Kyle's blog

There is much talk about President Obama’s new budget proposal. Tax hikes, Medicare cuts and other topics have become hot-button issues since the President released his new proposal. The question on many citizens’ minds is, what exactly does Obama’s plan do for Social Security Disability and how does Social Security play into the new budget proposal?

Millions of disabled workers across the United States rely on Social Security Disability. Some of these workers live in urban communities while others live in rural areas. What many people wonder is if rural communities have a stronger reliance on Social Security Disability benefits than urban ones, or vice versa. The truth of the matter is that rural communities do have a stronger reliance upon these benefits. The following information will shed light on the reasons why.

When a worker becomes disabled and is no longer able to maintain full-time work activity, the paychecks that the worker is accustomed to receiving cease to exist. In addition to a lack of income, disabled workers are also often faced with mounting medical bills and finances that begin to spiral quickly out of control. Unfortunately, some of these workers do not have only themselves to think about. They have families to support as well. Many people wonder if Social Security Disability recipients who need to support a family should be given more benefits than those who do not.

Anyone who has been involved in the Social Security Disability application process understands that when a claim for benefits is denied, the applicant must join a significant backlog of Social Security Disability appeals. What many of the newest applicants do not realize is that appeals reached an all-time high in 2011, which means that there are even more backlogged claims in the Social Security system.

When an individual applies for Social Security Disability benefits a number of factors are taken into consideration. What many people wonder is exactly how much weight is placed on the opinion of the physician that is treating their condition.

It’s tax season once again and this time of year leaves many Social Security recipients wondering exactly what types of Social Security benefits are taxable. After all, not all Social Security payments have taxes taken from them. This leaves you with the burden of determining whether or not you owe taxes on these benefits at the end of the tax year.

When an applicant sends a disability claim to the Social Security Administration, an adjudicator who works for the SSA review’s the applicant’s file to determine whether or not the individual qualifies for Social Security Disability benefits. While this file is under review, a number of factors are taken into consideration including the applicant’s past relevant work activity. Recently the SSA has created rules that affect how past relevant work experience is viewed.

When a Social Security Disability applicant files a claim for Social Security Disability benefits, there are a number of “stages” that this claim goes through. When the applicant’s claim is first filed, it is handled by one of the SSA’s field offices and then once the field office is done with the claim, another agency (usually referred to as Disability Determination Services of DDS) handles the remainder of the claim processing.

February is Heart Health Month and it is a topic that warrants a significant amount of interest due to the severity of heart disease in our nation and its prevalence worldwide. Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death across the globe.

When an individual qualifies for Social Security Disability benefits, that individual receives a set monthly payment to help them meet their basic living expenses. When an individual is incapable of managing their own finances, the Social Security Administration determines that a representative payee should be responsible for managing the disability payments that are provided to a disability recipient and manage the expenses of the recipient in question.