On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed the stimulus legislation into law. The Act provides for a one time stimulus payment of $250 to all beneficiaries of SSI and SSD. The Social Security Administration will also receive $500 million for processing disability and retirement workloads. According to a statement by the Commissioner, the SSA hopes […]

Persons receiving Disability Insurance Benefits will get a 2.3% cost of living increase. The SSI (Supplemental Security Income) maximum was increased to $637.00 per month. In order to receive a quarter of coverage in 2008, a person must have taxable gross earnings over $1,050.00. Persons who are collecting early retirement benefits, can now earn $1,130.00 […]

To everyone’s mounting frustration, the Social Security Administration still cannot bring a case to reasonably prompt hearing and decision. Back on December 10, 2007, the Chicago Tribune reported that “Lengthening delays in the resolution of Social Security disability claims have left hundreds of thousands of people in a kind of purgatory, waiting as long as […]

The delays in obtaining a determination at the Social Security hearing office unfortunately continue. Nationally, it takes 511 days to obtain a determination from the date a Request for Hearing was filed. In the Chicago area, three of the four local Social Security hearing offices are behind the national average. As of early 2008, cases […]

The Commissioner of Social Security has issued a warning alerting the public of a fraudulent email message with the subject line “Cost of Living for 2007 Update”. The message claims to be from the Social Security Administration and asks the recipients to update their personal information or their account will be suspended indefinitely by the […]