lawyer panel

>> making a claim for social security benefits is not always as easy as it sounds, especially if you get denied. >> knowing about eligibility requirements, medical evidence, appeal procedures, and vocational evaluations can help. and that's what we're here to

talk about tonight on lawyers on the line. i'm paula polasky, an attorney at falsani, balmer, peterson, quinn & beyer and this evening's moderator. i am pleased to welcome tonight's panelists mary a. harris is a vocational

expert, as well as founder and president of ability advisors . sean quinn of falsani, balmer, peterson, quinn & beyer and stephanie balmer of falsani, balmer, peterson, quinn & beyer we are ready for your questions, i'll is locally at 218-788-2844

or call our toll free line at and now let's get on with 1-877-307-8762. 's tonight topic. social security -- stephanie, can you explain a little bit about the different types of benefits and when they might apply?

stephanie: sure, generally we are talking about benefits they stun someone's disabled status. you can be disabled as a child. adults who are disabled can qualify for either ss b i or ssi. ssdi is generally a higher amount taste on credit that you

have paid into the system. when you get your paycheck you can see social security taxes. those credits go into the pot. if you become disabled close enough in time to when you stop working, you can qualify for this higher rate based off of the money you paid in.

ssi is a flat rate. it is the same amount for everyone. that is for someone who either has not worked enough or has not worked recently enough compared to the point at which they become disabled. both define disability in

basically the same way. for purposes of establishing if someone is disabled from a medical standpoint, they are identical. paula: we will get into this more detail later, but can you give a broad overview of the procedure for how someone is

about applying for social security? sean: the best thing to do, if you think you are disabled and what to apply, stephanie talked about the two different programs, or ssi you have to do it on paper. you get the forms from the local

office or go to the local office. a regular benefits you could do that online or on paper. the website is dubya dubya dubya. s s a.gov -- www.ssa.gov. the background ask for what doctors you go to, medical prescriptions, and how your

problems affect your ability to do things around a house, chores and things like that. that is the process. what i tell people is go apply. maybe we'll get it. if you don't, give us a call we can help you with you feel. -- with the appeal.

paula: can you describe your role and how you fit in? >> i am a vocational rehabilitation trade counselor -- counselor by trade. i provide evidence in the way of vocational testimony. this helps the judge to make a decision as to whether this

person is disabled or not. many times the questions will resolve -- revolve around impact of a person's education, work experience, and the functional limitations that stem from their medical condition. paula: is there a book somewhere that has all of these jobs that

people can do in it? how do you go about saying, this person can sell lampshades or a railroad conductor. >> there is an authoritative of -- authoritative resource. it is quite antiquated. we also rely on job market trends.

we look at job boards to see how many lampshade assemblers are there. if there are not many, we publicly testify that. perhaps there are many more electrical assembly positions. it is that kind of information gathering that we use along with

the dictionary of occupational titles. paula: stephanie, you might have covered this, but how our monthly benefits calculated? stephanie: for ssi it is a flat rate regardless of who you are. for ssi i will say, i was talking earlier about the

differences in the programs, ssi has an asset, and income set of limits where you can only bring in so much into the household. you can have only so many possessions or assets. other than that is -- it is the same. as sdi will go back and reflect

--ssdi reflects your earnings over a time. the way they calculate your rate is complicated. there is a way to do it what i like to do is -- there are certain documents you can get from the social security ministration that will show the

estimated rate depending on the point that you are deemed disabled. you can see a little bit of how your earnings are adding up when you get the statements. i think they stopped doing that, but you can logon. >> you can logon.

stephanie: everyone should look at their social security account. even if you are not a recipient, you can at least start an account and keep track of those kinds of things. it is also important to track your earnings from an accuracy

perspective. i had a woman come to me once and she was not going to qualify for ssi because she had too many assets and income. she was very much disabled. she said, i really feel like this is not right. these earning statements.

we went back and she and her husband had kept other records. we went back and brought them to social security. they corrected their credit calculations of it she was able to qualify. paula: we talked before the show about -- what are some things

that somebody in your position cannot consider? some people say, well, there are not these jobs around here. what can you not consider in giving that sort of report? >> i really cannot support -- consider factors outside of a person's disability with a

functional limitation the result from it. for example, i am often times asked, i just testified about how much pain i am in, how can i do these jobs when i am telling you how much pain i am in? what i need to do as a vocational expert is to break

that down and into function. because everyone has pain. how does that impact your ability to work? does that resulted in -- result in you not being of the concentrate? do have to lie down? do have to stop what you're

doing for an amount of time? those of the kinds of questions that i am able to answer. paula: there is vocational evidence, does someone want to talk about how a physician my plan to this? -- might play into this? sean: two most important

evidence is the medical evidence. most of it is the medical records, the records of a claimants doctors. the job of the representative at the hearing and nieces at -- social security administration is together that evidence.

get the records from the hospitals. sometimes we get written reports from the treating doctors saying, i know this person. this person is my patient. this person cannot lift more than this, can cannot stand longer than this.

would have trouble doing a full time job. here is why. sometimes at a social security hearing, sometimes in addition to having a vocational expert at the hearing, there is a medical expert. this is not a doctor who is the

claimant's dr.. this doctor has never examined the person, but this doctor has read all of the medical records. that doctor will then give testimony, much like what mary has to do come as saying, i read the records, these are what they tell me.

based upon that i think this person could do this or cannot do this. just like mary, that dr. cannot stay -- say, i am considering how much pain that person is talking about. they have to say, this is what it is basically the norm.

one of the things that mary, no doubt has to deal with all of the time is a person saying, those jobs are not in town. or something like that. the judge cannot consider that. social security looks at theoretical, can you work, not will anyone hire you?

or are those jobs in duluth, or superior, it doesn't matter. pamela: -- paula: or do you like the job? >> or can you make it is -- decent wage? it is theoretical. could you work full-time, that is the issue.

>> i want to add something, as far as the collection of the disabled person medical records. a lot of people come to see me after they have been denied and they say, i got this note from my doctor saying i cannot work. why are we here? i've talked to doctors about it.

we understand what you are saying, but the social security administration they say, that is for us for best for us to decide. it is not a medical only issue. and sean is right about a medical evidence being critical, it is medical, vocational, and

what the judge and whoever is deciding the case is doing is taking in all of this information and deciding if someone can work or not. what sean and i try to do is get better evidence from doctors and similar providers saying, i feel they cannot work full-time

because of -- or whatever. paula: an interesting question, people receiving social security right now, but it looks like they may not after receiving personal injury settlements or someone slammed into their car, now that case may resolve and they get a settlement, how would

that affect their so security benefits -- social security but it's? sean: if the person is receiving disability insurance benefits, the benefits they paid into the system for, receiving a big lump of cash from a personal injury settlement or inheritance, it

doesn't matter. you bought that benefit by paying your taxes and now you have earned it. you are to buy working in becoming disabled. if you are on si -- ssi, it will probably wipe out your ssi. ssi is a welfare benefit.

if you now have too much money, no matter how you got it, you are not going to be able out -- not going to be eligible for it until you spend that money. you get below the asset requirement. for a single person it is $2000. if you're married it is $3000.

paula: total? sean: your house does not count. if you have another house, that counts. your car does not count, but if you have another car it counts. your snowmobile counts. your clothes and furniture do not count.

expensive jewelry my count. i had a client lost their ssi because she was the cosigner on her mother's checking account because her mother was elderly. they said, you have access to your mother's money. we had to get her off the check signing for her mother.

there is a number of things that can take you out. paula: lots of things can screw it up. another question for you, a person wondering if -- we talked about function and whether or not someone could do a job physically.