New York Disability Lawyer & Attorney : Turley, Redmond & Rosasco : Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, Nassau, Suffolk, Bronx, Staten Island

There are literally thousands of former Nassau County workers who are currently receiving lifetime workers' compensation payments (pensions) for life due to on- the- job injuries.  I know - I have represented a large number of these unfortunate individuals.  These payments are overwhelmingly for workers who have been classified as having "permanent partial disabilities" and are destined to live the rest of their life in pain.

According to a Newsday article yesterday, Nassau County is now proposing a $55 million taxpayer funded bond to "sell" these claims to private insurers who would then try to convince the injured worker to settle the claim in a one-time "buy-out".   Is this good for the injured former Nassau workers?  For many of them, it is not a good deal at all unless they are paid "full value" for their settlement. It also may not be a good deal for the taxpayer. (See the excellent WorkersComp Insider post here) .

Our office recently negotiated a lump sum buy-out (often times called a Section 32 settlement) for a Nassau municipal worker for $650,000.00.  We thought this was a fair settlement given that the worker was going to lose both weekly non-taxable cash benefits and medical care for the rest of his life.  Unfortunately, you can bet that the insurance companies "bidding" for the Nassau County claims have no intention of paying fair settlement value to former Nassau employees.

The vast majority of lump sum buy-out offers are grossly unfair to the injured worker and are simply a device for insurance companies to dump claims and invest the excess profits.  The claimant needs a skilled NY workers compensation lawyer to negotiate a fair settlement. So what is amount fair?  First and foremost, for anyone who is likely to need major medical intervention in the near future, such as surgery, no amount of money may be the answer.  Remember, once the injured worker accepts the cash buy-out, he must pay for future medical care, including surgery, on his own.  Any settlement offer in a case like this would have to also "buy-out" the potential future cost of surgery, medications, physical therapy, etc.

Anyone considering a buy-out of a permanent partial disability claim should ask their workers compensation lawyer to do a "present value calculation" of what their future cash AND medical benefits are worth.  This present value calculation, which is the standard for settling long term disability claims, can be drastically impacted by current interest rates.  For instance, today I am using an interest rate tied to the ten year treasury bill rate (3.58% as of 4/08/08) to determine present value for the purposes of settling my cases.  When interest rates go back up, present value settlement offers will go down, so historically, now is a good time to get maximum value when deciding to settle a New York workers' compensation claim.   In addition, if you receive Social Security Disability in New York, you may need a Medicare Set-Aside agreement.

There are many present value calculators on the Internet which can help you determine a fair settlement proposal.  As my third grade math teacher instructed, I like to show my client's the "work", not just the answer, which I do on a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.  Of course, settlement of any workers compensation claim is as much "art" as  arithmetic, but the math is always the starting point. 

It remains to be seen whether Nassau County dumps its old workers' compensation claims in the hands Warren Buffet and Berkshire Hathaway to settle with permanently disabled workers.  If it does and you are an injured worker approached for a buy-out of your claim, ask a lot of questions of your Nassau workers compensation lawyer.  You don't want to leave any money on the table, and Warren Buffet has enough money. 

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Happy New Year to all the readers of the New York Disability Law Blog!  Over the course of 2007, we are pleased to report that our firm has once again helped thousands of injured and disabled claimants successfully win the benefits they deserve.

Our blog has  tried to provide timely and helpful information to all those struggling with a variety of disability claims, including long term disability insurance claims, Social Security disability claims,  workers' compensation claims and VA disability claims.  Since its inception in March 2005, our blog's readership has steadily grown and we have become a frequent resource to reporters and other media professionals on disability claim matters. 

We look forward to another year of fighting the good fight for our clients and friends. We wish you and your families a healthy and happy 2008!

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Yesterday's front cover of the NY Times had an article detailing the long delays in the Social Security Disability claim process.  Much of the backlog is the result of Congress failing to adequately fund a Social Security disability claim system which is now facing more claims due to the aging of the "baby boomer" generation.  Today, a rash of editorials skewering both President Bush and Congress for this preventable crisis hit the streets and the far reaches of the Internet.  Something must be done - now! 

Last week, I traveled to New Haven, Connecticut to handle a Social Security disability hearing for an emergency room physician stricken with chronic Lyme disease.  The hearing before an Administrative Law Judge went well and we will win the case.  However, the client had to wait over 18 months for her hearing before the judge.  In this particular case, the wait did not have a dramatic financial impact on the doctor since she was already collecting benefits from her own private long term disability insurance policy through Northwestern Mutual Life. 

But this is the exception, not the norm.  Less than 20% of my clients have either employer sponsored group ERISA long-term disability plans or private individual disability income protection.  Most of my clients, when faced with the long delays at Social Security disability, are facing either bankruptcy or foreclosure.  As stated in the article, some die before their case is heard.  I have one such client in the hospital now with stage 4 terminal cancer.  In most cases, "justice delayed is justice denied".  A judge has not even been assigned to the case yet.  Thankfully, I was able to call in a few favors and have Social Security place this case on an expedited review.

The Social Security Administration recently proposed new rules to streamline the disability appeals process.  Click here to see the new rules and submit your comments.  Some of their ideas are good, others would harm disabled claimants even further.  As a member of the NOSSCR Board of Directors, I can assure you we will be submitting detailed comments to both expedite claims while protecting fundamental fairness to disabled claimants.

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As an Air Force veteran myself, it was reassuring to know that so many talented veteran disability claim lawyers were in attendance at the National Organization of  Veterans' Attorneys (NOVA) conference last week in Washington, DC.  My partner David Tobias and I attended, and as always, there was much to learn.  

If there was one thing that stood out in my mind from this conference, it would be the realization of the staggering numbers of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) service connected disability claims that we will all be seeing come out of the current Iraq war.  Formerly called "Soldiers Heart" and "Shell Shock" in prior conflicts, untreated PTSD can wreck families and lead to violence, criminality,  alcoholism, drug abuse and homelessness. 

I handled my first Vietnam Veteran PTSD disability claim about 15 years ago.  My client had already been through at least six 30-day alcohol rehabs at the VA Hospital in Northport, Long Island (New York).  When he would get out, his way of staying sober was to camp in the desolate woods of northern Maine for months at a time. 

Many would have considered him unlikable at best,  an angry  violent criminal at worst.  Despite his untrusting nature, he allowed me to get to know him.  Bottom Line- prior to his Army service in Vietnam, he was a good kid just out of high school.  I never asked what he saw in Vietnam which caused him such obvious anguish and pain now, but his eyes told you "don't go there".

At the time he came to me through a fellow Vet trying to help, he could not cope with regular society while sober.  The Northport VA Hospital did not (or could not) provide any long term effective treatment  for his underlying psychiatric condition which was the root cause of his alcoholism.  He was using alcohol to "self-medicate". 

Thankfully, despite some delays caused by his unpredictable absences, I was able to get him full disability benefits.  His checks were sent to his mother's house for his benefit.  I never heard from this vet again after we won his case, which I did not think was unusual given his disability.  However, his grateful elderly Mom did stay in touch, which was nice.

One of the best parts of the conference was our Friday luncheon speaker, the feisty "VA Watchdog" Larry Scott.  He told us about the VA's new "3 week cure " for PTSD!  Of course, we all know that the VA has been on the cutting edge of medical break-throughs for some time now ... but a 3 week cure?! 

Sounds like the one night "stop smoking hypnosis seminar"  I once took, or the 4 hour "rapid heroin detox", which I didn't!  Only the VA would come up with such an absurd treatment plan. 

Thank you, Larry, for exposing the real motivations of the VA.  After all, if the Iraq vet is now "cured", they don't have to pay the service connected disability pension.  Despite the veteran's honorable service in a mistake strewn war, its all about the money. 

We will just have to beat the VA, one disability claim at a time.  Remember, thanks to the new law, after June 20, 2007 you can  hire a lawyer to help you sooner than before.  You don't have go it alone.   

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Turley, Redmond & Rosasco partner Chris Redmond has a long record of helping raise money to battle Multiple Sclerosis.  This year, the firm was pleased to help fight Multiple Sclerosis by sponsoring an individual bike rider in his local MS Bike fundraiser on July 21st in Pennsylvania.   Our law firm helped sponsor Chris Carson, brother of Linda Rosasco and brother-in-law of LTD Claim Division  partner Troy Rosasco.  Chris rode with the Peters & Wasilefski law firm team.   So far, the team has raised over $1,800.00! Chris is one of those real good guys this world needs more of.  Thanks Chris!

I just met Anne Davis, Esq. ,of the New York City Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, last night.  Anne is joining with a group of  ERISA long term disability lawyers to try to persuade New York State to prohibit " discretionary clauses " in disability insurance policies and contracts. Discretionary clauses in ERISA disability income policies allow insurance companies to  insulate unfair claim denials from proper judicial review.  In a big win for consumers, New Jersey recently adopted rules banning discretionary clauses, despite fierce opposition from the powerful insurance industry.  Hopefully, New York State Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo will do the same.  This will go a long way in protecting the economic resources and dignity of those battling Multiple Sclerosis.

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Once again, Mark Harrington of Newsday continues to do a superb job of  uncovering previously unreleased documents about the dangers still lurking in the soil and air surrounding the former Hicksville Sylvania nuclear fuel rod fabricating plant, now owned by Verizon.  Yesterday, he published the fourth article in an ongoing series about the Hicksville nuclear site and its impact on thousands of workers. Harrington details the most recent March 2007 Army Corps of Engineers report about the proposed future cleanup of this "dirty" site contaminated with both radiological waste and chemicals such as TCE and PCE. Updating the health of my client, the article goes on:

Troy Rosasco, DePascale's Hauppauge-based attorney, said his client is preparing for surgery on May 17 to remove a tumor even as he recovers from the removal last month of half of the other lung. At the same time, he said, continued testing raises questions about assurances that the site was completely safe.  "It tells me that the State Department of Health...is operating fast and loose with data the US Army Corps says is missing" Rosasco said.

Despite winning his case after a trial over two months ago, Gerard DePascale is still without any workers' compensation payments due to the frivolous appeal filed by his employer, Hudson News Group.   All the while, every day another present or former employee who worked at this toxic "glow in the dark" work site calls my office to get on the list of potential future plaintiffs in a future major litigation to provide medical monitoring for all those exposed.  Even if you are currently healthy, you may be entitled to future medical monitoring.  If you are currently sick, you may have additional legal remedies.  If you would like your name placed on the contact list for any future litigation or discuss any other potential claim, please call Troy Rosasco at 631-582-3700, ext. 123.

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It was my pleasure to give a seminar recently to volunteer firefighters at the Bellmore Fire District on Long Island about their rights to workers' compensation (even as volunteers) under the new 9/11 Rescue Workers' Law.   Andrew Carboy and Beth Jablon of Sullivan, Papain, Block, McGrath & Cannavo also gave an excellent presentation on the rights of the volunteer firefighters to sue the City of New York if they worked at Ground Zero and later develop cancer or breathing problems.  For instance, I met one firefighter who developed tongue cancer after working at Ground Zero but had never touched a cigarette in his life.  Unfortunately, such stories are becoming more and more common these days as I field these unfortunate callers on almost a daily basis.

The firehouse was packed and we handed out many Workers' Compensation Ground Zero registration forms and many firefighters completed the forms right then and there.  I thank both Andy Carboy and Joe Pusateri, Esq. for asking me to assist with this presentation.   As of today,  there are only 189 days left to register with the Workers' Compensation Board.  Even if you are not ill now, please download this form today and send it to the New York Workers' Compensation Board ASAP.  It could be a free disability or life insurance policy for your family.   If you have questions about how to fill out  the form, do not hesitate to call our office at 1-877-NY-DBLAW.  

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Welcome to the newly designed New York Disability Law Blog!  As you will notice, I changed the official title of the blog from "The Disabled Worker Law Blog" to the  more informational "New York Disability Law Blog".  This is in keeping with the blog's purpose of providing useful information and insight regarding disability claims to fellow attorneys and the general public. 

To this end, I am excited to announce the creation of the blog's "Disability Law Library" which will be continually added to and updated.  I hope that this will eventually become the first place attorneys and claimant's turn to when researching disability claims and legal issues.  Still in it's formative stages, the library will have sections on long term disability and ERISA claims, Social Security  disability, New York workers' compensation, civil service disability pensions, scaffold /ladder /construction site lawsuits and a new section on the unfortunate expanding area of veterans' disability claims.

In addition, in 2007 we hope to do a better job collaborating with fellow bloggers such as Jonathan Ginsberg and his excellent Social Security Disability Radio Blog.  Please feel free to comment about the new design and let me know how the New York Disability Law Blog can better serve your needs.  Talk to you soon.

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Well, my seven year old son didn't get  "an official Red Ryder carbine-action, 200-shot, range-model air rifle with a compass in the stock" this Christmas, but he now has enough "weapons of mass destruction"  to justify Dick Cheney's armed search of our property (I better duck!)   My daughter is content with her yo-yo and Rubik's Cube.  Chock it up to testosterone!

All of us at the New York Disability Lawyer Blog and Turley, Redmond & Rosasco wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and Holiday Season!  See you in the New Year!

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Our good friends at the New York Committee for Occupational Health (NYCOSH) recently put out an excellent fact sheet on the new 9/11 workers' compensation benefits for rescue workers and first responders.  All New York workers' compensation lawyers should distribute this fact sheet to their eligible clients and medical providers.   Please print this sheet out and pass the word.  The  new business and labor coalition in New York,  BALCONY , is doing a great job disseminating this information.  Keep up the great work BALCONY!

In addition, here's the link to the New York State Workers' Compensation Board's new Registration Form, WTC-12.  All employees and/or volunteers who participated in rescue, recovery or cleanup operations at the World Trade Center Site or other "qualifying sites" must file this form with the Workers Compensation Board no later than August 14, 2007.  This includes those participants who are not currently sick.  Failure to do so may preclude you from making a workers' compensation claim in the future.  Therefore, if you were one of the  heroes at Ground Zero, protect yourself and your family and do it now!  Feel free to call us toll free with any questions at 1-877-NY-DBLAW.

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I am humbled to have been recently elected by my colleagues to be their Second Circuit Court of Appeals representative on the NOSSCR Board of Directors.  I look forward to seeing many of them at our upcoming national disability lawyer conference in Phoenix, Arizona and representing the interests of all Social Security Disability claimants.  Remember - President  Bush still wants to privatize Social Security in his last two years in office.  We must prevent this ill-conceived idea.

For those of you who have never attended a NOSSCR conference, I strongly recommend that you do.  Not only are the Continuing Legal Education seminars of the highest quality, but the opportunity to meet and learn from some of the sharpest disability attorneys in the US is a great asset.  In fact, I am sure I would not have developed our ERISA and professional long term disability practice had it not been for attending an eye opening seminar given by California long term disability lawyer legend, Frank Darras, at a prior NOSSCR conference

Led by Executive Director Nancy Shor, NOSSCR is the  largest disability lawyer association in the United States and is well known to our representatives in Washington, DC for protecting the rights of Social Security Disability claimants.  As part of the NOSSCR leadership team, I am committed to preserving social security disability (SSD) and supplemental security income (SSI) benefits for all individuals with disability claims.    

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After a long struggle and much legislative effort by the New York Workers' Compensation Alliance and the New York State AFL-CIO, Governor Pataki signed the 9/11 Rescue and First Responders Workers' Compensation bill yesterday at the foot of the former World Trade Center site.  In addition to the Governor, both Sheldon Silver, Joe Bruno and their fellow legislators deserve tremendous thanks and admiration for their support.  For a great New York Daily News editorial on this issue, click here. 

Unfortunately, New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, in a Scrooge-like statement, blasted the new benefits.  Quoting Scrooge in Dicken's immortal Christmas Carol, one might think that Mayor Bloomberg would like Ground Zero workers to "die and decrease the surplus population!".   Sorry Mike - your a good Mayor, but your on the wrong side of this issue.

As detailed previously on this blog, this new law will allow many Ground Zero rescue workers and first responders to obtain the medical and lost wage benefits they deserve if they are currently sick or become sick in the future.  In addition, the Governor signed a new bill granting 3/4 Accidental Disability pensions and death benefits to public employees who can show a link between their exposure to toxins at Ground Zero and their current disability.  For the full text of the new 9/11 workers' comp law, please click here.  Any person who has questions about their eligibility for these new benefits,   please feel free to call Turley, Redmond & Rosasco toll free at 1-877-NY-DBLAW for a free consultation.

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In April of this year, New York joined the growing list of states banning discretionary clauses in ERISA long term disability policies, much to the benefit of disabled workers.  Unfortunately, the New York State Insurance Department recently rescinded it's prior advisory letter in favor of proceeding with formal rule making in the future.  While it is clear that New York still feels that "discretionary clauses" are unfair to ERISA long term disability plan participants, this newest circular letter does subject current disability claimants to uncertainty in the near future.

New York Insurance Department Circular Letter # 8, dated 3/27/06, required long term disability insurance companies to remove "discretionary clauses" from disability income policies within 30 days they were "unjust, unfair, inequitable,  misleading , deceptive or contrary to public policy".  New Circular Letter # 14, dated 6/29/06, super cedes and withdraws Circular #8, and states that the Department will be drafting regulations which would "prohibit the use of discretionary clauses".  In the interim, the Department "suggests" that long term disability insurers remove discretionary clauses from policies.

While the latest statement from the New York Insurance Department takes a little wind out of the initial announcement in March, it could lead to stronger permanent regulations which will have more impact in court.   In addition, the formal rule making process allows for public comment.  You can be sure the long term disability carriers will use this opportunity to water down the new regulations to their economic benefit.   You can also be sure that Turley, Redmond & Rosasco will counter all such comments vigorously to protect disabled policyholders in their long term disability claims.

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New York ERISA long term disability claimants just received a big assist from New York State Insurance Superintendent Howard Mills . Following the lead of California's Insurance Department, Superintendent Mills issued 2006 Circular Letter # 8 invalidating all "discretionary clauses" in existing group long term disability policies. All insurance companies must comply by May 31, 2006.

Insurance companies frequently used discretionary clauses to unfairly deny legitimate long term disability claims by claiming their policy gave them "discretion" to decide what is and is not a disability. Discretionary clauses also handcuffed federal court judges who reviewed the unfair denials. An often heard statement by Judges might be "if I were deciding this myself, I would find the claimant disabled. But since the policy grants the insurance company discretion to decide what is disabling, and their doctor says the claimant is not disabled, I cannot say their decision was ‘arbitrary and capricious’.

Now - New York residents with ERISA group long term disability policies will have greater success challenging disability claim denials or terminations. Federal Judges will have far greater leeway in deciding who is disabled from their ‘own occupation’ or ‘any occupation’. Essentially, the playing field for long term disability claims just got a lot fairer. Sure – the insurance companies still have the big bucks to hire large law firms to fight your claim, but you just won a significant battle. Bottom Line – Turley, Redmond & Rosasco will be fighting and winning more LTD claims in the future. Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

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With all the talk of workers' compensation reform in New York lately, some of you may have thought that we forgot about the long term disability and social security disability claim side of our practice. Anything but!

On February 23th and 24th, I attended ACI’s Litigating Long Term Disability Claims conference in Coconut Grove, Florida. This is one of the best LTD claim lawyer conferences in the nation and all the "heavy hitter" plaintiff and defense attorneys in the in LTD business, from Frank Darras to Mark DeBofsky, were there. In fact, both Frank and Mark gave wonderful presentations regarding recent case law and claim filing strategies.

Given that a long term disability insurance carrier last week denied a new client who has end-stage real disease and is awaiting a kidney transplant, it looks like the good fight will continue for the foreseeable future.

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Gov. Pataki's new workers' compensation "reform" bill will be a disaster for the heroes of 9/11 - the "first responders". As recently detailed in an excellent Newsday article, first responders are getting sicker every day, and many are now dying from their exposure to toxins at Ground Zero.

As I have stated before, the Pataki workers comp bill takes away benefits from the most seriously disabled by capping how long they can receive benefits. Chronically ill first responders - the ones who will never recover - will then be forced into the welfare system. How fair is that?

A good friend of mine (age 36) worked at Ground Zero for over two months looking for the remains of his firefighter brother. Now he has Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (COPD). MRI tests show potential pre-cancerous lesions on his lungs. He can barely mow his lawn, much less jump and run with his two great kids.

Did Governor Pataki think about the impact of losing workers comp benefits on first responders before proposing this ill advised legislation? I doubt it. Those who know him personally speak of a genuinely good man. I think he, along with Rudy Giuliani, did a fantastic job after 9/11 and this blog has applauded him when he signed excellent pension protections for 9/11 first responders. Perhaps he is just getting some bad advice from those pushing him to run for President.

Thanks to our good friends at the Workers' Comp Insider for pointing us to the excellent Newsday article.

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In one of her farewell decisions as a Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O'Connor ruled for a unanimous Supreme Court yesterday that the federal government can collect delinquent student loans by withholding a claimant's Social Security Disability benefits. The full decision in Lockhart v. United States is here. While legally sound, the practical effect on disability recipients does not seem one bit fair.

Let's take the following real world example: John works for 20 years as a GM factory worker and then gets laid off. All those 20 years he paid into Social Security for disability and retirement benefits. Trying to better himself and find a new career, he enrolls in college to become an insurance claims adjuster. He takes out $7,500 per year in student loans to pay for tuition and books. In his sophomore year, he has a major heart attack which forces him to withdraw from his courses and prevents him from working. Since he is not enrolled in study, his loans come due. Because he can't work due to his disability, he falls behind on his payments. Eventually, he files for Social Security Disability. While Social Security finds him qualified medically, they don't pay him anything because they first want to recoup his delinquent student loans. Because John has no income and no Social Security Disability benefits now, he is forced to go on welfare. What's wrong with this picture?

First, the government is forgetting that John already paid for his Social Security Disability benefits through payroll deductions during the 20 years he worked at GM. It's his money! Social Security Disability is not welfare! This money was entrusted to the Social Security Administration to protect John if he became disabled. It's like a forced savings account. How do they expect him to pay back his student loans if he cannot work? How do they expect him to live now? Poor John.

I'm all for going after student loan deadbeats if they are driving a Lexus and not paying their loans. Most of them won't get hurt by the Social Security offset until retirement age. However, I would hope Congress would carve out an exception for the disabled so they can get by today. It would be the right thing to do

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The Full Service New York Disability Law Firm of Turley, Redmond & Rosasco, LLP is pleased to announce that David Tobias and Craig Rosasco have been named partners in the firm.

David Tobias is a graduate of Hofstra Law School and has been Supervisor of the firm’s Social Security Disability Department for the past five years. Prior to joining Turley, Redmond & Rosasco, LLP in 2000, he was an Associate Attorney at a national Social Security disability law firm for ten years. Over the course of his career, he has appeared at more than 1000 administrative disability hearings and has a winning percentage of over 95%. In addition to his Social Security disability work, David also supervises the firm’s New York State Retirement Disability Pension Department and our Veterans Disability Appeals Department (which is unfortunately quite busy now given the number of injured and wounded returning from Iraq). Dave is based out of our Suffolk office and can be reached at (631) 582-3700 x114. Please join us in congratulating Dave on his accomplishment.

Craig Rosasco is a graduate of Touro Law School where he was Student Bar Association President. Craig joined the firm in 1997 after working in the Claims Department at a major workers’ compensation insurance company. Since then, he has concentrated in representing workers with New York State Workers’ Compensation claims. Over the course of the last 9 years, he has appeared at more than 800 hearings before the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board. Craig is known for his strong trial and negotiating skills on behalf of injured workers, and uses his prior insurance company experience to benefit the firm’s clients. Craig handles workers’ compensation claims out of our Nassau and Queens offices. He can be reached at either (516) 745-5666 x113 or (718) 396-3500 x113. Please join us in congratulating Craig on his accomplishment

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He said it - not me! In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, ongoing American casualties in Iraq, and vicious attacks from the "Far Right" for his most recent pick of Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court, it appears that the President is giving up on his Social Security privatization plan. For those of us who have been arguing all along that it was ill-conceived and unaffordable, this is welcome news.

In reality, the President had no choice. The fact is that given his "Roosevelt-like" promise to rebuild the South (and fix poverty along the way!) after Katrina, he simply cannot afford the "Social Security 401k plan" he envisioned. The short term costs of Social Security privatization about equal the mind numbing costs of Katrina. The conservatives in his own party are giving him a rough time on the cost of the Katrina promise - and they simply would not stand for additional debt that the Social Security plan would add to our children's dimming financial future. We are seeing the nicer and kinder George W. - and the Far Right is apoplectic!

This does not mean that the President isn't moving full speed ahead with his reform of the Social Security Disability process. The most recent proposals, while helpful to Social Security Disability claimants in some respects, have many flaws which can be disastrous for a disabled client. Thankfully, the new rules are not yet final and you can share your comments here with the Commissioner of Social Security. Look here for a sample critique of the new rules. While we may have dodged a bullet with Social Security privatization, the disabled might pay the price

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While I was on vacation last week, New York disability attorneys had a lot of interesting disability law developments to digest. I will try to catch everyone up on the most important developments over the course of the week, but I will start with the most important: the New Social Security Approach to Disability Determination proposed last week by Social Security Commissioner Jo Anne B. Barnhart. Bottom Line – it’s generally BAD for claimants, and it's hidden agenda is to decrease the odds that disability claimants will win their Social Security claims.

Probably the most significant change for disability clients and their attorneys is the elimination of Appeals Council review of Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) decisions. While most Social Security judges are fair and competent, a few are neither. Some regional hearing offices are packed with bad judges. They start out with an agenda to deny the claim, and then proceed to have staff attorneys write their legally unsupportable decisions. Because all ALJ’s are members of a powerful union, it is almost impossible to rid Social Security of a bad judge. They are consistently reversed by the current Appeals Council.

And that’s the rub - eliminate Appeals Council review, and claimants will have to march into Federal District Court to reverse the lousy judges. Since many Social Security attorneys and non-attorney representatives are unwilling to take disability claims to federal court for a myriad of legal (non-attorneys can't) and financial reasons (filing fees), this will essentially deny many claimants a chance to overturn lousy ALJ decisions.

For lawyers who have busy and aggressive federal court disability practices, we will be quite busy. But in the big picture, not every unfairly denied claimant will come see attorneys like Turley, Redmond & Rosasco. For those unfortunate many, the Appeals Council served as a much needed safety net. It allowed deserving claimants to appeal their decisions at no cost simply by filling out a one page form. Now, they will have to proceed to the costly and complex federal court arena. I predict that the federal courts will quickly get bogged down with disability claims, leading to more delay and uncertain outcomes. What do you think? Let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment below.

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In a significant win for the rescue and recovery heroes of 9/11 and New York's municipal unions, last week Gov. George Pataki finally signed the 75% disability pension bill for workers who become ill as a result of working at Ground Zero. Municipal employees, mostly police and firemen, who worked more than 40 hours at Ground Zero and develop cancer or other diseases are now presumed to have gotten these illnesses from the 9/11 clean up, unless the employer can prove otherwise.

I have a 36 year old friend who is a New York City fireman (New York's Bravest) and worked at Ground Zero for over three months looking for the remains of his brother, a fellow fireman. He now has multiple granulomas on his lungs, which could be a precursor to lung cancer. The New York City Fire Department won't let him return to active duty. This new disability pension law will help protect his family in the future. Give credit to the Governor for doing the right thing for the heroes of 9/11. Now, how about a workers' compensation benefit increase, George? Its only been 13 years!

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I wouldn’t bet on it. Despite dwindling support in his own party and the public in general, the President has shown in the past that he is a stubborn and resilent fighter for his policies. Rather than folding up shop and licking his wounds, he has announced a new multi-state push to convince the American public that his way is the better way to fix Social Security. His biggest nemesis, AARP, will surely be nipping at his heels after every stop and trying to undercut his proposal for "private" (or shall we say "personal") accounts. For entertaining bashing on both sides of the Social Security Reform issue, visit There Is No Crisis and Social Security Choice.

Even if the President’s privatization plan fails, there will most likely be some sort of Social Security reform in the next year. Advocates for disabled workers must see to it that the Social Security Disability program isn’t left on the cutting room floor when all the smoke clears. We will have to lobby all our friends in Congress to make sure that they protect the most vulnerable among us – the disabled. As with most things, the devil is in the details. There are more than a few pitchfork carrying souls lurking in the halls of Congress who would love to gut the disability program. With all the discussion about private accounts, let’s also keep an eye on the disability insurance program.

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