That is great that he got back to you so fast! I hope you get your money soon! Good luck! I don't think it will be long now.

I bet it will be very soon, if not already. In my situation SS said the check should be sent last week. Never happened. If my wife's check doesn't come soon I'm writing the White House!

The woman at the local SS office said I should receive a letter from SS by tomorrow explaining the holdup. I am supposed to call her tomorrow if I don't have my money deposited. That was 45 days ago I talked to her.

Even with the "congressional inquiry" -- no money has been deposited.

And, my COBRA insurance gov. subsidy is no longer in effect, so my payment, starting April 1st, went from $112 to $322 a month. I called Ceredian and they say that amount will be in place for months 15, 16, and 17. Starting with month 18, my previous employer can charge me 1-1/2 times that amount..$483 per month. I called the owner of the company I worked for 3 days ago, but he has yet to return my call or email me so I imagine that they are planning on charging me the extra. Ceredian says it is an option - that they don't have to do it.

SS only owes me 3 months back pay, but it sure would come in handy....

I have scaled back on everything this past year that I wasn't working. I don't know how many more corners I can cut. I have a feeling the next year, until July 2012 when I become eligible for Medicare are going to be very interesting.

But, still, I realize I am in a lot better shape than so many of you, and I am so thankful.

Hmmm had a letter from the congressmans office today. They sent a copy of the letter they got from SS. It says they (SS) are gathering information to look into the issue. The congressman's aid says as soon as they hear anything from SS they will keep me informed.

They have supposedly done three investigations into this since early December, that I had to wait 45 days each time, only to be told to call back in another 45 days.

Geesh, how much info do they need?

It's a stall tactic. Like I said earlier my congressman's staff was told by the payout center in Baltimore they where checking for liens on my wife's retro pay. Well that was already established in the state of VA that there's no liens, and they know it. Three weeks later Baltimore tells our lawyer they need a second signature on the check since it is 3.5 years of back pay. Just got to be patient I suppose, but tomorrow will be 5 months since my wife received a favorable decision.

Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Woo Hoo !

Thats great news Daylily !

That's very good news, gives me hope. I received a call from my wife's lawyer last friday telling us SS now needs a third signature and they found an error in the amount of the money. There is no error, the math is extremely simple. The lawyer said that she will continually call SS for the release of this check and that we call them everyday. I called my Congressman and his staff was ****** at this new info and will be calling them today. There is no need to put ill tax paying Americans through this what so ever.

Crossing my fingers for you, Jim. Your right, we deserve better. I am very happy and grateful to have my favorable decision, but it is hard to see the delays drag on and on and on.

First of all, when your atty or NAR is eligible for "direct payment", the SSA withholds 25% of your total backpay amount, and disburses the amount agreed upon when you signed the Fee Agreement with your atty (typically 25%, but as of this post, cannot exceed $6,000). Once that disbursement is made, the remaining withheld funds (in excess of the direct pay) along with the backpay owed to the client, is disbursed to the client in accordance with SSA current operating regulations.


Now, about the appeal. If you or your atty are not satisfied with the Appeals Council decision (i.e.: they failed to remand your case back to the ALJ for reconsideration), you have the right to pursue it to the Federal District Court. However, a favorable decision by USDC can only revert the case back to the Appeals Council, or at best, result in a remanding back to the ALJ hearing. In either case, you will have to prove that the ALJ or Appeals Council failed to correctly identify the evidence presented, or failed to make a correct decision either based on a reasonable preponderance of the evidence or based on a technicality.

What I suggest to my clients once the ALJ denies a claim is to proceed to the Appeals Council, but to START ANOTHER CLAIM. That way, the second claim is going through initial and reconsideration while you are waiting on an Appeals Council hearing.

Remember, for most clients, the goal is NOT a "favorable decision" at the initial or reconsideration stages, as that is statistically improbable, but instead to accelerate the ALJ hearing. One thing you can have your atty do is to request an On the Record Review once the case is on its way to ALJ. What this does is allows the ODAR to review the case and its evidence, without a hearing, and make a decision. A favorable decision is a favorable decision, end of story. A denial of an On the Record Review means NOTHING. It does not even delay the ALJ hearing.

Just a few pointers for ya.*edit*.