, you are certifying that you are capable of working. This, obviously, undermines your credibility because if you certify that you are capable of working, your insurance company and the Social Security Administration will think that you are, in fact, capable of working.

If you receive unemployment benefits and you file for Social Security Disability ("SSD"), your SSD benefits may be reduced by the amount you received for unemployment.

REMEMBER: Even though it is tempting to apply for unemployment in order to have income while you are waiting for your disability benefits, this could ruin your claims for those disability benefits. If you have filed for unemployment, make sure you let your attorney know.

Copyright (c) 2008 by John V. Tucker and Tucker & Ludin, P.A. All rights reserved. Any content borrowed or referenced from another source is referenced by citation to the original source as noted in the text above.

Your Earnings - Being "Insured" for Social Security Disability and Why You Don't Want to Work Under the Table

Yesterday, a man called me to discuss his denial from Social Security. He had applied for Disability Benefits, but was turned down because he was not "insured." That means that he had no paid enough into the Social Security system to be covered. Unfortunately, he had too much in assets to qualify for Supplement Security Income ("SSI" - Social Security's indigent program). It turns out that he had worked "under the table" for several years, and never reported his earnings by filing taxes. I had to explain that I could not help him.

Social Security Disability ("SSD") payments are based on what you have paid in taxes. The government gives you credits when you work. Each year, you can earn up to 4 credits (one for each quarter of the year). You earn credits based upon how much money you earn. For example, in 2008, a worker will earn one credit for every $1,050 they earn and report as wages on their taxes. To get 4 credits for 2008, you will have to report $4,200 in earnings for the year. You can earn all of that money in just 1 or 2 months of the year, and still get all 4 credits; you do not have to actually work in each quarter.

The government views SSD as a form of disability insurance. To be eligible to apply for and receive SSD payments, you have to be "fully insured." There is no partially insured status. You either are or you are not. To get fully insured, you must have reported earnings on your taxes to the IRS and have earned at least 20 credits within the last ten years, i.e. the last 40 quarters. Young people in their late teens and twenties may be able to qualify with less than 20 quarters. Essentially, you have to have earned credits for half of the last 10 years to be insured today. Another way to say that is that you are "insured for disability purposes" if you earned 20 credits during the 10 years before you stop working due to your disability.

That means that a person who works 5 years in a row (earning all 4 credits in each of those years) will be insured for 5 more years, even if they stop working. They would have earned 20 quarters and could not work for 20 more quarters, but still be insured.

Here is a chart of explaining how much money you need to report in taxes each year to earn credits for this year and the previous 10 years:

2008 - To earn 1 quarter = $1,050; To earn all 4 quarters = $4,200
2007 - To earn 1 quarter =$1,000; To earn all 4 quarters = $4,000
2006 - To earn 1 quarter =$970; To earn all 4 quarters = $3,880
2005 - To earn 1 quarter =$920; To earn all 4 quarters = $3,860
2004 - To earn 1 quarter =$900; To earn all 4 quarters = $3,600
2003 - To earn 1 quarter =$890; To earn all 4 quarters = $3,560
2002 - To earn 1 quarter =$870; To earn all 4 quarters = $3,480
2001 - To earn 1 quarter =$830; To earn all 4 quarters = $3,320
2000 - To earn 1 quarter =$780; To earn all 4 quarters = $3,120
1999 - To earn 1 quarter = $740; To earn all 4 quarters = $2,960
1998 - To earn 1 quarter =$700; To earn all 4 quarters = $2,800
1997 - To earn 1 quarter =$670; To earn all 4 quarters = $2,680

I mentioned above that you have to report your earnings by paying taxes. That is how the Social Security Administration gets your eanings information. Each person has a Social Security account under their Social Security number, and the IRS shares your tax data with Social Security. You get credits as you work and pay taxes. People that earn more money get higher disability payments. Similarly, higher wage earners get a higher retirement benefit if they never become disabled, because Social Security uses your earnings over your lifetime to determine how much you get when you retire. However, people that "work under the table" who do not report their earnings on taxes, never get any credits.

You may think you are fooling Uncle Sam by not reporting your earnings, but in the end you are just fooling yourself. Bad things can happen to good people. If you become sick or injured to the point where you cannot work, all those years of working under the table may leave you destitute with no income. Along with Social Security Disability comes Medicare after a period of time. Those that don't pay taxes lose not only Disability Benefits, but also Medicare insurance.


Copyright (c) 2008 by John V. Tucker and Tucker & Ludin, P.A. All rights reserved. Any content borrowed or referenced from another source is referenced by citation to the original source as noted in the text above.