Social Disability Lawyer Blog

Stay up to date with the latest news in the world of social disability law provided by the Los Angeles based Law Office of Irene Ruzin.

Disability Benefits for Rheumatoid Arthritis

Disability Benefits for Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis is when body's defense mechanism gets upset and starts targeting the joint linings of own body. This may result in muscle and bone deformity, particularly targeting both knees, wrists and both hands. It also affects the skin, heart, lungs, eyes, blood or nerves. It can also cause bone erosion, making it impossible to carry out ...

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4 Things Social Security Beneficiaries Should Not Do

4 Things Social Security Beneficiaries Should Not Do

Earning social security disability benefits is like winning a merit-based lottery, with a chance of 1 in a million. However, while most people learn to remain vigilant about the rules while they're in the process, many disability beneficiaries simply forget to follow the rules, once they have won the SSDI benefits. The unfortunate part is, your SSD...

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Working While Receiving SSDI Benefits

Working While Receiving SSDI Benefits

The SSA offers individuals an opportunity to work without losing their disability benefits. Social Security Administration understands that a disability beneficiary may want to return to work and earn more than what they receive in their SSDI benefits. A job may mean increased income and financial security than the disability benefit, and the job c...

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Basic Requirements to Qualify for Social Security Disability Benefits

Basic Requirements to Qualify for Social Security Disability Benefits

1 in 6 Americans or approximately 64 million US citizens are on the Social Security Disability Benefits among many other Social Security Administration programs. While 4 out of 5 times the beneficiaries are people aged over 50 years, for the rest 1 in 5 people are young disability beneficiaries for various qualified disabilities such as degenerativ...

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How Does Social Security Disability Define Skilled, Semi-Skilled and Unskilled Work?

How Does Social Security Disability define Skilled, Semi-Skilled and Unskilled Work?

As important as it is to fill your SSDI application right, it is equally important to classify your prior job at the right skill level can help you win disability. So if you've applied for Social Security disability and your agency considers that you are actually not able to do your past work, the agency will look at the skill levels of your past w...

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Average Indexed Monthly Income (AIME) to Calculate Your Social Security Disability benefits

Average Indexed Monthly Income (AIME) to Calculate Your Social Security Disability benefits

Disability claims taken either under SSI or SSDI use the same criteria for medical evaluation. Read more on that here. However, what you receive under each program depends solely on how much Social Security Taxes you paid under your wages. The Social Security Administration, SSA uses two basic formulas to calculate your SSDI benefits. The SSA uses ...

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Disability Starter Fact Sheet for Family Member’s Benefits

Disability Starter Fact Sheet for Family Member’s Benefits

Family is one of the world's most beautiful blessings. Yet, anything that befalls upon families worries you. If you are someone who is the sole major responsible person for your family, but have been unable to meet their financial needs, do not worry. The Social Security Administration allows upto 150% of the disabled family member's Social Securit...

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Social Security Benefits for Survivors in 2021 and Onward

Social Security Benefits for Survivors in 2021 and Onward

Losing a family member to social security can be hard enough. The devastation can prove even more cumbersome if the family has to deal with unforeseen financial issues along with the emotional turmoil.Sad to relate, various Coronavirus related deaths in United States have been of old and retired people who could not survive the lethal virus and lef...

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Tips on Preparing for Social Security Disability Appeals during COVID-19 Lockdown

Tips on Preparing for Social Security Disability Appeals during COVID-19 Lockdown

​The Social Security Administration has disabled in-person disability hearings amidst the COVID-19 lockdowns and social distancing measures. Since most of the SSA staff is working remotely, the SSA closed its hearing offices and has currently only online video hearings facility for disability claimants. If you have subscribed to participate in a di...

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SSDI Online Hearings Process during COVID-19

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Due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Social Security Administration has switched to online hearings for your Disability Appeals. Since most of the SSA staff is working remotely from homes, the SSA has discontinued in-person ALJ hearings for an indefinite period of time.  What are Social Security Online Hearings? An online Disability...

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Can You Keep Worker's Compensation While Receiving SSDI Benefits During Covid-19?

Can You Keep Worker's Compensation While Receiving SSDI Benefits During Covid-19?

Yes, you can keep both worker's compensation benefits and social security benefits together. This is of course only when you qualify for both social security disability insurance benefits and worker's compensation benefits. Since these are both separate programs under federal government, you don't need to give up one to avail benefits from another....

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COVID-19 Disability Guide: How to Make Sure Your Doctor is Supportive for your Non-Covid Disability Benefits Application

COVID-19 Disability Guide: How to Make Sure Your Doctor is Supportive for your Disability Benefits Application

The Social Security Administration uses a List of Impairments from its Blue Book of Disability, As a matter of fact, if you meet the Work Credits, have enough prove to support your claim of being disabled and are unable to earn, you're considered as eligible to apply for Disability Benefits. However, the Coronavirus pandemic has made it a cumbersom...

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Substantial Gainful Activity and Disability Income Limits for 2021

Substantial Gainful Activity and Disability Income Limits for 2021

In assessing whether you qualify non-medically, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will initially look to whether you are right now working. In the event that you are working with low income wages below the stated threshold and not procuring a high income, you won't consequently be denied disability benefits, however completing a considerable...

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Applying for SSDI as a Disabled Adult on your Parent's Earnings

Applying for SSDI as a Disabled Adult on your Parent's Earnings

Even though the SSA provides benefits to adult children if they are over the age of 18 to qualify, the SSA will consider you a disabled adult because you will be collecting SSDI based on your qualifying parent's Social Security's earnings. What does it mean to be Disabled? In order to be eligible for SSDI as a disabled adult child, the disabled chi...

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Social Security Changes for COLA in 2021

The Social Security Administration announced that it will make an increase of 1.3% in Social Security Disability and Supplemental Security Income, as a result of a Cost-of-living-adjustment. This COLA increase will take effect immediately for all 71 million Americans receiving monthly benefits paychecks. This COLA adjustment is designed to help ben...

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Social Security Disability Benefits for Children as Dependents

Social Security Disability Benefits for Children

Disability benefits for disabled children and for children of disabled parents are one of the few benefits covered by the Social Security Disability Insurance program by the Social Security Administration. The Social Security Administration reported in 2017 of having distributed $2.6 billion per month in disability benefits paychecks to 4.6 million...

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FICA taxes for Social Security Disability in 2021

FICA taxes for Social Security Disability in 2021

FICA is a US federal payroll tax. It stands for the Federal Insurance Contributions Act and is ultimately deducted from the paycheck for every person who has signed up for the Social Security program from the Social Security Administration. FICA is not the virtual piggy bank that every payer will have access to when they retire. Instead, it is an e...

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What wins Social Security Disability Benefits?

What wins Social Security Disability Benefits?

Let's be honest: The name of your disability impairment does not mean an ultimate win for your SSDI case. There are various factors that can win or lose disability cases. Each year approximately 64 million people apply for disability – out of those only 30% of the DI claimants actually win the disability benefits. This means that only about one thi...

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Work Credits for Social Security Disability in 2020

Work Credits for Social Security Disability in 2020

Disability has immediate and lasting consequences for a DI claimant. Not only a limiting disability/impairment can happen to anyone – especially with an advancing age – it can greatly affect a claimant's economic situation. The claimant's gross income earnings, household standards, total family income and purchases of essentials such as grocery and...

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What is the Ticket-to-Work Program for SSDI?

What is the Ticket-to-Work Program for SSDI?

The ticket-to-work (TTW) is a voluntary based program designed to get individuals able to return to work on a trial basis. The program is for people aged 18 to 64 with a disability who are on monthly social security checks and want to go back to work while also not losing their disability benefits if it does not work. A DI claimant can utilize the ...

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