Post by Jeff FHello I have been on SSDI for five years, recieved the short form 455
and mailed it
June 22 2004 have not heard anything since.
The instructions say they will respond within ninty days .
How backlogged are they?
Thank You
Jeff
Hello Jeff,
There are federally-funded Benefits Planning, Assistance, and Outreach
(BPAO) Projects in every state specializing in assisting individuals to
integrate their benefits programs (SSDI, SSI, Medicare, Medicaid, Food
Stamps, Housing & Utility Programs, ADC, VA, etc.) with current or future
employment. This service is FREE and independent of SSA.
I work for such a project covering central and southern Ohio.
You can find your local BPAO agency here:
http://ssa.gov/work/ServiceProviders/BPAODirectory.html
Concerning your questions on Continuing Disability Review (CDR):
Since 1993, on an annual basis, SSA on-line data for current
beneficiaries (SSDI) and recipients (SSI) is run through a computerized
statistical analysis and assigned a score (this process is known as
"profiling"). Once the profiling process is complete beneficiaries and
recipients with a "diary" (review) date during the current fiscal year
are essentially divided into two groups: those with a high profile score
will be scheduled for a full medical CDR while beneficiaries/recipients
with lower scores (lower probability of recovery) are sent a CDR Mailer
(AKA "Disability Update Report").
A MAJORITY of individuals receive the CDR mailer since processing full
medical CDRs for all beneficiaries/recipients is extremely time-consuming
and prohibitively expensive.
In the VAST majority of cases, depending upon the answers provided, the
SSA can avoid doing the much longer full medical review. Such cases are
"deferred" and assigned a new review date (3-5-7 years out).
If you have mailed in the Disability Update Report you've taken care of
your responsibility. Processing time (depending on current workload and
backup at local offices) can be quite lengthy as there are literally
millions upon millions of these reports filed annually.
Remember that SSA has a much bigger burden of proof to deny benefits now
than when you were in the initial application process. In no case would
you be summarily terminated and you have full appeal rights.
If need be, your local Protection & Advocacy agency may be of assistance.
They can be found here (this is also a FREE federally-funded *independent
and confidential* service):
http://www.passonline.org/resources
or
http://www.ssa.gov/work/ServiceProviders/PADirectory.html
I hope this information has been of help to you. Please feel free to
contact me with any questions you may have.
John Hartman
COVA/BPAO Project
Southern Ohio
http://www.cova.org