January is Blood Donor Month, Can You Help?

According to the American Red Cross, winter is one of the most difficult times of year to collect enough blood products to meet patient needs. That is because of, among other things, busy holiday schedules and bad weather often resulting in canceled blood drives. Furthermore, seasonal illnesses such as the flu force potential donors to forgo their blood donations.

This is just one of the reasons that National Blood Donor Month, which has taken place each January since 1970, is such an important observance. Donating blood saves many lives and improves health for many people. According to the World Health Organization, “blood is the most precious gift that anyone can give to another person — the gift of life. A decision to donate your blood can save a life, or even several if your blood is separated into its components — red cells, platelets and plasma.”

Find a local blood drive: https://www.redcross.org/give-blood.html

By: Joyce Trudeau of Premier Disability Services LLC^®

Disabled Workers Roll the Dice with Judge Assignments

Sick and injured workers face a brutal game of chance when they apply for Social Security disability benefits: their odds hinge as much on the judge they are assigned as on the facts of their case.

American workers give 6 percent of their paychecks to the Social Security Administration just in case they lose their jobs to injury or illness. But, in the end, it’s a government judge, not a doctor, who will decide whether a condition is serious enough to warrant benefits.

Allowed wide discretion with little oversight, judges may come to wildly different decisions.

It’s a consequential game of roulette, and it can take years for the wheel to stop spinning. Draw one judge and you’re all but guaranteed access to life-saving benefits. Draw another and you may have little chance at all.

Contact our office today if you or anyone you know would like to learn more about qualifying for Social Security Disability benefits.

Full article: https://www.postandcourier.com/health/disabled-workers-in-sc-roll-the-dice-when-drawing-judges/article_a27bee44-1517-11ea-8dbf-e7c8b74a8206.html

By: Joyce Trudeau of Premier Disability Services, LLC®

Representatives Introduce Know Your Social Security Act

Earlier this month, House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Chairman John Larson (D-CT), Ways and Means Committee Member Vern Buchanan (R-FL), Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Finance Committee Member Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) introduced the Know Your Social Security Act.

The legislation will clarify the requirement for the Social Security Administration (SSA) to mail an annual Social Security Statement to all workers ages 25 and older with covered earnings, who are not receiving Social Security benefits. Since Fiscal Year 2011 SSA has failed to mail annual Statements to these Americans, citing limited operating budgets, even though in 1989 and 1990 Congress enacted requirements for SSA to provide a Statement annually.

“Social Security is our nation’s foundation to a solid retirement. Americans who contribute to Social Security should receive an update every year so they know what benefits they are earning and can plan for their retirements. No matter what happens in the stock market, Social Security will always be there for them,” said Larson. “I’m proud to introduce this bipartisan, bicameral legislation alongside Ranking Member Wyden, Senator Cassidy and Congressman Buchanan.”

 Contact our office today if you or anyone you know would like to learn more about qualifying for Social Security Disability benefits.

https://larson.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/larson-buchanan-wyden-cassidy-introduce-know-your-social-security-act

By: Joyce Trudeau of Premier Disability Services, LLC®