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Disability in America
The increased prevalence of disability in the U.S. today cannot be overstated. According to the Social Security Administration, disability claims in 2013 totaled 2,640,100 – nearly twice as many as in 2000.
“We’re faced with a time when the baby boomer generation has been aging out,” said Matt Shupe, associate attorney at Balin Law. “Those who have performed manual labor in particular, their bodies tend to start wearing out from 54 onwards. They have a great deal of pride in their work, but also a great deal of fear with what they can do in their fifties until they meet the qualifications for SSDI.”
Complicating that fear is the constant attack on federal disability programs, which are often – mistakenly – listed as entitlements.
“The SSDI program is just an insurance policy,” he said. “These individuals are paying a premium on this policy, which comes in the form of FICA taxes taken out of paychecks.”
With SSDI claims, Balin provides clients with a questionnaire to fill out then files the application online. This saves valuable time and gives relief to clients knowing the application process is seamless.
Even after an application is filed, there can be a lengthy approval process due to the increase in baby boomers, the recent fiscal crisis and the diminished number of hours federal employees have to process these claims.
“We’re talking a year or two – or more – in particular cases, especially when issues are more mental than physical,” Shupe said. “It's easy to look at an injury and say, ‘This femur has been rebuilt.’ It’s a very different evaluation process for mental disabilities.”
Thankfully, Balin’s standard of excellence and history of winning cases sets the bar for ensuring this process goes as smoothly and painlessly as possible.
Balin’s winning strategy
“We take the hard cases,” Shupe said. “A lot of firms would look at a client and say, ‘This person’s in their thirties, sporadic work history, criminal record, or issues with alcohol or substance abuse – no way we can take this on.’ We would be an advocate for that client if we thought we could develop the facts and if the claimant was compliant with medical treatment.”
Balin’s focus on a cohesive, team-oriented approach helps clients not only win cases, but educates them about subsidized medical care programs like Medicaid for the disabled, disability cash assistance, and hospital financial aid programs.
This approach extends to clients with mental disabilities, too.
“There needs to be great communication between our staff, our attorneys and the mental health care providers,” Shupe said. “A lot of times this involves getting opinions from the treating psychologists and psychiatrists and nurses who see this person to rebut the opinion of one-time SSA consultants who see the client and evaluate them for maybe twenty minutes, at most an hour.”
Balin also takes time to sit down with case managers and case workers to make sure a client understands an appeal is due and that new case notes and progress notes from physicians are in their file.
Additionally, clients are assigned a member of Balin’s staff to help put their mind at ease throughout the entire process, and the firm’s tireless attitude certainly accomplishes that.
“It's about managing expectations,” Shupe said. “You hire an attorney not necessarily to speed the process up but to make sure everything gets done right. Most places, five o'clock comes around and you're clocked out,” Shupe said. “Then there are people like us, where work is always on our mind. We do whatever it takes to properly win the case for our clients as early as we can.”
The increased prevalence of disability in the U.S. today cannot be overstated. According to the Social Security Administration, disability claims in 2013 totaled 2,640,100 – nearly twice as many as in 2000.
“We’re faced with a time when the baby boomer generation has been aging out,” said Matt Shupe, associate attorney at Balin Law. “Those who have performed manual labor in particular, their bodies tend to start wearing out from 54 onwards. They have a great deal of pride in their work, but also a great deal of fear with what they can do in their fifties until they meet the qualifications for SSDI.”
Complicating that fear is the constant attack on federal disability programs, which are often – mistakenly – listed as entitlements.
“The SSDI program is just an insurance policy,” he said. “These individuals are paying a premium on this policy, which comes in the form of FICA taxes taken out of paychecks.”
With SSDI claims, Balin provides clients with a questionnaire to fill out then files the application online. This saves valuable time and gives relief to clients knowing the application process is seamless.
Even after an application is filed, there can be a lengthy approval process due to the increase in baby boomers, the recent fiscal crisis and the diminished number of hours federal employees have to process these claims.
“We’re talking a year or two – or more – in particular cases, especially when issues are more mental than physical,” Shupe said. “It's easy to look at an injury and say, ‘This femur has been rebuilt.’ It’s a very different evaluation process for mental disabilities.”
Thankfully, Balin’s standard of excellence and history of winning cases sets the bar for ensuring this process goes as smoothly and painlessly as possible.
Balin’s winning strategy
“We take the hard cases,” Shupe said. “A lot of firms would look at a client and say, ‘This person’s in their thirties, sporadic work history, criminal record, or issues with alcohol or substance abuse – no way we can take this on.’ We would be an advocate for that client if we thought we could develop the facts and if the claimant was compliant with medical treatment.”
Balin’s focus on a cohesive, team-oriented approach helps clients not only win cases, but educates them about subsidized medical care programs like Medicaid for the disabled, disability cash assistance, and hospital financial aid programs.
This approach extends to clients with mental disabilities, too.
“There needs to be great communication between our staff, our attorneys and the mental health care providers,” Shupe said. “A lot of times this involves getting opinions from the treating psychologists and psychiatrists and nurses who see this person to rebut the opinion of one-time SSA consultants who see the client and evaluate them for maybe twenty minutes, at most an hour.”
Balin also takes time to sit down with case managers and case workers to make sure a client understands an appeal is due and that new case notes and progress notes from physicians are in their file.
Additionally, clients are assigned a member of Balin’s staff to help put their mind at ease throughout the entire process, and the firm’s tireless attitude certainly accomplishes that.
“It's about managing expectations,” Shupe said. “You hire an attorney not necessarily to speed the process up but to make sure everything gets done right. Most places, five o'clock comes around and you're clocked out,” Shupe said. “Then there are people like us, where work is always on our mind. We do whatever it takes to properly win the case for our clients as early as we can.”
