Disability Benefits for Mental Health Conditions: How Your Doctor Can Help

In order to prove that you are disabled due to a mental health condition, Social Security and/or your insurance company will want information about how your condition prevents you from working. Your doctor can help by giving specific information about how your symptoms impact the following areas at work:

Concentration, persistence, and pace

• How long can you pay attention at one time?
• How long can you pay attention over the course of a day?
• Do you need breaks more than once every two hours?
  

Absenteeism due to your psychological problems

• How many days a month would you be expected to be absent from work?
• Would you need a flexible schedule?

Ability to sustain competitive employment, 8 hours a day, 40 hours per week

• Would you need extra breaks the more you work?
• Would your symptoms worsen over the course of a day or a week if you worked?
  

Ability to understand, remember, and carry out both simple and detailed instructions and work-like procedures

Ability to interact appropriately with the public, supervisors, and coworkers

• How do you react to criticism?
• Are you cooperative?
• How do you deal with authority figures?
• Do you communicate clearly with others?

Ability to respond to normal work stress

Ability to perform simple, routine tasks

• Do you need extra supervision to carry out your duties?
• Can you finish tasks without distraction?

Your doctor should indicate your level of functioning in these areas. Do you have an unlimited, limited, or very limited ability? Are you unable to function at all in these areas?

By providing Social Security or your insurance company with this information, you will help your disability claim by giving a complete picture of your ability to work.

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.

If I get disability benefits, can I take money out of my 401k without paying the 10% penalty?

If you get Social Security Disability or Long Term Disability (or some kinds of VA disability benefits), you may be able to avoid paying the 10% early withdrawal penalty if you take funds out of your 401k plan.

A lot of people who get disability benefits have to tap into their 401k plans to pay bills and take care of other expenses. When you do that, you usually will get a Form 1099-R for the distribution, and box 7 will usually be checked indicating it is a loan. You will have to pay the loan back at a reasonable interest rate, or you face paying a 10% early withdrawal penalty.

However, if you are disabled, you can avoid the 10% penalty. You prove disability by showing that you cannot perform substantial gainful activity because of your physical and mental conditions. This is very similar language to Social Security's disability standard. It is also the same language the government uses for a person to prove 100% disability based upon individual unemployability (often called a claim for 'TDIU') under the VA disability system. It probably is not the same language you will find in your Long Term Disability ('LTD') insurance policy or ERISA (group employer or union) plan. However, if LTD plan pays benefits based upon your inability to engage in any occupation and you have proven that, it is very similar.

Visit the IRS web site to learn more about early 401k withdrawals. Talk with your CPA about filing Form 5329 and entered code 03 on the form.

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.

Disability Attorney John Tucker Was on Faculty at National Association of Disability Representatives Convention

On April 27, 2010, Disability Attorney John Tucker served on the faculty at the 10th Annual Disability Benefits Law Convention of the National Association of Disability Representatives ('NADR') in Chicago. NADR is a professional organization made up of attorneys and non-attorneys that represent individuals in Social Security Disability and SSI claims.

Mr. Tucker is a frequent lecturer and author on disability topics, including Individual Disability insurance, ERISA (group) Disability benefits, Credit Disability Insurance, Social Security Disability, and Veterans Disability benefits.

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.

How Much Will I Get From Social Security Disability? Check Out the Social Security Benefit Calculator!

Social Security Disability benefits are based upon what you have paid into the Social Security system in taxes. Each year, when you file your tax return, you report how much money you earned. The amount of money you receive depends upon the amount of money you have paid in.

You can check your annual Social Security Statement when you receive it in the mail for what your disability benefit would be if you become disabled. However, you can also check Social Security's website. Just follow this link: http://www.socialsecurity.gov/estimator/

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.

How Long Will It Take to Get My Social Security Disability Hearing -- Social Security's Own Statistics Tell Us.

As part of Social Security Administration's ('SSA') new Open Government initiative, the SSA website has a variety of statistics that are helpful. Included among these, is a chart showing the average waiting time for each hearing office in the nation. As the SSA website says:

"A presentation of the average time (in months) from the hearing request date until a hearing is held for claims pending in the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review's hearing offices. Allows users to estimate the amount of time they may have to wait for a hearing to be held."

One of the hardest parts of my job as disability attorney representing the disabled is to explain how long people must wait just to get a hearing in their case. These are the most up to date statistics out there. As disappointing as they may be, SSA is getting faster over time. I just attended a conference and heard a speech by SSA Commissioner Michael Astrue in which he went into great detail about how SSA has cut the waiting time significantly. He also explained their continuing effort to get this wait down even more.

Click here to view Social Security's hearing waiting time statistics: http://www.ssa.gov/appeals/DataSets/01_NetStat_Report.html.


Copyright (c) 2009 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.