1. Will the S.S.D. benefits paid for children be paid to me (the claimant) directly? Children’s benefits are payable to the person who has custody of the children. In many cases one spouse, who is disabled, does not want the children to get benefits directly, but intends to use the money as a negotiating tool in a divorce proceeding. SSA rightly takes the position that whoever has custody of the children should get the benefits. When there is joint custody, it gets complicated because it really depends on who has the custody most often. They will generally follow the law of the state in which you live. There can be incredibly complicated cases, though, where you live in one state and the children live in another state with your soon-to-be ex-husband or wife. If you have custody of one child and your wife has custody of the other child, they will send half the benefits to the mother and half the benefits to the father.
2. If I owe child support when I win benefits and my child receives auxiliary benefits, will the SSD check to the child be considered child support? This depends on state by state. There is no automatic presumption that someone getting child auxiliary benefits can use that as an offset to any obligations set by the court. The court can consider it or not consider it, but it depends on your state law.
   
   LONG-TERM DISABILITY
   
   
3. I am receiving benefits from LTD. Will this affect my case? Long-term disability has similar problems to workers’ compensation. SS does not care how much long-term disability is paying you. However, many long-term disability plans require you to apply for SSD, and they have a dollar-for-dollar offset. For example, if you had a long-term disability plan that paid you 60% of your wages with an offset for SSD, the math may work out as follows. Let’s suppose you were making $100,000 per year. If you were found disabled by the long-term disability carrier, you would be entitled to 60% of your wages as benefits. That would be $60,000. However, many policies indicate that you must apply for SSD, and if you get SSD, there is a dollar-for-dollar offset. So let’s assume that at that same salary, you are getting $1800 a month from SSD, and your children are getting $900. That means you would be getting a total of $2700 a month or $32,400 annually. You have an offset of $32,400 to the long-term disability carrier, so that you are only getting $27,600 ($60,000 minus the $32,400 SSD monies) from long-term disability because the LTD carrier is effectively insuring itself through your SSD money.
   
   MEDICAL INFORMATION
   
   
4. What evidence is used by the government to make a decision on a Social Security Disability case? First they will see if you’ve worked long enough and are eligible. Social Security will then consider your age, your education, and your work history as well as all the medical evidence.
5. My doctor wants to charge me for a medical report. Is this common?

Not only is it common, it’s the norm. Almost all doctors charge for their medical reports. Some states – and this is a state by state law – limit how much a hospital or physician can charge for their office notes. In some states, a hospital can only charge a certain amount per page for their medical records. In other states, if you are applying for Social Security Disability, the hospital cannot charge at all. Similarly, doctors are limited to how much they can charge for their office notes.

Next month, Charles will answer more of the questions many clients ask us about Social Security Disability. If you’d like us to notify you when Charles’ book is published, please call 1-800-662:4633, or E-mail info@BinderandBinder.com.