Disability Denials

Again, this afternoon in my back reading of the Nashville Scene, I read a cover article called "Denied," which talked about how Tennessee is the leading state in denying disability claims. It was a hard story to read--of course I had heard how hard it is for people to get benefits before, but I did not realize that TN is the worst state in this regard. The article talked about how people with legitimate claims get denied, and then they have to appeal. The process takes so long that people can lose everything, their money, their savings, their homes, their self esteem, sometimes their very lives. Some people have died by the time their appeals come up.

The bureaucrats in the article argued that those who evaluate the claims are doing the right thing, as evidenced by the high accuracy rating. (Can't remember who is doing this rating.) Then others in the article argued back saying, that really can't be true as there is a very high reversal rating on appeal. Several people quoted in the article said that TN tends to be more geared to looking for those who are trying to cheat the system rather than really trying to help people.

The money they end up getting isn't high--the one man in the article who finally got his money ended up only get about $600 a month. At least it would put food on the table, if you still had a table. The real problem though is that it can be as long as 18 months between the original application and the appeal. This is so hard to comprehend. One of the classes I am taking this year is social security disability. I would someday like to represent people who need a lawyer in this effort. I will write more on this subject later in the year when I have that course.