Archive for the ‘People with Disabilities’ Category

application process for SSI Disability

Monday, November 2nd, 2009
The application process for SSI Disability benefits can be slightly overwhelming at first. Applicants often worry about what might happen if their application is denied, since receiving SSI or SSDI benefits is the only option they see for their future. While applying for benefits is a big deal and the results of the application will have a serious effect on the future, there’s still only one way to get through the process: step by step.

If you haven’t begun the application yet, here are two tips that can make a big difference.

Work Closely With a Social Security Attorney:

For those on a tight budget who are struggling to make ends meet because their disability doesn’t allow them to work, this might seem counter-intuitive. The first question most people will ask is “How much does it cost?” The answer: There are no out of pocket costs!

Reputable disability lawyers (also known as SSDI lawyer, SSI disability lawyers, or SSD lawyers) will work with applicants through the SSI Disability application process and any appeals there may be. Once the case has been approved, the Social Security attorney will accept a prearranged percentage of the back benefits awarded.

- Note: If, for any reason, the case is never approved, the disability attorney does not seek payment.

This payment arrangement makes it easy for anyone seeking SSI or SSDI payments to work with an attorney without worrying about the burden of additional payments. SSI Disability lawyers can be a huge asset to any disability benefits case. Their wealth of previous case experience allows them the opportunity to notice the best practices that help certain cases win approval.

Once hired, a SSD lawyer will be able to show applicants how those practices might relate to their own case, making it stronger and more complete. Because the application process is so lengthy, getting things right the first time is always best. Having a disability attorney on hand to help organize and present the application can only strengthen it, and might prevent a long, drawn-out appeals process. If you don’t have an attorney and need to appeal Social Security Disability, contacting reputable SSD lawyers and attorneys is recommended.

Take Notes of Any and All Disability-Related Symptoms:

While it would be nice if everyone who requested them automatically received Social Security Disability benefits, a system that didn’t require evidence of a disability would quickly be overwhelmed with unethical requests. In order to provide benefits to those who truly deserve them, the Social Security Administration requires quite a bit of proof that the applicants for SSI or SSDI payments are actually disabled. Most of this proof comes in the form of medical records, test results and x-rays. The notes that doctors take on the patient also come into play, which is why it’s so important to regularly see doctors and describe all pain and symptoms to them.

What applicants often don’t realize, however, is that they can also take notes and make records of their symptoms. The more detailed the notes are, the more helpful they can possibly be. If shortness of breath is a symptom, the best notes would detail how many times a day shortness of breath is experienced, what activities were happening during when the shortness of breath became apparent, and how long the feeling lasted.

With the help of a skilled Social Security Disability benefits lawyer and extensive notes and records of the disability and symptoms, the applicant will be as well prepared as possible for the SSI or SSDI application process and any subsequent appeals.

Disability Odds

Monday, November 2nd, 2009
Disability is very unpredictable, if you became disabled, your skill and chances of working could be halt, even though you still have few money left on you bank but what would happen if you’re unable to sustain and maintain your short-tem needs? Or even unemployed for a month? Disability Insurance now comes in and is very useful, in fact this could even protect you from the long drag.

A look at the odds

Being disabled is quietly unexpected, the following events are as followed:

Event Frequency

Home fire 1 out of every 88 homes

Fatal auto accident 1 out of every 70 autos

Deaths 1 out of every 106 people

Disabilities 1 out of every 8 people

A glance at disability stats reveals the following below:

• 30 year old man has got 1 in 5 chances of tolerate disability before the planned retirement.

• 30 year old woman has got 1 in 3 chances of endure disability before her planned retirement.

• There are 50% of people who have to go thru disabilities longer that 6 months continues to be disabled after 5 years.

• There are two common causes of disabilities, these are Heart diseases and back problems.

• Majority of people lost their homes due to disabilities rather than fire or deaths.

• 1 in 7 employees will be disabled in 5 years before giving up with work.

Researches indicated that medicine had founded ways of treating many injuries and illness which are very severe, this maybe good news for you to increase your need to protect your income with disability insurances

Although, some of these statistics may show false information, there’s a low possibility of you becoming disabled when your healthy and you work on a low level risk of job. Are you aware of how many people who undergo with cancer and severe great heart attack? Or even among your friends who had a fatal car accidents? With illness and being disabled? What if you’ll experience these kinds of situations? How would you able to give support to you family or even for yourself?

What would happen if you became disabled?

Unfortunate events could strike you anytime of the day, especially when you have experience a sever physical damage and you couldn’t work for a week or even months, what if your married and you’ve got children’s funds to attend to but for sure your spouse can help you with the expenses, but being the head of the family, you also have your financial obligation for them. But what if your spouse can only support less income for the family?

You should also take note that you don’t have to work on a dangerous kind of job in order to get disability insurance, injuries and fatalities could even occur at home or even illness can strike anyone. On this explanations and samples stated, one must think about and consider on getting disability insurance for their sake.

But isn’t disability coverage through an employer or the government enough?

This thought might come into your head like your sufficiently insured against disability because of the exposure through your government programs like Social Security or workers compensations. There are 50% employers covers a short-term disability and 40% covers long-term disability, the government will pay your benefits if you can provide a firm explanation of disability, below are some ideas you may benefit.

• Social Security

- You should not expect too much on the benefits you can get from the disabilities you may have eligible from Social Security, they tend to deny more than 50% of the claims presented, depends again with your firm definition of disability. Even if you’re estimated to have an eligible benefit, but still you won’t be receiving them until for least 6 months from being disabled, social security imposes a waiting period.

• Workers’ compensation

- you may be compensated with disability insurance benefit if your sick, injured or Ill due to job related reasons, you should also take note that your compensation for disability will only take effect when your disability is caused by work related, so it only offers limited protection. Other states only cover disabilities like diseases.

• Pension plans

- these pension plans may pay based on the total, permanent disability, minuses the retirement assessment equally to what you have received for disability, these benefits are usually included with social security or workers compensation, your benefits would be less than you might expect when you receive these disabilities from the government source.

Article Source: One Shop Insurance

Extended absences from work due to disability

Monday, November 2nd, 2009
Extended absences from work due to disability during and after maternity have become an ever-increasing occurrence. According to a 2002 study, 29% of short term disabilities (180 days or less) and 12% of long-term disabilities are due to pregnancy. Pregnancy disability can turn a wonderful, life-changing experience into a serious financial challenge when Mom is out of work for months before and/or after the maternity period. Disability Income insurance can provide needed cash in the absence or a regular work scheduled because of a maternity disability.

Many corporations offer paid leave benefits to employees that provide full pay for up to 3 months after delivery. Complications that cause the employee to be out of work before delivery or beyond the maternity leave period after delivery can cause the household to lose cash flow for months or longer.

Maternity disability can be planned for with individual short term disability insurance that can commonly provide up to 70% of regular income while Mom is not able to work due to illness or injury for 3-6 months. Long-term disability insurance kicks in after the short-term benefits expire and can provide income protection for up to five years or longer. In fact, long term disability insurance policies commonly pay benefits until age 65 to ensure income in the event of a permanent disability such as if a dentist was to lose the use of a hand or eye.

Future Moms often rely on employee-sponsored group disability insurance. Group disability can provide benefits up to 60% of regular income. However, benefits from group policies are taxed as regular income, reducing actual benefits to roughly 42% income. Employer policies also commonly come with a bevy of exceptions and limitations that can reduce or eliminate benefits altogether.

Group disability insurance is a great start toward income protection but it’s not the complete answer. A very affordable supplemental disability insurance policy can very affordably plug the holes in group coverage and provide a formidable shield against income loss due to a maternity disability. Income protection can be extended to 100% or regular income with supplemental coverage. Additionally, benefits paid via a supplemental policy are not taxed as income.

Women with a family history of challenges during maternity may also consider catastrophic disability insurance. CDI covers costs associated with extended at-home or facility care. For instance, if Mom’s doctor orders her to bed for months before or after delivery, CDI can cover the expense of a day or live-in nurse to assist with the needs of day-to-day living. Such care is generally very expensive and is not covered by any other type of insurance. CDI covers up to a specified daily amount ($120, for instance) and policies can be purchased with a daily benefit that increases annually with inflation.

The solution to protecting a new Mom’s income during and after maternity is to acquire individual or supplemental disability insurance before becoming pregnant. Once pregnant, Moms find that additional disability insurance is no longer available.

“This is a common mistake we see almost every day,” notes Rene Apack, President of Insure Your Future, the nation’s leading independent disability insurance brokerage. “We get calls from pregnant women that have suddenly realized they may miss work due to a maternity disability. They are terrified of losing their income while out of work. Unfortunately, insurance carriers don’t offer new coverage during the 9 month maternity period.”

Future moms can protect their income from a long-term or short-term pregnancy disability. With this coverage, families can avoid the risk of losing a good portion of their household income for months, if not longer. Whether participating in an employer-sponsored group plan or not, maternity disability can affordably be planned for to ensure a truly safe pregnancy where a solid cash flow is maintained throughout the maternity period.

honest about your disability with yourself and others

Monday, November 2nd, 2009
When the disabled and dating turn to dating sites that specialize in connecting them with each other, they might start to feel like all there is to them is their physical handicap. While it’s true that it’s sometimes hard to be single and find true love with physical limitations in the way, a disabled dating service is merely a convenient means to an end… it shouldn’t help to define you as a human being or make you feel like you belong to and only to a certain subset of the population.

One part of becoming confident in the dating world is to embrace your disability, however minor or severe it is. Whether you like or not, it is a reality you must live with every day and it affects many parts of your daily routine and probably has a great effect on your plans for the future. Don’t ignore this fact or try to hide it from potential mates! If you were moving into an apartment and you had a pet dog you had no intention of giving away, would you go looking for apartments that don’t allow pets? No. So don’t do the same as you look for people to date.

But it’s not just practical to be open and honest about your disability with yourself and others, it will also help you to not be ashamed of it and to quickly move onto learning about your whole self, and not just your physical handicap. In fact, if you’re so consumed with your disability, you might actually neglect other real character flaws that need work.

But how can you deal with your disability in such a candid and confrontational way without letting it take over your entire self image of yourself? Whether you were born with a disability or had to deal with it later in life, it’s not who you are as a person. Everybody is susceptible to defining themselves in narrow ways. Many blond-haired women fall into the trap of defining themselves as a “blond,” as if that’s a type of personality, etc. Disabled singles are no different and may be even more likely to do this. But it couldn’t be a more misguided way to go about things.

If you want to set yourself up for true love, then you will need the ability to get to know, love, and accept another human being for all they are, inside and out. You can’t do this unless you know yourself first! Make a list of all the good and bad qualities about yourself – frequently, if you need to – and constantly remind yourself of all the different details that make you unique in this world. It should be obvious at this point that the disability is a tiny, tiny quality and how it’s affected your attitude about life is actually a lot more important. For instance, if you feel you have a stronger endurance for both physical and emotional struggles because of your limitations, then that is a lot more interesting and important than the actual limitations.

1973, the legislature enacted the US Rehabilitation Act of 1973

Monday, November 2nd, 2009
As discrimination become widespread all over America, the government, particularly the law-making body, which is the Congress, came up with a perfect solution to promote fairness and equal opportunity to all its citizens.

In 1973, the legislature enacted the US Rehabilitation Act of 1973 which mandates that all federal agencies and other agencies which receive federal financial assistance should refrain from prejudicing persons on account of their disability.

In 1990, the Congress passed the 1990 Americans with Disability Act (ADA). This act, which took effect on 1992, directs both private employers and government agencies not to discriminate against disabled employees and persons. Labor unions and other private associations such as theatres and restaurants are included.

The main purpose for the enactment of the ADA is to put an end to the pervasive discrimination and give solution to the dilemma that the disabled people are experiencing.

Some people are insensitive of the disabilities of others that they tend to give preference to those who not physically or intellectually challenged.

As provided in ADA of 1990, Title 42, Chapter 126 (b):

It is the purpose of this chapter

(1) to provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities;

(2) to provide clear, strong, consistent, enforceable standards addressing discrimination against individuals with disabilities;

(3) to ensure that the Federal Government plays a central role in enforcing the standards established in this chapter on behalf of individuals with disabilities; and

(4) to invoke the sweep of congressional authority, including the power to enforce the fourteenth amendment and to regulate commerce, in order to address the major areas of discrimination faced day-to-day by people with disabilities.

In addition, here are some of the aspects where disabled people are being prejudiced:

In employment, promotions, compensation, trainings, lay-offs and career advancement and development

In schools, organizations and other educational programs

In availing other people’s or firms’ services, equipments and facilities

In gaining access to establishments such as restaurants, gym, banks or

shops

In transacting with people, buying and selling food, necessities and other things

There are numerous lawyers based in Los Angeles, California who specializes in and handles Disability Discrimination.

If one person feels like he or she is being judged because of his or her disability, he must promptly avail the services of his lawyer in order to do something about it and to correct the wrongs of society.

Unlike other people who single out disabled people, Disability Discrimination Lawyers see through one’s deficiency and help him as he or she tries to fit in.

With the help of the lawyers and of the Disability Act, “challenged” persons are being protected from unfair practices in their workplace and in everywhere, they go.

The provisions of the DDA promote equality among all persons regardless of their appearances and capabilities. In addition, by enacting this Act, the government would be able to provide minimum requirements for employment and other aspects that disabled people may meet and use to their advantage.

Our professional http://www.mesrianilaw.com/>Los Angeles lawyers are capable of bringing positive results in http://www.mesrianilaw.com/Disability-Discrimination-Lawyers.html>disability discrimination claims concerning the employment sector. For more inquiries, do visit our website and experience maximum and expert assistance.