Proposal could make medical reviews more frequent

Proposal could make medical reviews more frequent

On Behalf of | Dec 19, 2019 | Social Security Disability |

A pending proposal which the Social Security Administration is floating may mean that San Diego residents who are currently drawing disability benefits will be subject to more frequent eligibility reviews to see if they will be allowed to continue receiving their monthly payments. How often a resident of Southern California on SSD benefits will be subject to a review depends on their medical condition.

To give a couple of examples, a person with a condition, like ALS, which is permanent or tends to get progressively worse will usually have a review only every 5 to 7 years, as medical improvement is not expected. The more likely it is that a person could recover, the more often the Administration will check to see if the person remains disabled.

The new rule is controversial for a couple of reasons. For one, the rule will create a new category called Medical Improvement Likely. San Diego residents who fall into this category will have reviews done every two years or so, which means more work for the Social Security Administration. It also means that more people will be undergoing reviews. In this respect, it may be easy to understand that someone who is able to work should not, and probably would not want to, receive benefits.

Unfortunately, however, more medical reviews also means more opportunity to weed out those on disability who get caught in procedural traps or simply don’t know how to demonstrate that they are still unable to work. Another controversial feature is that the Medical Improvement Likely category will include older workers whose age factored into the Administration’s initial disability decision.

Those who are currently on disability should pay careful attention to how this regulation works through the legal process. This proposal also calls attention to the fact that many residents of San Diego and the surrounding area may be called upon to show why they are entitled to continue to receive benefits.

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