News
Long Covid and Social Security Disability – What to Do
March 29, 2023Recently, there has been news coverage regarding the struggles that long Covid sufferers not only endure with the illness, but with the Social Security Disability process. In 2021, the US Health and Human Services offered this guidance from their Office for Civil Rights and the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. If you are a New Jersey resident and experiencing long Covid impairments that restrict your ability to work, we encourage you to schedule a free consultation with a Wolf & Brown attorney so we can assess your particular situation and offer additional insight on your right to benefits.
Categories: Social Security Disability News
Social Security Evaluates Changes to SSI Benefits
March 8, 2023Categories: Social Security Disability News
Veteran Advocates Push 2024 VA Budget Increase
February 17, 2023Veteran advocacy groups are asking for more than a 10% increase in VA program funding next year which would help cover the expenses to expand care for elderly veterans and the costs involved in making much-needed improvements to department buildings.
According to an article published by Military Times, “Officials from Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America and the Veterans of Foreign Wars released their annual Independent Budget on Monday, which calls for $161 billion in discretionary spending for VA operations next fiscal year. If Congress goes along with the plan, it would mark the fourth straight year of budget boosts above 10% for the department, one of the few agencies to regularly receive more money each year from lawmakers regardless of which party holds the majority.”
Relevant pages: Veterans Disability
Categories: VA Disability
VA Continues Fight to Provide Toxic Exposure Benefits to Veterans
February 16, 2023Although the Department of Veterans Affairs has secured the money needed to provide toxic exposure benefits to veterans, they still need the manpower to do so. In an attempt to secure more employees, the Veterans Benefits Administration is holding eight hiring fairs across the country to fill the 1,900 jobs available.
According to an article published by Stars and Stripes, “Getting these new hires trained and working quickly is important because veterans can qualify for more money if they apply for toxic exposure benefits before the law’s first anniversary, McDonough said. Those who do so will receive benefits backdated to August 2022, adding to the amount that they will receive.”
Relevant pages: Veterans Disability
Categories: VA Disability
Supreme Court Denies Retroactive Benefits for Missed Deadlines
January 23, 2023This week, the Supreme Court rejected retroactive benefits for service members that have missed application deadlines. The case was brought to lawmakers by a disabled veteran that claimed that all service members should be eligible for retroactive benefits if they are able to provide legitimate reasons for late applications.
According to an article published by Military Times, “The case — Arellano v. McDonough — had been closely watched by veterans groups because of its potential to award tens of thousands of dollars to some veterans who failed to submit paperwork for military injuries within a year of separation from the service… But the Supreme Court on Monday unanimously rejected that assertion. Justice Amy Coney Barrett in the court’s decision wrote that federal rules are clear on the one-year time frame.”
Categories: Veterans Disability News
Social Security Denies Disability Benefits Using Outdated Job List
January 9, 2023When applying for Social Security disability benefits, claimants are reviewed to see if they are capable of working other jobs that exist “in significant numbers”. However, the list of jobs they use is from a publication called the Dictionary of Occupational Titles which was published in 1977 and includes outdated positions like a nut sorter, a dowel inspector, and an egg processor.
According to an article published by The Washington Post, “It lists 137 unskilled, sedentary jobs — jobs that most closely match the skills and limitations of those who apply for disability benefits. But in reality, most of these occupations were offshored, outsourced, and shifted to skilled work decades ago. Many have disappeared altogether. Since the 1990s, Social Security officials have deliberated over how to revise the list of occupations to reflect jobs that actually exist in the modern economy, according to audits and interviews. For the last 14 years, the agency has promised courts, claimants, government watchdogs and Congress that a new, state-of-the-art system representing the characteristics of modern work would soon be available to improve the quality of its 2 million disability decisions per year.”
Related pages: Social Security Disability
Categories: Social Security Disability News
Report Reveals Serious Health Risks at Private Housing Not Being Tracked by Officials
January 6, 2023A recent watchdog report revealed that the Pentagon does not properly monitor and track poor conditions of privatized housing that pose serious health risks for U.S. service members and their loved ones.
According to an article published by Task & Purpose, “Despite the well-publicized prevalence of mold, lead paint, and other unsafe health conditions among private military housing units in recent years, the Defense Department appears to be experiencing issues when it comes to actually monitoring how widespread those problems have become…The good news is that the vast majority of the units inspected as part of the IG audit of privatized military housing were in good condition. Out of 28,759 houses that had open work orders as of June 30, 2021, just 58 were determined to have a condition that was considered unsafe or unhealthy.”
Relevant pages: Veterans Disability
Categories: Veterans Disability News
Study Finds Toxic Chemicals in Drinking Water at Two Dozen Bases
January 4, 2023A study conducted by the Defense Department last year concluded that drinking water found at 24 bases exposes about 175,000 troops to toxic chemicals that have been associated with cancer and other serious illnesses.
According to an article published by Military Times, “The report, made public by the Environmental Working Group on Thursday, found that water tested from each of the bases contained more than 70 parts-per-trillion of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known collectively as PFAS, the Environmental Protection Agency’s previous cut-off for safe drinking water…The bases with dangerous PFAS levels include Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington; Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio; and Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, as well as several Army and Air Force installations in South Korea.”
Relevant pages: Veterans Disability
Categories: Veterans Disability News
VA Hires Staff to Help with Toxic Exposure Benefits Backlog
January 3, 2023Both the VA and the Veterans Benefits Administration are hiring additional staff to help deal with the increase in claims made by veterans through the newly-passed PACT Act – a bill that will provide the 3.5 million veterans who were exposed to toxic burn pits and served after Sept. 11, 2001.
According to an article published by The Hill, “In order to deal with existing backlogs and to ramp up for when PACT Act benefits start being processed, claims processors are required to work mandatory overtime…In addition to hiring new staff, the VA also plans to use money from the toxic exposure fund created by the PACT Act to automate certain parts of the claims processing process to help claims processors make more timely decisions. However, automation is still in the pilot phase.”
Relevant pages: Veterans Disability
Categories: Veterans Disability News
VA to Process PACT Act Claims Immediately
December 19, 2022This month the Department of Veterans Affairs announced that staff members will immediately start processing toxic exposure claims for veterans with terminal illnesses – officials said that these veterans will receive the benefits as soon as possible.
According to an article published by Military Times, “Payout of those benefits originally was scheduled to be phased in over the next few years, but administration officials over the summer announced plans to start processing the PACT Act claims on Jan. 1, 2023, in an effort to get veterans care and financial support quicker…Individuals who reported facing life-threatening conditions will have their files worked immediately, and some could see disability payouts start within a few days.”
Related pages: Veterans Disability
Categories: Veterans Disability News