Wednesday 9 January 2013

SSA Expands Online Services

Want to do some financial and retirement research from the comfort of your own home, using your own computer?

The Social Security Administration has just expanded the services available with a ‘my Social Security” account, available through the SSA. Workers may create personalized online accounts, permitting access to benefit verification letters, payment histories and earnings records.Access can start during the working years and continue throughout the time benefits are received.

It certainly beats trekking to an SSA office, or spending time on the phone.

Beneficiaries (for both Social Security and Supplement Security Income benefits) can retrieve an official benefit verification instantly online. This letter serves as proof of income for loans, mortgages and other housing, plus state or local benefits. People can also use the verification letter to prove current Medicare health insurance coverage, retirement or disability status and age. The information could also prove useful and timely to a Social Security attorney or disability attorney working to help someone apply for Social Security Disability benefits.

Those not yet receiving benefits who sign up for an account can get a personalized online statement, with earnings and benefit information, and estimates of future benefits. The website also includes links to other information, such as applying for retirement, Social Security disability benefits and Medicare.

The online service lets people conduct business with the SSA without having to visit a field office or make a phone call. There’s also no need to wait for a verification letter (Social Security process nearly 9 million requests for the letters in the past year) to arrive by mail. And online services free employees to focus on other tasks, rather than complete verification letter requests.

People 18 and older can sign up for an account at www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount . Once on the site, people must be able to provide information about themselves, and give answers to questions only they are likely to know. After completing a secure verification process, people create a “my Social Security” account with a unique user name and password, permitting them to access their information.

Don’t Lose Your Appeal for SSD in Chicago By Being Unprepared

If you have gone through all the trouble of apply for SSD in Chicago or SSI in Illinois, you don’t want to have your claim denied because you weren’t well prepared. When your claim is denied, you must begin the lengthy appeals process. This happens to many applicants for SSD in Chicago and SSI in Illinois. You mustn’t be discouraged; now you need to have your wits about you.

The first step is requesting a hearing in front of an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). This hearing is very important, and a significant number of applicants for SSD and SSI ruin their chances of success by not carefully preparing for this hearing. To improve your chances of being approved for SSD or SSI, you should take the following steps. Even though doing these things won’t guarantee success, it will give you a better chance of approval.

Documentation is everything. When you apply for SSD in Chicago and SSI in Illinois, you must be able to prove that you are disabled and eligible for benefits. Medical records, your entire medical history, dates of doctor’s visits, medication lists, increasing or diminishing disability…all these things are vital to your claims for SSD in Chicago and SSI in Illinois. Get support statements from your physicians testifying to your disability.

Most importantly, hire a disability attorney in Chicago who has experience with SSD cases. While it is possible to do the appeal on your own, it is not advisable. Administrative law is very complicated, and there are often any procedures that must be followed perfectly to ensure you get legal relief. Not hiring an attorney may cost you your SSD or SSI. You need an advocate to not only help you prepare your documentation, but to stand up for your right to receive disability compensation today.