How SSA Determines Disability among Cancer Patients

Generally, in order to qualify for social security disability benefits, cancer patients must first provide proofs that their malignant neoplastic disease is indeed disabling and prevents them from engaging in stressful activities.

However, the types of evidence needed to support such claims vary depending on the type of disabling condition that an applicant claims.

Necessarily, in cases of cancer, there are some factors that the Social Security Administration (SSA) takes into consideration before approving a claim. These include the following:

•    Origin of malignancy
•    Range of impact of the disease on your health
•    History treatment
•    Current treatment’s effect

Any evidence to support the above-said factors should come from a licensed medical professional. Several medical certificates to support evidence that may help a disability benefit claim include diagnostic reports, lab results, surgery notes, pathology reports, and official statements from physicians.

Subsequently, other than providing evidence of the cancer type, its duration, and treatment, an applicant may also use the treatment’s effect in order to qualify for Social Security disability benefits.

Incidentally, cancers that resist treatments and patients who experience severe side effects of chemotherapy are absolutely qualified for the claim.

In its list of Compassionate Allowances Conditions, the SSA includes more than 20 types of cancers that are assessed for Social Security disability. Nevertheless, even if an applicant’s disease is not listed in the said classification or the condition does not meet the standards, an applicant may still pursue a claim with the help and guidance of a legal representative, like a Los Angeles permanent disability.

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Chicago Cop’s Disability Payment Suspended

A Chicago police officer’s disability payment was suspended last Thursday by the Chicago Police Pension Board after the latter found out that the cop has been collecting disability payments while looking fit enough in his second job.

In a recent investigation conducted by the Sun-Times, several police and firefighter officers were found to be egregiously collecting disability payment while having their second job and one of the most distinguished frauds was Charles T. Siedlecki.

Apparently, Siedlecki started collecting disability payments a couple of decades ago after he went on disability due to an injury, which allegedly made it impossible for him to safely hand a gun. However, during his recent “duty-disability status review,” he was cited in several photos holding a rifle while posing with an animal he killed in African Safaris. Also, the investigation revealed that Siedlecki has used his disability payments to earn a law degree and run his family’s funeral business.

Meanwhile, the eight members of the said board was temporarily kept from permanently revoking Siedlecki’s disability payments after failing to properly notify the cop regarding his duty-disability status review.

According to reports, the board erroneously sent the letter of notification to Siedlecki’s father, Charles C. Siedlecki, who was a retired police.

Consequently, the Fraternal Order of Police President, Micheal Shields, suggested that Siedlecki should have at least one day to defend himself.

However, while Siedlecki’s case was temporarily hindered, the board continuously reviews the medical records of the other police and firefighters named in the Sun-times reports.

On the other hand, the Fraternal Order Police said that the Police Department doesn’t want such officers back in duty, although there are lots of limited-duty desk jobs available for those cops to handle.

If a board decided to permanently revoke Siedlecki’s disability benefit payments, it can also try to recover the money that was previously paid to the cop, briefly explained by a Los Angeles disability lawyer. According to the Sun-Times report, Siedlecki has collected a total of more than $175,000.00.

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Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Victim Wins Disability Benefits Claim against AT&T

A woman suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) recently won her disability benefits claim through the Employee Retirement Security Income Act of 1974.

The former AT&T employee suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome for years. Her condition was previously tolerable but in 2008, she began feeling weak, had trouble thinking, and had suicidal attempts.

The woman underwent several medical evaluations in which two doctors found out that she was unable to function due to her moderately severe depression. Both physicians increased her medication and recommended to AT&T that the woman needs an extensive medical leave to allow for her medical treatment for depression and anxiety. 

Later on, the woman claimed for a disability benefit, which the AT&T denied. The company claimed that even though the woman’s condition had not improved since 2006, she had not provided any objective evidence of her claim. Incidentally, such ground is actually a common tactic of most insurers to deny lawful coverage.

The woman subsequently appealed the decision, but lost. Therefore, she was required to get back to work in a couple of months, but instead of returning to work, the woman decided to retire and then filed a lawsuit.

In her lawsuit, the woman claimed that the insurer violated the Employee Retirement Security Income Act (ERISA) since she was qualified for benefits under AT&T’s disability benefit plan. Fortunately, the court sided with her, saying that AT&T and the insurer abused their benefits discretion when they terminated the woman’s long-term disability benefits. Moreover, the court concluded that the actions of the insurer were “illogical and without support.” Therefore, the court ruled that the law had been disregarded in this case. Eventually, the woman won her disability benefit claim.

Chronic fatigue syndrome is a life-altering disability characterized by severe and constant tiredness that is not relieved no matter how much a person rests. It can be directly caused by other medical condition. Typically, the condition occurs in women between the ages 30 and 50. 

Sooner or later, more people are going to suffer not only from chronic fatigue syndrome but from other disabling illnesses as well. Therefore, this litigation hopefully would be noted by people experiencing such illegitimate denials from an insurer company. Know your legal rights, a Los Angeles long term disability lawyer advised.

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Disability Benefit Claims Still Growing in Veterans

Despite the efforts exerted by President Barack Obama in adding resources in his administration to help veterans in getting disability benefits and mental health treatment, all his efforts apparently aren’t enough.

On Monday, President Obama talked about his assertions regarding the Veterans Affairs (VA) Department’s efforts and how people compare with the facts are quoted below:

President Obama: “We’ve hired thousands of claim processors. We’re investing in paperless systems. To their credit, the dedicated folks at the VA are now completing 1 million claims a year, but there's been a tidal wave of new claims.”

The Facts: Veterans can potentially become illegible for help with conditions or illnesses caused or made worse by their military service. However, although the government has long been struggling to keep up with the barrage of claims, backlogs have grown worse due to soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan returning home.

In May 2009, approximately 135 claims for disability benefits have been pending for more than 125 days. Such figure represents about a third of all pending claims. At present, that figure has more than quadrupled to 550,000 claims, which account for two-thirds of all pending claims.

In the last couple or years, although the department accomplished a million of claims each year, it received about 1.3 million new claims.

According to the department’s independent inspector general, the VA aggravated the situation by not assigning enough staff to process appeals and to follow its own processing guidelines in older claims.

In fact, when investigators reviewed the claims processed in three offices in California, they found out that division managers failed to conduct monthly reviews of those pending claims for more than a year –a clear violation of policy that caused unnecessary delays.

Apparently, despite the additional resources allotted to speed up the processing of claims, the VA office is still unable to cut its backlog. Therefore, it created disputes in previous congressional hearings.

President Obama: “We’ve also focused on the urgent needs of our veterans with PTSD. We've poured tremendous resources into this fight.”

The facts: Although the president correctly noted that the administration has increased its investment helping veterans deal with mental wounds of war, investigators found out that VA regularly did not follow its own guidelines in treating patients who are seeking mental health treatment.

Under the department’s policy, full evaluation of patients seeking mental health treatment should last for only until 14 days. However, based on the investigation conducted by the independent investigators, about half of the veterans seeking mental health care waited for about 50 days before receiving a full evaluation. 

In a recent article, a Los Angeles disability lawyer talked about the increasing number of veterans seeking permanent disability benefits. And now, issues regarding the processing of such claims are creating disputes among the lawmakers and the current administration. In fact, even President Obama’s Republican rival, Mitt Romney, is set to discuss the same issue in his next speech. 

Hopefully, after all the arguments and disputes regarding this issue have subsided, there would be a better future for all the veterans seeking disability benefit claims.

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