Dealing with SSI Overpayments

If you are a Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiary, you are expected to receive an exact amount of monetary benefits. The amount is based on your “limited” income and resources. However, a monthly SSI payment may exceed more than the amount you are expected to receive. The difference of the payment you received and the amount due is called an overpayment.

There are many reasons for having SSI overpayments. First, your income may be more than what was estimated prior to your approval of your SSI claim. Then, you may have more resources than the set criteria for possible beneficiaries.

Another is that you may have failed to inform the SSA about any changes in your living arrangements such as divorce, marriage, separation, or having a child. And then, you may have also provided insufficient information that caused the SSA to give you a large sum of monetary benefits.

If the SSA has knowledge of your overpayment, they will send you a notice asking you to fully refund the excess amount within a month. The notice also contains the following guidelines in case you failed to refund the overpayment:

·         The withholding of the overpayment at 10-percent rate from your total income

·         The month the withholding scheme would start

·         Instructions for appealing

·         Instruction on how the overpayment can be reviewed and waived by the SSA

If you know that you are not overpaid, you can file an appeal through the reconsideration process. You have 10 days to appeal your case, starting from the date you received the notice from the SSA. You can still receive monthly SSI payments until the SSA decides on your case.

If you know that you are receiving overpayments but you believe it is not your fault, you can ask for a recovery waiver. You can secure a request for waiver form (SSA-632) anytime. You can also ask for a waiver if you have to use the overpayment for your monthly expenses. You must provide proof of billing. You must have also possessed hardship in repaying the overpayment.

If ever you get in this kind of situation, solicit the legal counsel of a social security disability benefits attorney. You can be sure that his or her expertise will help you with your problems regarding SSI overpayments.

Important Paperwork That You Need to Fill Out When Applying for SSDI

The Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program is a Social Security program that provides monthly benefits to approved disability claimants on the basis of their medical condition or “disability” and their inability to work because of it. 

You must have worked long enough to earn work credits to become eligible for SSDI benefits. You must also have a physical or mental condition that is expected to last for at least a year or longer and that prevents you from doing manual work.

When applying for SSDI benefits, it is important that you first establish your disability claim. You may start by gathering information about your medical condition and your employment history.

Your doctor’s statements regarding your limitations, as well as your clinical and lab test results and record of your previous employments, will greatly help the SSA in deciding whether or not you are eligible for disability benefits.

In establishing a disability claim, it is not enough that you provide the abovementioned records and documents. You must also take time in filling out paperwork provided by the SSA. This will help the federal agency understand more about your overall situation as well as help them in deciding if you are eligible for benefits or not.

Here are the three forms that constitute the needed paperwork that you must accomplish and submit together with your medical and employment records:

·         Application for Disability Insurance Benefits (Form SSA-16-F6)

It is important that you fully accomplish this form, as this will inform the SSA that you are applying for SSDI benefits. The form contains basic information, as well as questions that seek brief answers.

·         Adult Disability Report Form (SSA Form 3368-BK)

This 14-page document contains detailed questions that tackle your past employment, educational attainment, medications that you take, and your medical treatment. The first two pages of the document give you instructions on how to fully accomplish the document. The accomplished form will serve as your input in providing the SSA with information regarding your disability and your inability to work.

·         Social Security Disability Medical Authorization (Form SSA-827)

Accomplishing this form means that you are allowing health care providers, educational institutions, insurance providers, and other individuals to provide to the SSA any important records, such as medical documents, necessary for evaluating your claim.

Documents that Applicants Would Need for Social Security Disability Claims

A former worker who has met an accident or infirmity that led him or her to stop working may find assistance through the social security disability benefits. This is a collective term used to describe the two programs under the Social Security Administration (SSA). Through the social security disability benefits, surely any granted application would help a former worker to compensate for their losses and even get them through costly medication. 

Moreover, if the applicant was severely disabled and couldn’t afford to go to the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) office, he or she may apply through the website of the aforementioned government agency. It is already a thing of the past to go to government agencies by foot, today, through the internet transactions are made in real time at the comfort of one’s own home. Normally like any other program or policy that is given by the government, there shall be of course requirements that needed to be fulfilled to avail the claim, they include the following:

Requirements

Before giving all of the things that are written under the list, it is vital to first know if the applicant is able to get the considerable amount of tax requirements as well as the length of working tenure to qualify. Here is the list of the documents that would be needed in being able to apply for the social security disability:

• Social security number of the applicant as well as their immediate family members
• Birth certificate as a proof of citizenship
• The bank account number wherein the benefits will be placed once approved
• The applicant must be 18 years old above
• The person applying must be disabled for the past 12 months or more.
• If the one who applies came from the military service and got the disability there, he or she shall need the DD 214 Form or the Military Service Discharge Information.
• Those who are formerly employed shall need the W-2 Form or IRS 1040 from the last year. If it so happens that the applicant is self employed they will need the Schedules C and SE.