Posts by Robert Alston
Social Security Judges File Lawsuit Alleging They are Held to Quotas
Claims for Social Security Disability Insurance take a long time to be processed and decided these days. An increase in the number of claims in recent years has caused wait times for some applicants to stretch into the hundreds of days. It is in everyone’s best interest for this backlog to be eliminated so that…
Read MoreSocial Security Disability Advocates Respond to NPR Story
A story recently aired on National Public Radio (NPR) has sparked a national conversation on a federal government benefit program, including passionate defenses and calls for its overhaul. The program is Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), and as the NPR series “Unfit For Work” described, its payroll, after sharp growth in recent years, now numbers…
Read MoreComputerized Medical Records to Streamline Social Security Disability Claims
Software developers at the Wright State Research Institute have developed a system that may dramatically streamline Social Security disability claims. The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) evaluates an individual’s claim for disability benefits; the system will soon use electronic medical records to reduce the decision time from 100 days or more to as little as…
Read MoreLawsuits Filed over Highway Crashes in Florida
Thirteen lawsuits were recently filed against the state of Florida’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles from family members of people who were killed on Interstate 75 or from individuals who injured in those accidents. Eleven people died on Interstate 75 near Gainesville on January 29, 2012. It is highly unusual for such a…
Read MoreReports of Burns Prompt Coffee Maker Recall
Sunbeam Products, Inc. has announced a recall of over half a million Mr. Coffee brand coffee makers. The recall is in response to reports of a defect that has already caused injury to a number of users. “Product safety recalls are serious business,” said Zephyrhills personal injury attorney Robert Alston. “The media do a good…
Read MoreChild Seriously Injured in Florida Interstate Crash
A 6-year-old boy was seriously injured in an accident on Interstate 10 in Santa Rosa County in western Florida on Friday night. The driver of a Ford F-150 veered off the roadway onto a shoulder to avoid a vehicle directly in front that slowed suddenly. In the process, the truck’s driver from Crestview struck a…
Read MoreRisky Driving Behavior an Indicator of Mortality On or Off the Road
While it may seem obvious that reckless driving can lead to injury or death in an automobile accident, a new study suggests that a record of risky driving is a good indicator of general mortality as well. The study, “More Than Just Data: Motor Vehicle Records as Lifestyle Indicators for Life Insurers,” was completed by…
Read MoreSocial Security Disability Adds 13 Conditions to Compassionate Allowances Program
The Social Security Administration recently added 13 new conditions to the Compassionate Allowances program that fast-tracks disability decisions within the agency. The new conditions were introduced in December as part of an ongoing effort to innovate and streamline the agency’s work, according to Social Security Commissioner Michael J. Astrue. The conditions that were added to…
Read MoreMore Frequent Wage Reporting Would Help Cut Down on SSI Overpayments
The Social Security Administration is calling on private insurers that pay workers’ compensation as well as state and local agencies to report payments to the agency to help cut down on fraud and overpayments. In a recent speech to the U.S. House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security, Carolyn Colvin, deputy administrator for the…
Read MoreSSI and SSDI Could be Revamped
The Social Security Administration is working on new initiatives that could cut down on wasteful overpayments, disincentives to work and costly labor time to investigate payments. The Work Incentives Simplification Pilot is a legislative proposal being considered by Congress that could replace well-intentioned but complicated laws meant to incentivize disability beneficiaries to return to work.…
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