Crowe Paradis Newsletters

Every month, Crowe Paradis releases an informational newsletter highlighting recent developments in Social Security. On this page you can find copies of all of our recent newsletters. Please contact us if you would like to receive our monthly newsletter via email.

August 2010 Newsletter: In the wake of the Watergate scandal, the Inspector General Act of 1978 created several independent and objective units to conduct and supervise audits and investigations for purposes of ensuring integrity and accountability in the Executive Branch of the federal government. While Social Security's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) unit was not established until 1995, it has played an increasingly important role in promoting efficiency and effectiveness in the administration of Social Security programs, as well as in preventing and detecting fraud, waste and abuse. To that end, the Social Security OIG conducts investigations and audits, releasing the results to the public on a periodic basis. While not all of these reports are particularly interesting or useful, an August 6, 2010 report detailing the successes and challenges of the Compassionate Allowance intiative certainly is of interest to the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) claimants and advocates. The results of the investigation highlight the importance of professional representation at all levels of the SSDI application and appeals process and even provide examples of how things can go wrong when best practices are not followed. Our August 2010 Newsletter summarizes the OIG report and recommends best practices that should be applied to every SSDI application that is filed.

July 2010 Newsletter: Nearly everyone is familiar with the phrase "location, location, location" as it applies to the real estate market. In that context, the phrase refers to the notion that identical homes actually increase or decrease in value based on location. But did you know that the location of your home can also significantly impact your likelihood of being approved for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)? Through years of representing SSDI clients nationwide and aggregating the available data, Crowe Paradis has uncovered several trends that combine to result in a lack of geographic uniformity in the processing of SSDI claims at all levels. Our July 2010 Newsletter highlights our findings relative to this issue. While your local hearing office's processing time may not impact the value of your home, the disparities from state-to-state raise significant issues that impact SSDI claimants and their advocates across the U.S.

June 2010 Newsletter: At the end of June, the Social Security Board of Trustees is slated to release its highly anticipated 2010 report on the financial health of the Social Security and Medicare programs. While the annual report is usually released in early April, this year's edition was delayed in order to give the trustees sufficient time to reflect on the impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). In the wake of the 2009 report projecting that the Social Security trust funds would be depleted by 2041 (Medicare even earlier, in 2019), the Obama administration and other supporters of the health reform legislation are hoping that this year's report will reflect their belief that the PPACA will have a positive impact on the funds' solvency. Our June 2010 Newsletter highlights this issue in anticipation of the public release of the Trustees' Report on June 30.

May 2010 Newsletter: Over the past several months, Crowe Paradis' Benefit Coordination function has noticed an unfortunate trend in the processing of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) claims involving past-due (retroactive) benefits. In increasing instances, awarded beneficiaries' retroactive benefits are being withheld for as long as ninety days pending investigations into whether they also received Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits covering the same month or months. This process is occuring even where best practices are followed and the SSDI applications clearly state that the applicants do not want to file for SSI and that they receive employer-sponsored long-term disability benefits well over the income threshold for SSI eligibility. Nevertheless, claims are needlessly being sent back to local Social Security offices, tying up past-due benefits and legthening an SSDI application and appeals process that has already taken far too long. Our May 2010 Newsletter addresses this issue and its impact on SSDI beneficiaries, long-term disability carriers and Social Security advocates.

April 2010 Newsletter: On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed comprehensive health reform, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), into law. The PPACA, along with changes made to it by subsequent legislation, includes many provisions to expand coverage, control health care costs, and improve the health care delivery system. While the law does not address the 24-month waiting period placed on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) recipients before they are entitled to Medicare, it does provide improved access to care for many individuals who must endure the wait. Our April 2010 Newsletter provides analysis of how the legislation will impact SSDI claimants and beneficiaries and also welcomes one of Crowe Paradis' newest employees.

March 2010 Newsletter: The early success of the Social Security Administration's Compassionate Allowance Initiative has been well documented since its implementation in October 2008. In recent updates to the POMS (Program Operations Manual System), the agency has offered guidance relative to the processing of Compassionate Allowance claims. This guidance provides that Compassionate Allowance claims are to receive expedited processing at all levels of the administrative appeals process, decreasing wait times for Social Security Disability applicants with the most serious conditions. Our March 2010 Newsletter discusses the POMs changes and highlights other recent developments in Social Security.

February 2010 Newsletter: For the Social Security Administration (SSA), adjudicating disability claims is a labor-intensive process. Due to the drastic year over year increases in applications for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits, the number of cases awaiting a decision from an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) has risen from 463,000 at the end of Fiscal Year 2002 to over 722,000 at the end of September 2009. While staffing increases have helped to address the backlog, SSA has also set clear expectations for its ALJs, mandating that they issue 500 to 700 legally sufficient decisions each year, act in a timely manner, and hold scheduled hearings unless there is a good reason to postpone or cancel. Our February 2010 Newsletter details a recent investigation into why some ALJs are not meeting those production goals.

January 2010 Newsletter: With the "two thousands" behind us, it is no secret that the Social Security Administration (SSA) faces many challenges. The new year marks the start of a new decade, during which SSA will continue to be pressured by increased initial applications, a lengthening hearing backlog, and a shortage of resources to process the claims. That said, several new initiatives should help the agency contend with the surge in Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) applications, which has been caused largely by the struggling economy. Our January 2010 Newsletter highlights changes at SSA that will impact SSDI claim handling over the course of the new year and beyond.

December 2009 Newsletter: To help ensure that only eligible beneficiaries remain on the rolls, the Social Security Administration (SSA) is required by law to conduct Continuing Disability Reviews (CDRs) for all Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) beneficiaries to determine whether they continue to meet the disability requirements of the law. However, due to the combination of SSA's limited resources, an all-time high number of initial SSDI applications, and a lack of sufficient funding, SSA has fallen behind on this crucial program integrity initiative. The Office of the Inspector General has estimated that this shortfall has resulted in overpayments of approximately $3 billion to beneficiaries who reported earnings between 2001 and 2006. Our December 2009 Newsletter lends insight into the CDR backlog and a request by the House Subcommittee on Social Security for an investigation into reports that SSA often continues to make payments to beneficiaries long after the payments should have been terminated.

November 2009 Newsletter: In addition to securing monthly income, a major benefit of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is the qualification for affordable healthcare coverage through the federally subsidized Medicare program. However, individuals receiving SSDI benefits must wait 24 months from the date they become eligible for SSDI cash benefits before they subsequently become eligible for Medicare. In early 2009, bipartisan legislation was introduced in the United States Senate that would phase out the 24-month waiting period over the course of ten years. Our November 2009 Newsletter outlines the legislation, as well as the impact of the waiting period on SSDI recipients.

October 2009 Newsflash: On October 15, 2009, the Social Security Administration announced that there will not be a COLA increase for Social Security recipients in 2010. This Newsflash sheds light on this issue, as well as other changes expected to impact Social Security recipients in 2010.

October 2009 Newsletter: Faced with an anticipated 3.3. million new Social Security Disability filings in 2009, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has put pressure on its employees to increase their workloads in order to accommodate the increasing backlogs. While a recent SSA press release pointed to a decrease in the hearings backlog for the first time in ten years, there are reports that Administrative Law Judges are being forced to cut corners in order to hit their mandated goals and avoid disciplinary action. Our October 2009 Newsletter discusses these issues and reports on other recent developments in the industry.

Crowe Paradis: The Right Fit at The Right Time