Dallas, Texas Social Security Disability Law

Anyone in Texas who has appealed a Social Security disability claim denial in recent years knows that the appeals process is very lengthy. In fact, currently the hearing process takes an average of 373 days. The long wait has been attributed to the fact that the administrative law judges who decide these cases have an extremely large backlog of appeals to sift through. Back in 2007, when the average hearing processing time was as long as 542 days, the Social Security Administration moved to require judges to decide between 500 and 700 cases a year. This allowed the wait time to decrease.

While implementing the productivity requirements may have helped the judges plow through a backlog of Social Security disability insurance cases, the judges themselves do not think that the process is working. Last week, the union that represents these administrative law judges sued the Social Security Administration, calling the productivity standard an illegal quota that may lead to unjust SSDI decisions.

Many Texas residents have heard news reports lately regarding the increasing number of Americans receiving Social Security disability benefits. This news is likely puzzling for those who are disabled but are repeatedly denied benefits from the Social Security Administration. In fact, the majority of SSDI claims are initially denied and it can be very difficult to obtain benefits--so how is it that 14 million Americans currently receive Social Security disability?

National Public Radio has been looking into this issue lately in a series of news reports. One recent report points to the subjectivity involved in deciding whether someone is disabled. In order to be considered disabled by the SSA, one must be able to prove that he or she cannot work due to a medical condition.

Cancer is always a daunting challenge. The very word forces us to face our fears, either of our own death or that of a loved one. And even if death is kept at bay through effective treatment, someone may become so disabled that they are unable to work.

That is why, over four years ago, the Social Security Administration (SSA) made sure to include cancer in its list of conditions that could receive expedited processing for Social Security disability claims. The fast-track process is known as the Compassionate Allowances Initiative.

The U.S. Social Security system will pay monthly survivors' benefits to certain relatives of workers who die with adequate employment histories to qualify.

While eligibility for survivors' benefits can raise complicated legal questions, some of the family members who may be eligible include older surviving spouses, surviving spouses who care for decedents' kids under 16 or with disabilities, unmarried children of decedents under 18 (or under 19 if still in school), some stepchildren and stepgrandchildren, some grandchildren, some adopted children, older parents of decedents if the decedents paid a minimum of half of the parents' support, and some surviving divorced spouses.

As reproductive technology has advanced in sophistication, the law in many areas has struggled to keep up with the rapidly changing compositions of U.S. families. The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled unanimously in Astrue v. Capato that twins born more than a year after their father's death to their mother through in vitro fertilization using the father's sperm were not entitled to survivors' benefits.