Yesterday I called to check on the status of my SSDI application and was told that my application was selected at random to go to "quality review" which will take up to 60 days. I was told that denials do not go to quality review and that most approvals are not overturned by the quality review process.

I had a surprising reaction to this call. Seething anger came to the surface as I recalled a former neighbor who faked chronic pain with worker's comp, claiming that she had no choice but to work even though she was very disabled due to falling from a chair at work. When she was finally laid off she filed for disability. She always limped around on a walker when being watched. In her back yard, however, she was hanging off ladders painting her house, using a tiller and never failed to attend Baltimore Orioles spring training or to go on vacations. My former neighbor incredibly got SSDI after many years of trying. After she was approved we never saw the walker again.

I guess folks like my former neighbor are the reason it can be so challenging for deserving people to be approved!