What is Social Security Disability Insurance?
In order to be eligible for SSDI, you have to earn sufficient “work credits,” because SSDI benefits are funded by your payroll taxes. The minimum work credits you must have earned depends on your age when you first become disabled. Another eligibility requirement for SSDI is that you must be between the ages of 18 and 65 and have worked some part of five years in the ten-year period prior to becoming disabled.
What does Social Security look for in determining eligibility?
In order to receive SSDI benefits you need to prove your disability. When the Social Security Administration makes disability determinations, you will most likely be required to provide 12 months of medical history regarding the condition you claim has resulted in your disability. This medical information must include “current” records of medical treatment within the past 90 days.
A problem that many SSDI applicants face is the lack of current medical records. That is because many applicants can no longer afford to pay for such treatment. They are often under a great deal of financial burden due to being unable to return to work, resulting in the loss of medical insurance benefits. Unfortunately, the medical exams that Social Security provides are not very useful, when it comes to being approved for benefits. By their very nature, exams conducted by Social Security are inherently biased.
Concealing facts or events that could affect eligibility
As your social security disability lawyer can explain, one example of fraud is when an individual makes a false statement on an application or omits certain facts that are likely to have a negative effect on their benefits. For example, failing to report that you have returned to work, that you are in jail, or withholding the death of a beneficiary, while continuing to receive and cash the deceased person’s checks.
Misuse of benefits by a representative payee
In some cases, individuals who receive Social Security Benefits are not able to handle their own financial affairs, in which case a relative, friend, or another individual or organization is appointed to handle their Social Security matters. If a Representative Payee misuses an individual’s Social Security Benefits that can be considered a crime.
Understanding the responsibilities of a representative payee
Another issue a social security disability lawyer may come across involves the actions of a representative payee. Some of the duties of a Representative Payee include determining the beneficiary’s total needs and using the benefits received only in the best interests of the beneficiary, maintaining a continuing awareness of the beneficiary’s needs and condition, applying the benefit payments only for the beneficiary’s use and benefit, notifying Social Security Administration of any change in the beneficiary’s circumstances that would affect performance of the payee’s responsibilities, and reporting to Social Security Administration any event that might affect the amount of benefits the beneficiary receives and to give written reports accounting for the use of the benefits.
Providing for the essential needs of the beneficiary
Part of the responsibility the representative payee has is to apply the benefits payments to the beneficiary’s current and reasonably foreseeable needs, which must be immediate and essential. For instance, essential needs basically include food, clothing, shelter, utilities, medical care and insurance, dental care, personal hygiene, education, and rehabilitation expenses. If there are any funds left over once these current needs are met, the representative payee must save and/or invest the remaining funds in trust for the beneficiary.
Actions a representative payee must try to avoid
Representative Payees should not use a beneficiary’s funds for their own personal use, or spend funds in any way that would leave the beneficiary without necessary items or services. Also, it is improper to put a beneficiary’s Social Security or SSI funds in the representative payee’s or someone else’s account. It is also improper to charge a beneficiary for services unless authorized by the Social Security Administration.
If you have questions regarding avoiding fraud, or any other social security disability concerns, call the Cottrell Law Office at (888) 433-4861.
Wesley Cottrell
Wes Cottrell earned his B.A. from Pittsburg State University in 1981 and his J.D. from the Washburn University School of Law in Topeka, Kansas in 1985. He was admitted to practice law in Kansas in 1986, in Missouri in 1987, in Arkansas in 1989, and Oklahoma in 1993. He is licensed to practice law in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas, eastern Arkansas, western Arkansas, and western Missouri. He was Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in Crawford County, Kansas from 1987-1989.
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