Everyday People Matter
Dr. Frank Shelp, (pictured below) Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Development stepped down last month after three years overseeing a department overhaul. The new commissioner is Frank Berry, former CEO of View Point Health in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Shelp oversaw the overhaul of Central State Hospital in Milledgeville as well as the closing of other state mental…
Fibromyalgia sufferers have faced a tough road in filing disability claims until recently. However, recently Social Security (“SSA”) clarified its ruling on fibromyalgia, paving the way to more favorable rulings. Social Security Ruling 12-2p issued on July 25, 2012 should alleviate some of the obstacles these claimants have encountered. Fibromyalgia is a syndrome in which a person has chronic pain…
Expansion of the Social Security disability program continues in the news. Every week it seems some headline decries the number of beneficiaries added to the Social Security disability rolls. In fairness, and as I have previously blogged in earlier entries, the number of individuals receiving disability payments is on the rise. Moreover, it is also true that actuarial accounts indicate…
GOP Presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, created a buzz this weekend with his pick of Republican Congressman, Paul Ryan (R-Wis) as his vice presidential candidate. Rep. Ryan is mostly known for his budget proposal, The Path to Prosperity, submitted as Committee Chair of the House Budget Committee. One key factor in the presidential election will be a Republican proposal to privatize…
Children from birth to age 18 may receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA) if they are: Disabled and Family has little or no income or resources Children’s disability claims are evaluated at a different standard than those of disabled adults. Children must have a physical or mental impairment that is “marked or severe.” The…
A sad detail in the news recently involves the number of personal care homes run by thieves preying upon the disabled population. Personal care homes are a hybrid of a home and an assisted living facility. An Individual homeowner cares for a small number of aging or disabled individuals in their personal home. The individual and their staff provide shelter,…
Much has been made recently in the news of a spike in the number of Social Security Disability claims. Last month, Social Security reported that the number of individuals receiving disability payments totaled 8,733,461. Many news organizations cried that this is higher than the entire population of New York City. However, this number also reflects the aging Baby Boomer population…
To receive disability benefits, an individual must first file an application with the Social Security Administration (SSA). An SSA field officer determines whether the individual meets the non-disability criteria for benefits. If so, the field office forwards the claim to the state Disability Determination Services (DDS) for a disability review. Once DDS makes a determination, it sends the claim back…
Frequently, someone contacts me who is recently disabled due to a traumatic accident and has no access to healthcare. A similar scenario was depicted recently in a New York Times article on healthcare. Oregon resident Wendy Parris shattered her ankle. Because she was uninsured, the emergency room doctors did not operate on it, but rather placed the ankle in an…
In previous posts, I reported how Georgia was considering an overhaul of Medicaid this summer to account for anticipated budget shortfalls. However, last week’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will likely cause the state to put off an overhaul while it contemplates the expansion of Medicaid eligibility in Georgia. Under the ACA, Medicaid is expanded to cover those…