Waiting In Asheville

The horror stories roll off their tongues like a litany: claimants who die while they wait, families falling apart, bankruptcies, homelessness, even suicides. DisabilityAn impairment that qualifies as a disability under Social Security Administration (SSA) guidelines must be quite serious. The impairment must render the applicant unable to perform any substantial gainful activity — that is, the applicant must not be able to earn more than a minimum amount of money, determined each year by the SSA. The impairment must completely disable the applicant from working. It must be expected to last for a year, have already lasted a year or be expected to cause the applicant's death. But this is not the end of the qualifying tests. attorneys and advocates say these are the fates of an increasing number of people who become ill or injured and apply for federal Social Security Disability benefitsYou can get disability benefits if you: are under full retirement age, have enough Social Security credits and, have a severe medical impairment (physical or mental) that’s expected to prevent you from doing "substantial" work for a year or more, or have a condition that is expected to result in death.. From first application, people who cannot work because of illness or disabilityAn impairment that qualifies as a disability under Social Security Administration (SSA) guidelines must be quite serious. The impairment must render the applicant unable to perform any substantial gainful activity — that is, the applicant must not be able to earn more than a minimum amount of money, determined each year by the SSA. The impairment must completely disable the applicant from working. It must be expected to last for a year, have already lasted a year or be expected to cause the applicant's death. But this is not the end of the qualifying tests. wait an average of three years for benefits. Many wait longer, and a large percentage of people simply give up. ...A few cases are approved quickly - when people are elderly or clearly dying, said Cynthia Strom, a disabilityAn impairment that qualifies as a disability under Social Security Administration (SSA) guidelines must be quite serious. The impairment must render the applicant unable to perform any substantial gainful activity — that is, the applicant must not be able to earn more than a minimum amount of money, determined each year by the SSA. The impairment must completely disable the applicant from working. It must be expected to last for a year, have already lasted a year or be expected to cause the applicant's death. But this is not the end of the qualifying tests. attorney in east Asheville. "But for most people, it's a waiting game," she said. "I've had clients commit suicide while they wait because they just can't do it anymore." ...Curtis Venable, an attorney with Pisgah Legal Services, said he has clients who have waited more than four years for approval. Getting approval in less than 2 years is rare. "I'll bet one-third of the people living in homeless shelters are people waiting for disabilityAn impairment that qualifies as a disability under Social Security Administration (SSA) guidelines must be quite serious. The impairment must render the applicant unable to perform any substantial gainful activity — that is, the applicant must not be able to earn more than a minimum amount of money, determined each year by the SSA. The impairment must completely disable the applicant from working. It must be expected to last for a year, have already lasted a year or be expected to cause the applicant's death. But this is not the end of the qualifying tests.," he said. Bruce Peterson, district director for U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, said the office gets hundreds of calls a month asking for help with disabilityAn impairment that qualifies as a disability under Social Security Administration (SSA) guidelines must be quite serious. The impairment must render the applicant unable to perform any substantial gainful activity — that is, the applicant must not be able to earn more than a minimum amount of money, determined each year by the SSA. The impairment must completely disable the applicant from working. It must be expected to last for a year, have already lasted a year or be expected to cause the applicant's death. But this is not the end of the qualifying tests..