New Bill to Speed Up Disability Claim Process for Veterans Introduced

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NY Daily News.

Following the call of several lawmakers to President Barack Obama in an effort to ease the backlogs of Veterans’ disability benefit claims, a new bill that would speed up the claiming process was recently introduced.

News have it that the U.S. Representative, Grace Meng, D-Flushing has introduced a new bill that would speed up the process of filing disability benefit claims for veterans in Queens.

Apparently, veterans from boroughs of New York City suffered the longest waiting times to receive benefits across the nation due to massive backlogs of disability claims. Usually, many of the veterans have to wait for as long as 500 days or less than a couple of years for their benefits. Therefore, the congresswoman has finally come up with the legislation.

In her statement that was quoted below, Meng said:

“Forcing disabled veterans to wait such long periods of time to receive the vital benefits they require is disgraceful and unconscionable. Our veterans and returning troops who valiantly served our country must not continue to be subjected to these shameful and inexcusable delays. They deserve better.”  

So far, there are approximately 878,000 veterans across the nation have disability claims waiting to be processed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). About 593,000 of which already exceeded the agency’s processing goal of 125 days, Meng added. Nationwide, the average waiting time of processing a claim for a veteran is 310 days while claimants in Queens experienced an average of 499 days waiting time.

In addition, aside from the prolonged waiting time, nearly 14 percent of the claims processed by the agency’s regional office are erroneous.

Consequently, the proposed law would require the regional office to provide an annual report which required the latter to explain why it did not meet a specific goal and ask for the resources it needs to meet the goal.

Meanwhile, several Los Angeles social security claim lawyers agreed with Meng when she attributed the rapidly growing number of disability claims to the increasing number of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. We can never indeed deny the benefits that those heroes deserve following the sacrifices they made to our nation.

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Sen. Bernie Sanders Renews Call to Oppose Social Security Benefit Cuts

Image is a screenshot of the 
original photo posted in 
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ official 
web page.

In a renewed call to oppose social security cuts, Sen. Bernie Sanders brought together seniors’ and veterans’ organizations and other members of the Congress for a Capitol summit meeting to protest the proposed cuts in Social Security and disability benefits.

During the summit, Sanders has noted that there are some other ways to reduce the deficit but not through cutting the benefits of the disabled veterans, elderly, the children, the poor and the sick.

Hundreds of people attended the event that aims to oppose the proposal made by President Barack Obama to cut cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security and disabled veterans through the chained consumer price index (CPI).

For those who do not understand the meaning of chained CPI yet, it is revising how the consumer price index is being calculated. Unfortunately, the new formula would result in significant cuts in social security benefits and other federal programs. Also, the chained CPI would increase the taxes of working families. More than three-quarters of the new revenue increased would come from Americans earning less than $200,000.00 a year, while those earning between $30,000.00 and $40,000.00 would be hit experience the hardest strike.

Sanders further cleared the ambiguity to everyone by in his statement that was quoted below:

“Let’s be clear.. Social Security has not contributed a dime to the deficit. Social Security has a $2.7 trillion surplus. Social Security can pay 100 percent of promised benefits for the next 20 years. In other words, despite what you may be hearing from right-wing Republicans and the mainstream media, Social Security is not in crisis and Social Security is not going broke.”

Participants of the said summit included the Alliance for Retired Americans, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare and the Strengthen Social Security Campaign. In addition, Sanders also welcomed support from other organizations like the AARP, the AFL-CIO, MoveOn.org, the Center for Community Change, the Campaign for America’s Future, the Paralyzed Veterans of America, Latinos for a Secure Retirement, the AMVETS and some other groups that helped organize the event.

Moreover, aside from the said organizations, several senators including Sen. Elizabeth Sen. Warren (D-Mass.), Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and some representatives like Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), David Cicilline (D-R.I.) and Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) have joined the Sanders in his advocacy.

Meanwhile, being a social security advocate, a Los Angeles long term disability lawyer herein wishes for the best for those who joined the summit. Being a supporter of the same, he likewise feels alarmed after Obama’s proposal due to his concern with the citizens who much needed support. Therefore, he strongly believes that such event is necessary in order to draw more attention and support.

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Analysis: Immigration Bill Would Likely Boost Social Security

The Social Security Administration (SSA), through its analysis, predicts that the bipartisan bill that has been pending before the senate would likely boost the federal program’s trust fund.

Recent reports have confirmed that a chief actuary from the SSA claimed that an immigration bill waiting for approval from the senate would significantly boost the Social Security fund by adding millions to the economy.

Apparently, the analysis wishes to begin collecting taxes from the immigrants to support the federal program. Experts assess that the immigrant’s bill affects the seniors, survivors, as well as the disability insurance in a way that it enters in a growing body of economic data gathering on both sides of the immigration reform debate.

In the long run, experts hope that the final effect of the bill OASDI actuarial balance will bring positive result. In fact, in a letter sent by SSA’s chief actuary, Stephen C. Goss to Sen. Marco Rubio, (R. Fla.), who is the architect of the bipartisan legislation, noted that if the number wage earners paying taxes would increase, that is if the proposed immigrant bill has been legalized, the federal program’s fund would likewise increase.

Actually, many of the undocumented individuals are  working in the country illegally without paying taxes. Therefore, this time, the bill would eventually charge them with proper taxes, Goss also cited in his letter.

Apparently, not only the country would be benefited by the proposed bill. Immigrants themselves would also benefit from it since once they became legal workers, their federal benefits would have substantial benefit coverage as well.

On the other hand, opponents of the bill argue that legalizing immigrants would just cost the country a staggering amount of $6.3 trillion since they would collect more in government services than they pay in taxes. Therefore, other conservatives disputed the bill.

So far, the Congressional Budget Office is expected to conduct a separate analysis regarding the matter in the following weeks.

Meanwhile, weighing the pros and cons of the proposed immigrant bill, a Los Angeles social security disability firm speculated that the same would still come a long way of debate before it may be able to meet its final route due to many things that still have to be considered.

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Michael J. Astrue Out, Carolyn Colvin In As New SSA Head

The Social Security Administration (SSA) just had a change in its management after former Commissioner Michael J. Astrue left his position. Astrue was known to have overhauled the complex operations of the agency, making it more efficient and offer service of better quality.

Astrue, during his time as commissioner of the SSA, has adopted fast-track processes, reduced the time for disability hearings by about 180 days, replaced the data center with a state-of-the-art facility. Astrue was also responsible in developing a suite of electronic services both in English and Spanish, the best of any government-offered electronic services. Astrue was also responsible in initiating cooperation between the agency and the Bureau of Labor Statistics for better vocational tools for disability determinations. He has also provided tools to help Americans plan their retirement benefit and improve the quality of disability decision-making. Astrue also pushed the “plain language” reporting of annual financial status of the Medicare and Social Security programs.

These achievements have made Astrue well-loved by employees and Social Security beneficiaries. These made him the winner of many awards because of his service for the agency. As he now leaves the SSA, the agency needs a leader with the same dedication to lead the agency to a better direction.

Former deputy commissioner Carolyn Colvin has recently been appointed to take over Astrue’s post. She is now the Acting Commissioner of the SSA. Throughout her stint in the agency, she has been able to manage programs that have helped people with their healthcare and financial needs. She has held various key SSA positions like Deputy Commissioner for Policy and External Affairs, Programs and Policy, and Operations.

Colvin has also held important positions outside of the SSA. She became the Director of Human Services for the District of Columbia, Director of the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services. She also became the Chief Executive Officer of AMERIGROUP Community Care of the District of Columbia, Special Assistant to the Secretary of Maryland’s Department of Transportation, and the Secretary of Maryland’s Department of Human Resources. In all of these positions that she held, she was able to contribute significantly for the respective agency’s betterment.

Her great educational background and the many awards that she has received is a great testament to her dedication for work, making her perfect for the position as Deputy Commissioner of the SSA. A disability benefits lawyer believes in Colvin’s capabilities and her potential as the new head of the SSA. With the many challenges that the Social Security faces, the agency needs a leader with the proper skills and the concern for the public’s welfare. Everybody’s hoping that Colvin can be as effective, and even better than Astrue as a leader of the SSA.

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