Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Navy Seal Who Killed Bin Laden Left without Disability Benefits

The Navy SEAL who reportedly killed Osama Bin Laden is now facing his own life’s terrors – no job and no Social Security pensions.

The ex-Navy SEAL was said to have left his job few years before his retirement eligibility, which now makes him jobless. Reports said that he was unaware that he is still eligible for five years of health care coverage. Therefore, the same created a dispute between the military and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Apparently, the shooter is now one of the approximately 900,000 veterans whose disability benefit claims are caught up in a backlog and are currently left waiting for a determination for their claims.

Consequently, the unnamed SEAL recently met with several lawmakers to discuss veteran’s care, according to reports.

During the meeting, the SEAL on behalf of his team that accompanied him during the raid, requested the lawmakers to include a layered pension plan that would start after five years of duty, improved transition services for retiring veterans that include 18 months of total family healthcare and separation pay based on length and type of service, several media sources said.

As previously reported, the SEAL who killed Bin Laden last May, 2011 during a secret raid did not qualify for a pension or health benefits because he retired four years earlier than the Navy’s retirement eligibility.

During his previous interview, the ex-SEAL admitted the he had suffered from suicidal thoughts and a broken marriage, which are very common among SEAL members, according to a Los Angeles long term disability lawyer.

Therefore, although the attorney herein is quite aware that the SEAL and some of his men previously broke the rule regarding the safekeeping of their identities for the sake of raising awareness, he still hopes that their request for healthcare and disability benefits will soon be granted in return for their hard efforts and dedication while they were serving the country.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

CBO Report Suggests Social Security Fund to Run Out Sooner than Expected

In a report released by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) for the month of February, it apparently suggested that the federal fund for the social security disability benefit program is likely to run out sooner than expected.

The CBO revealed that for 2013, social security beneficiaries will receive $816 billion in benefits while revenues from payroll taxes will be $846 billion. It is not totally bad news for the Social Security since there would still be a surplus of $30 billion left for the program. However, the agency estimated that by 2023, the outgoing fund will exceed by $1.4 trillion while the federal government can only collect a total of $1.3 trillion by that time. Obviously, there will be a shortfall of approximately $100 billion.

Experts claimed that a closer look at the said report and the assumptions exhibits a Ponzi scheme that is going to fail sooner than expected.

By definition, Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to its previous investors through their own money or the money paid by recent investors rather than from the profit earned by the individual or organization running the operation.

Following the said report, financial experts claimed that the funds supporting Social Security which include Old Age, Survivors and Social Security Disability Insurance trust funds will go empty by 2031.

Also, experts speculate that the current beneficiaries that are just now becoming eligible for retirement benefits will likely suffer huge cuts in their checks by the time they turn 80. Unfortunately, that is the time when they needed financial support the most.

Unfortunately, under the current law that is quoted herein, the Social Security Commissioner “may not pay benefits in excess of the available balances in a trust fund, borrow money for a trust fund, or transfer money from one trust fund to another.”

Well, at some point, the said law serves just right since if the commissioner will borrow or transfer money from another trust fund, the scheme would most probably get worse than ever as a result of indebtedness, as commented by a Los Angeles long-term disability lawyer.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Education Department Calls for Change in School Sports Program Favoring Disabled Students

Recent news sources reported that the Education Department is currently requesting all schools around the country to make a reasonable change in their sports programs so that students with disabilities can also play, and/or create separate teams for them.

The new guidance issued by the agency on January 18 received positive impression from people with disabilities community. However, critics say the idea could only cost big bucks for cash-limited schools.

In a statement released by the executive director of Disabled Sports USA Kirk Bauer, he claims that the new order is a huge and historic, and could likely to have the same effect as Title IX did for women if properly implemented.

Title IX is a part of the Educational amendments of 1972. The act states that no person shall be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any school program or activity receiving financial assistance on the basis of gender or sex.

In comparison with the said amendment, the Education Department claims that athletics is likewise a civil right for students with disabilities. Thus, schools that will not protect the same could lose federal funding.

Under the recent rule, schools must change traditional sports programs to give qualified students a chance of playing as long as they can do it without essentially changing the sport or giving anyone an advantage.

For an example, instead of the traditional starter pistol, a visual aid will be implemented for the deaf runners. Meanwhile, in a baseball game, instead of four bases, schools will be adding a fifth base to the field to shorten the running distances.

In addition, if the alterations to a traditional team are not possible, schools must develop a sports program that is open to students with disabling medical condition, the order noted. In cases where in there aren’t enough students to participate in the amended sports program, schools should seek to create district-wide, regional or mixed-gender programs.

Meanwhile, several lawyers from a Los Angeles social security disability firm are pretty much satiated with the overflowing support provided by the federal government to the community of people with disability aside from the Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

Under the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program provided by the federal government, children with disabilities from birth up to 18 years of age may receive benefits under certain conditions.