by Susan Golden
About a week ago, after receiving yet another egregious denial on one of our client's cases, I decided that I needed to do something more to help our clients. After much thought, I wrote a letter to Martin O'Malley, the Commissioner of Social Security and sent copies of the letter to Senators Gillibrand and Schumer. I also sent a copy of the letter to the media. I chose to give a synopsis of some of our clients' cases, each case representing a different, serious problem within the Social Security Administration. I wanted to make some "noise". While our hands are tied, and we have to follow the SSA's procedures regarding appealing claims, I want to get these stories out there, and hope that someone in the government or media will hear my plea and really try to make changes within the SSA that benefits our hard working, deserving citizens.
I want to share these cases with you, while respecting the privacy of our clients. Today I will begin with the first case in the series, Let's Get Loud. Our client was approved for SSD benefits, 11 years after applying. Her case highlights the problems at the payment centers, where an approved claimant's retroactive benefits are calculated and then released to the claimant.
Claimant Number 1: Delayed Retroactive Benefits
Ms. Y was forced to stop working on December 12, 2012, due to a Protein S deficiency that causes her blood to clot, resulting in deep vein thromboses and pulmonary emboli. Her post thrombotic syndrome produces painful leg edema, which requires her to elevate her legs as much as possible. Ms. Y applied for benefits on October 23, 2013. Her date last insured was December 3, 3017. She had her first hearing on October 16, 2015. On March 23, 2023, after Ms. Y’s case was twice reversed by federal district court and reassigned to ALJ Patrick Kilgannon, he issued a partially favorable approval of benefits as of September 12, 2017. We appealed to Federal Court again, and received a remand solely for a calculation of benefits on December 18, 2023, for the time period from February 15, 2013 to September 12, 2017.
On May 15, 2023, I sent information to Ms. Y’s field office in Freeport, New York, advising them that Ms. Y was in a dire need situation. She had no medical insurance, and no money, and without medical treatment, she could die. I asked that her retroactive benefits be expedited. It has been eleven years since Ms. Y applied for benefits, seventeen months since her first approval, and Ms. Yearby has not received a dime of her retroactive benefits. I have been emailing the Special Appeals Federal Court Remand processing center since May 2023. The processing centers are responsible for calculating claimants’ retroactive benefits who have had their claims approved in Federal Court or after a Federal Court remand. Most of my emails go unanswered. On the rare occasion I get a response after begging for one, it is the same robotic response each time, “currently our processing times are longer than normal.”
Ms. Yearby had no choice but to return to work at a substantial risk of stroke or death during 2021-2022 because she needed medical insurance. Her doctor repeatedly confirmed that she risked her life by working. It does NOT take seventeen months to figure out what a claimant is owed. In fact, a year after they had the claim, the processing center asked us for Ms. Y’s pay stubs for the time period that she worked. It took them a year to ask for that information, and then several months later they asked Ms. Y to submit Form SSA-821, Work Activity Report. As you can see, the mishandling of this claim is horrific. I even went to the media and contacted Kristen Thorne of ABC news. Her attempts to contact the processing center have been futile because they did not even respond to her.
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