The Social Security Administration can issue a subpoena for your medical records upon written request to the administrative law judge. While this is rarely done, the administrative law judge does have the power to issue subpoenas.

At Cavey & Barrett, we feel that the administrative law judge should not have to exercise that power because we submit all relevant medical records from your treating physician to the administrative law judge when making the determination of your entitlement to Social Security benefits.

If you have any questions regarding your rights to Social Security Disability benefits, contact Social Security Disability attorney Sharon Barrett, your St. Petersburg based Social Security Disability attorney at www.caveylaw.com or give her a call at 727-894-3188.

Posted January 07th 2010 to Social Security Disability,The Claims Process | Comments (0)| Permalink | Trackback |  Print This Post |  Email This Post

It wasn’t uncommon in the 1980s for disability insurance companies to try to outdo each other by writing very liberal policies that favored the insured consumer.

The long-term disability carriers were going after the growing market for professional disability coverage because of the huge premiums. Unfortunately, they ended up paying out more in claims because the policy language was so liberal. We have seen over the last several years, particularly with the worsening economy, an increase in the number of claims denied.

If you file a disability claim, you should expect to be denied because most carriers know that people whose benefit claims have been denied will go away.

At Cavey & Barrett, we urge you to keep fighting. We can assist you in getting your medical records, talking to your physicians, and getting documentation from your physicians explaining how you meet the long-term disability policy’s requirements to be eligible for benefits.

If you retain an attorney who represents plaintiffs in ERISA cases, the chances are that you will obtain your benefits.

If you have any questions feel free to contact us at www.caveylaw.com or give us a call at 727-894-3188.

Posted January 07th 2010 to Social Security Disability,The Claims Process | Comments (0)| Permalink | Trackback |  Print This Post |  Email This Post

If you have healthcare insurance through your employer, we at Cavey & Barrett suggest that you use those days before resigning. Any part of the premium you have to pay for your health insurance will continue to be deducted from your paycheck.

This will allow you to keep health insurance coverage at your employer’s expense until you are terminated.

If you have any more questions feel free to contact us at www.caveylaw.com or call us at 727-894-3188.

Posted January 07th 2010 to Social Security Disability,The Claims Process | Comments (0)| Permalink | Trackback |  Print This Post |  Email This Post

Your work history is important for a number of reasons and will impact whether or not you are entitled to Social Security Disability benefits and the amount of benefits you secure.

As an American tax payer, a portion of you wages have been attributed to the Federal Social Security Disability Insurance program by deductions through your payroll FICA tax. You can look at your pay stub and see those deductions. A portion of every one of your paychecks goes to the Social Security Administration retirement and disability program.

When applying for Social Security Disability benefits you have to be currently insured. You have to have paid 20 quarters of the last 10 years to qualify to be currently insured.

What happens if you don’t meet those quarters? You can “buy a quarter” by earning a certain amount during a calender year. If you earned $1,900 in 2009 you’ve “bought a quarter.”

You earn up to four quarters in year, therefore, in the last ten years, you have had to have had at least 20 quarters of coverage or more to qualify for Social Security Disability benefits.

If you are disabled before age 31, the work history requirements are different. You can have six quarters of coverage plus one quarter of coverage for each year after the year you reached 21. In other words, if you are 27 years old and become disabled, you will only need 12 quarters of coverage to be fully insured.

When you apply for Social Security Disability benefits the Social Security Administration asks questions about the work that you have done during the 15 years before you became disabled.

At hurtles 4 and 5 of the sequential evaluation, the Social Security Administration determines whether or not you can go back to the lightest job you held in the last fifteen years, and, if not, whether there is job that exists in the mythical national economy based on your age, education and the transferable skills that you’ve learned as a result of your work history.

And, most importantly, you work history is used to determine the amount of your benefits. Your employer has to send the Social Security Administration a copy of your W2 form every year to show how much Social Security taxes you have paid. The Social Security Administration compiles that information and, when you apply for Social Security Disability benefits one of the most important documents we at Cavey and Barrett located in Florida and represent throught the state,  look for in your file is the earnings report to determine whether or not you are fully insured and the amount of your benefits.

Your past work experience, earnings and disabling medical condition all combine in the evaluation process to determine whether or not you meet the Social Security requirements.

If you have any questions contact us at www.caveylaw.com or give us a call at 727-894-3188.

If you would like more information about your rights regarding Social Security Disability Benefits, you can order our FREE book,"Your Rights to Social Security Disability Benefits" by submitting the form in the sidebar. We will send it out immediately along with other important information.

For more information about Social Security Disability Benefits, visit our law firm web site at CaveyLaw.com. If you would like to speak with one of our Social Security Disability Benefits attorneys about your case, feel free to call us anytime at (727) 897-9117 or simply submit our contact form and we will get back to you quickly.

Posted December 01st 2009 to Social Security Disability,The Claims Process | Comments (0)| Permalink | Trackback |  Print This Post |  Email This Post

The Social Security Administration can require a consultative examination known as a CE for short. This can be scheduled by the disability examiner at the initial claim and reconsideration stages and by an administrative law judge at the hearing stage.

Most often these consultative examinations are scheduled because your records indicate that you haven’t seen a doctor recently or because there might be a condition for which you never received treatment. I have written an article about preparing for you consultative examination.

If the disability examiner or judge notes in your medical records that you are “depressed” or “anxious,” the Social Security Administration may be obligated to send you for a mental consultative examination even if you don’t claim to be depressed or anxious on your application and never sought treatment.

Many disability claimants are surprised when they receive a letter from the Social Security Administration scheduling them for a mental consultative examination when their disability application is filed on the basis of a pure physical problem such as a heart problem, degenerative disc disease, or diabetes.

If you are scheduled for a mental consultative examination, we suggest that you call Tampa St. Petersburg Social Security Disability lawyers, Cavey & Barrett to discuss what will occur during that evaluation, how you should prepare for that evaluation and how you should present yourself.

Posted March 04th 2009 to Getting a Lawyer,The Claims Process | Comments (0)| Permalink | Trackback |  Print This Post |  Email This Post