Florida "values" ...the disabled "have become homeless or bankrupt while waiting for rulings"

[madfloridian]

A hat tip to FLA Politics blog for keeping with the Florida "values crowd."

From the "Values" Crowd

Nationally, there is "a growing backlog of 750,000 unresolved disability cases — about 8,100 in South Florida and 37,500 in the state. Some injured and ill people have become homeless or bankrupt while waiting for rulings."

"Florida denies two-thirds of initial claims, records show, but judges reverse more than half of the denials. Attorneys said those incorrect rulings add to the backlog and the long waits. Florida reviewers may rush to settle cases — after years of criticism for slow decisions — and rule without all the facts because they did not request full records or doctors did not send them, attorneys said."

The wait is painful for many. From the complete article:

Applicants endure hardship while waiting for disability benefits to be OK'd


Heather Noble, 41, has a weak heart and has not been able to work since 2006. The North Lauderdale mother of two: Shadae Graham, 2, and a teen daughter, has become impoverished waiting to qualify for disability benefits through Social Security. (Michael Laughlin/ Sun Sentinel / August 27, 2008)

Heather Noble's heart is so weak, the doctors tell her not to laugh too hard. She had a stroke during heart surgery, and now speaks with a slur and can't recall her baby's name. Her doctors say she can't work.

Two years later, the former UPS worker and mother of two from North Lauderdale has become destitute while waiting for Social Security to decide if she qualifies for disability benefits. Noble, 41, is trapped in a growing backlog of 750,000 unresolved disability cases — about 8,100 in South Florida and 37,500 in the state. Some injured and ill people have become homeless or bankrupt while waiting for rulings.

"It makes me want to cry," said Noble, who gets by with help from food stamps and friends. Her car recently was repossessed. "My children have to do without. I borrow from everybody. It's been a miserable two years. I never thought before how hard it could be to be disabled."

These numbers are unbelievable. The person quoted sounds out of touch with the reality of real life.

Over two years, Social Security has resolved all 200,000 cases that are more than 900 days old. Officials hope to bring the backlog to a manageable 430,000 by 2013, said Frank Cristaudo, chief administrative law judge for the agency.

"It will take a while," Cristaudo said. "Things are getting a little better."

This comment by Charles (Lou) Fete is very odd.

He said "Florida reviewers do not rush decisions or deny claims without good reason...The system is working the way it is supposed to work under federal rules. This is how they want it."

Fete is director of the state Disability Determinations.

He said it is working the way it is supposed to work...I don't know what to say to that.

[rzemanfl]

1. All the medical records in disablity cases are sent to London,

Kentucky, where they are scanned by a subsidiary of Lockheed-Martin. Or at least that is what they say....

[KT2000]

2. Isn't that happening

natinally? In Washington, a woman I know had a stroke (waist down) that put her into a wheelchair most of the time and a walker sometimes, she can drive a car with hand controls, she tires easily and can no longer work. It took 5 years for her to get her disability. The only reason she survived is because she has a husband.
Criminal.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

3. Don't just blame Florida.

It's all over the country. If you apply for disability, it takes at least two years for the first rejection and then, you usually have to go through two appeals, and that is with all the documentation in the world.

Here in NJ, waiting for Workman's Comp, after a horrible and massive workplace injury, left my brother homeless on the streets of Newark NJ for two weeks. Workman's Comp dicks about mercilessly,

[madfloridian]

4. "The system is working the way it is supposed to work under federal rules."

That is what I put in the OP.

Yes, I know it is national in nature. I do blame all of them for the way it is being handled.

Because is it nationwide does not make it ok.

[csziggy]

5. Since Jeb was governor of Florida, the push has been to cut the budget to the bone

And to heck with the services that Floridians need. SO, yes, the system is "working the way it is supposed to work" - they are denying claims in the hope that the needy will never be able to fight the system and get the help they should have. And blaming it on the Feds is just taking the pressure off the state agency.

[Ken Burch]

17. Yeah, you can picture a lot of their pols reading this story and saying "Disability, My Left Foot!"

n/t.

[Triana]

6. Yet Florida is leaning heavily Republican...

...Republicans would rather ELIMINATE Disability altogether.

GO FIGURE.

:shrug:

[defendandprotect]

16. Not believable anymore ... and if Jeb hadn't been Guv could they..

have pulled off the 2000 stealm--??

Of course not --!!

[AwakeAtLast]

7. I have a cousin with an advancing form of MD

She had to go through THREE hearings, the final one in which she could barely walk. The judge even apologized for the fact that she had to be there. The only reason she didn't lose her house was because the local bank allowed her to pay only interest for three years. I understand that some people in our country (the ones I know are Repukes, hmmm.....) that take advantage, but when a person with a documented, advancing disease (three inch thick file) has to plead THREE times to get disability, there is something seriously wrong with this system.

[tpsbmam]

8. Not just Florida.....

This is happening across the country. They system has always sucked, been slow, been completely fucked up with some people who shouldn't be on disability getting it while others who desperately need it getting denied time and again until they finally win years later. But some states are definitely better than others -- Florida is one of the worst.

[madfloridian]

10. People seem too simple-minded to see the fact that Republicans are in charge

of all these agencies now...so many will keep on with their stupid "values" voting.

[Shallah Kali]

9. I know a lady in another state who they lost the paperwork 4 times until she sent it registered mail

She had to go back again and again to her doctors to fill our the forms and reports because of this which did not endear her to their staff. Even then she had to get a lawyer before they agreed she was too disabled to work.

[madfloridian]

11. This lack of caring is part of their extreme religious creed...

that is what is so mind-boggling. They have turned Christianity on its ear in America and it has become something hateful.

It is the way the feds want it to work. Scary stuff.

[Shallah Kali]

22. wealth has become a sign of God's approvel. If you are poor you must deserve it

Which absolves such belivers of any need to act for justice. it is simpler to have a worldview where only the bad suffer and the good are rewarded instead of accepting reality is that a person can work hard, be fair to others and end up with diddily squat to show for it.

And then there are those who frankly don't care unless it effects their immediate family. The rest of the world can go to hell in a handbasket as far as they are concerned. Unfortunatly I am related to a few of these who are elders in their church.

[Turbineguy]

12. Breaking government

break it, then drown it.

[Silver Swan]

13. Before I retired, nearly six years ago

I worked for the Social Security Administration, handling various aspects of the disability program. While much of the work of the Social Security Administration can be computerized, disability issues are much more subjective and require review by actual humans who understand the medical evidence.

We had 54 people in our unit. While located in Chicago, we gave assistance to other states and regions that needed help with disability backlogs. And yes, for a time we even helped write hearing decisions for the administrative law judges in Florida. However, it was decided by the powers that be that 54 employees in our unit were too many, and that our unit should have only 25 employees. So as we retired, we were not replaced.

This mandated decrease in staffing happened all over the country, and backlogs grew.

[Divine Discontent]

14. FL has so many elderly that they can barely care for, that the SOB's in the govt who don't charge

enough taxes to the wealthy, the corporations, and do not charge any state income tax here (the taxes come in forms of fees and tolls which therefore are disproportionately affecting the poor), that suffering individuals (like my family member) have been denied MULTIPLE times for disability here!

These values voters have their head up their asses enjoying their wealth so much that they are content in forgetting the suffering of others. I never stopped caring, as many of you I'm sure are like, for those who are suffering regardless of how much money I had or didn't have.

I wonder what the percentage of Republicans got approved here in FL compared to Democrats (I know it's undetectable), and what counties did better in being approved. I'm betting we'd see a noticeable effect from the approvals.

MORE AT www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable

[defendandprotect]

15. The GOP is despicable in attacking neediest ...

and they get away with it --

few defenders for powerless if not concerned government --

Under Reagan, thousands -- 2,000/? killed themselves -- !!!

[mwooldri]

18. No wonder lawyers do a rip-roaring trade in SS disability issues. nt

[VP505]

20. They do if they deal in volume,

the SS Admin limits the amount they can get paid, that's why so few are willing to take SS cases. After the initial evaluation process and a successful ruling some cases are re-evaluated yearly, those that are denied in later evaluations usually can not get an Attorney to take their case as there is no guarantee of payment and its likely that the disabled person has no money to pay, leaving them SOL.

[DBoon]

19. The GOP would rather see 750,000 legit cases denied benefits

than see even one person get it when maybe they really didn't deserve it

You know if 3 people in the entire state had managed to defraud the disability system, every right-winger would be up in arms.

[Pastiche423]

21. This hurts my heart

And it is very true that this is happening in every state in the country.

Over fifteen years ago, I applied for disability. From the moment I mailed in the app, until I received my 1st check was three months. This was done solely by me. No lawyer was needed.

The difference between then and now was succinctly admitted by Mr. Fete.