Calls To Increase Social Security Funding Reverberating (Part 5)

As service issues mount it becomes clearer to just how far they go. Social Security beneficiaries questions are the first group that is affected, but also anyone who needs to access the agency for other reasons, such as a name

Calls To Increase Social Security Funding Reverberating (Part 4)

Poor service issues are rising at an alarming rate when it comes to the Social Security Administration. Teleservice center employees (customer service, etc.) show the highest departure rate within the Social Security Administration. The result is long wait times in

Calls To Increase Social Security Funding Reverberating (Part 3)

There is a $800 million increase to Social Security’s operating budget proposal currently on the table that would result in a 6% increase to the overall budget. Though that falls short of the more than $1 billion President Joe Biden

Calls To Increase Social Security Funding Reverberating (Part 2)

The reports about the Social Security Administration budget being strained seem never ending but with an operating budget shrinking by 14% from 2010 to 2021 and the number of beneficiaries increasing by 22% to over 70 million, it becomes easier

Calls To Increase Social Security Funding Reverberating (Part 1)

According to AARP, wait times have been about 31 minutes on Social Security’s 800 number. A 10x longer than they were in 2012. Meanwhile, the average disability claimant today waits more than two years for a final decision. This wait

Long COVID at the Intersection of SSDI and Medicare Part 3

Still, the SSA has been grossly underfunded and ignored by Congress for far too long, and the amount of claims being filed versus the staff and decision-makers required to adjudicate the claims is in a horrible state of imbalance. Congress

Long COVID at the Intersection of SSDI and Medicare Part 2

  The SSA is struggling with an avalanche of long COVID applications and applicants are stymied by the agency’s murky qualifying criteria. Will the SSA be able to manage the pressure? The system can handle the intake of all new

The Stop the Wait Act

The Stop the Wait Act would amend the Social Security Act to give anyone approved for SSDI immediate access to Medicare benefits. It also would phase out the five-month waiting period between SSDI approval and the distribution of benefits. Democratic

Long COVID at the Intersection of SSDI and Medicare

In February, doctors and advocates petitioned Congress to make it easier for the most vulnerable long COVID sufferers to get their Medicare benefits through the Stop the Wait Act. Anyone who is approved for SSDI automatically qualifies for Medicare —

Long COVID ‘ Short History Makes For Difficult Decision Making Part 2

SSDI requires that the disability affects you for at least a year or that you have credible reason to believe that it will last this long. While long COVID can include symptoms that typically qualify for SSDI, like chronic fatigue