Quote:
Originally Posted by smae
Look people--I wasn't asking your opinion on the diagnosis of this person.
I am fully aware of this person's medical problems and other issues, and this person does not have disabilites that keep them from work OR mental illnesses. I know all about invisible diseases--I have more than 10 of them.
But like I said, I wasn't asking anyone to form an opinion on this person. You will probably never come in contact with this person.
I simply was asking two questions.
1) Is there an obligation to report things? and if so,
2) How do they get reported?
If anyone has answers to those questions, I would appreciate it. Otherwise, I didn't ask for opinions on whether this person is disabled or not. This isn't some random acquaintance of mine that I don't know. I know full well the limitations this person has.
I just want an answer to my questions.
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1. Obligation by who? Legal, moral, ethical? I cannot think of a legal obligation that applies to a casual observer. Only you can decided if you have a moral or ethical obligation.
2. Well, you are a lay person attempting to report medical evidence. There is the OIG hotline. If you actually have access to this person's medical or work records and can provide documents showing that he has medical improvement or is working for pay, those documents would be extremely helpful. Has he told another government entity (a family or criminal court) that he is not disabled? Has he told anyone that he is not disabled? Those kinds of documents might be helpful. If you are reporting that you have observed him riding a motorcycle or working on cars, I am not sure what you could provide to OIG other than your statement. Disability decisions are based on medical evidence and your statements by themselves may be insufficient for SSA to start an investigation. But if you think you have a moral or ethical obligation, make the phone call.
If he is on SSI and you think there are excess resources, make a list of those resources providing addresses of property, license numbers or VINS of vehicles owned, locations of bank accounts and account numbers, any documents that support your contention that he is over the resource limit. If you are just reporting a suspicion, there is little for SSI to investigate since they ask the same questions when they took the claim. He may be good at lying and hiding. If he is on SSDI, there is no resource limit.