The Department of Labor claims the economy is turning around. The White House Administration and the national media are confident that our economic woes are behind us. However, troubling statistics released this morning tell a different tale. Our national unemployment rate remains dangerously close to 10%, which means on average, one out of every ten individuals in this country are out of work. So what does this mean for disability recipients and those with pending applications?
RAPID INCREASE OF DISABILITY APPLICATIONS
With so many people out of work, it comes as no surprise that individuals who are unemployed are going to seek every opportunity to collect a stream of income. The Social Security Administration pays monetary benefits for the retired and the disabled. The earliest age a person can collect "early retirement" benefits is 62. That means everyone below the age of 62 will have to collect disability benefits if they plan on receiving a monthly check from the government. In 2010, the Administration will see more than 3 million disability applications - an increase of about 500,000 from 2009.
MORE APPLICATIONS MEANS MORE DENIALS
An increase in applications will certainly result in an increase of denials upon an initial application. Since a state agency is making the initial determination, a single disability analyst is making a decision based on what they see in a file. The national denial rate at the first level is close to 75% and in the state of New York, its hovering around 80%. A denial at the initial application stage is not the final word. And a disability hopeful has a much better chance of securing benefits at the hearing level.
COLLECTING UNEMPLOYMENT AND APPLYING FOR BENEFITS
There is nothing wrong with collecting unemployment benefits and applying for disability benefits. A claimant does make an obvious contradiction by stating they are "ready, willing and able" to work to the state and at the same time, they allege they cannot work as a result of their impairments to the federal government. However, if the Social Security Administration has not made a decision on your case (meaning, the case is pending), then you have not been formally rendered disabled yet. Your pending application is an allegation that you are disabled. Once you are determined to be disabled, if you continue to collect unemployment, your actions could amount to fraud.
