Social Security Revises Mental Impairment Listings

Posted March 17, 2017 by Premier Disability Services, LLC® In September 2016, the Social Security Administration (SSA) published new final rules, effective January 17, 2017, that revised the medical criteria for evaluating mental disorders. This regulation is a comprehensive revision to the criteria for evaluating disability claims involving mental disorders.

“Updating our medical criteria for the disability program is a challenging task that has been complicated by deep budgetary cuts in recent years,” said Carolyn W. Colvin, then-Acting Commissioner of SSA. “We are committed to updating our regulations to reflect up-to-date standards and practices used in the health care community.”

The final rule is the last step in a deliberative process that engaged relevant stakeholders, including current disability beneficiaries and their family members, mental-health physicians and treatment providers, and advocacy groups for those with mental disorders. It also reflects information from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth edition, the mental health profession’s current standard classification of mental disorders. In addition to reflecting comments from members of the public, the rule also reflects an intellectual disability report SSA commissioned from the National Academy of Sciences, and the expertise of disability policy experts, adjudicators, psychiatric professionals, and vocational experts who provided input at every phase of the rulemaking process.

In a press office release, SSA stated that “the publication of this final rule is an important cornerstone of our effort to secure today and tomorrow for members of the public with mental illness who are some of our most vulnerable beneficiaries.”

More SSA new rules: https://www.ssa.gov/regulations/recentregulatory.html

Source: https://www.ssa.gov/news/press/releases/#/post/9-2016-1

By: Thomas A. Klint of Premier Disability Services, LLC^®

Social Security Gun Ban Repealed

Posted March 10, 2017 by Premier Disability Services, LLC® In February, the House of Representatives approved its first effort of the new Congress to roll back gun regulations, voting to overturn a rule that would bar gun ownership by some individuals who have been deemed mentally impaired by the Social Security Administration.

The House voted 235-180 largely along party lines to repeal an Obama-era rule requiring the Social Security Administration to send records of some beneficiaries to the federal firearms background check system after they have been deemed mentally incapable of managing their financial affairs.

The rule, when implemented, would affect about 75,000 recipients of Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income who require a representative to manage their benefits because of a disabling mental disorder, ranging from anywhere from anxiety to schizophrenia.

Republicans argued that the rule, which was vigorously opposed by gun-rights and disability groups, would unfairly stigmatize people with disabilities and strip them of their Second Amendment rights without due process.

“This is a slap in the face for those in the disabled community because it paints all those who suffer from mental disorders with the same broad brush,” said House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. “It assumes that simply because an individual suffers from a mental condition, that individual is unfit to exercise his or her Second Amendment rights.”

Democrats agreed that the government must not stigmatize those with disabilities, but said this rule affects a small group with severe, long-term mental disorders preventing them from doing any work. Passage of the resolution puts others at risk, they said.

The regulation was repealed under the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to dismiss an outgoing administration’s recently enacted regulations. It requires only a simple majority vote in the Senate.

Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/02/02/house-votes-strike-rule-banning-guns-some-deemed-mentally-impaired/97299756/

By: Joyce Trudeau of Premier Disability Services, LLC^®

March is National Kidney Month

Posted March 3, 2017 by Premier Disability Services, LLC® March is National Kidney Month, and March 9, 2017 is World Kidney Day. Kidney disease develops when kidneys lose their ability to remove waste and maintain fluid and chemical balances in the body. The severity of chronic kidney disease (CKD) depends on how well the kidneys filter waste from the blood. Because there are little to no signs of the condition, most people are not even aware that they have kidney disease until it reaches the later stages, including kidney failure.

Since there are often no symptoms of early kidney disease, laboratory tests are critical. When you get a screening, a technician will draw blood that will be tested for creatinine, a waste product. If kidney function is abnormal, creatinine levels will increase in the blood due to decreased excretion of creatinine in the urine. Your glomerular filtration rate (GFR) will then be calculated, which factors in your age, gender, creatinine, and ethnicity. Your GFR indicates your stage of chronic kidney disease and provides an evaluation of kidney function.

End stage renal disease patients have two treatment options. Dialysis is a treatment that removes wastes and excess fluid from blood when the kidneys are not able to do it on their own. Typically, it is necessary upon development of kidney failure. There are over 380,000 people in the United States who depend on hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis (PD) treatments to stay alive. The only other treatment option for people with end stage renal disease is a kidney transplant.

If you suffer from kidney disease, you may qualify for Social Security Disability benefits if you meet the criteria under one of Social Security’s listings for genitourinary disorders (6.00), or if your condition otherwise prevents you from working. Please contact us for a free evaluation of your case.

 

Adult Listing 6.00: https://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/6.00-Genitourinary-Adult.htm

Source: https://www.davita.com/education/kidney-disease/risk-factors/march-is-national-kidney-month

 

By: Thomas A. Klint of Premier Disability Services, LLC^®