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TOP TALKLIST POSTS OF 2021

A NOTE FROM THE PRESIDENT Greetings NADR Colleagues-

In other continuing discussions with SSA, we have expressed our concerns in regards to representative fee payment problems, access to the full electronic folder at all levels, the reopening of field offices, return to in-person hearings, the transition to a more centralized scheduling system and many other issues.

NADR leadership and Legislative committee have had a very busy summer and fall. The number one priority has been continued discussions with SSA in regards to raising the fee cap. We’ve met virtually with SSA senior personnel on several occasions to say that it is imperative that the fee cap be raised so representatives are fairly compensated for their work in obtaining claimant’s benefits. Without an increase we fear many representatives will not be able to afford to stay in business. Every year claimants receive a cost-of-living increase while representatives have not received an increase in the fee cap since June 2009. We have asked the Acting Commissioner to raise the cap to the maximum allowed by current statute and to annualy adjust the cap going forward based on the Average Wage Index.

I assure you, in keeping with NADR’s mission, we are doing what we can to maintain and improve the ability of our members to effectively and successfully represent claimants. Michael Wener, ADR NADR President

Along with the direct efforts we have made in talks with SSA’s leadership, NADR has also worked with and endorsed Senator John Larson’s recently introduced Social Security 2100 Bill. The bill is of extreme importance to the future of the Social Security Program, beneficiaries and the representative community. Included in the bill are 2 important provisions: 1. Eliminating the 5-month waiting period for disability benefits and 2. Automatically increasing the Fee Cap every year.

NADR NEWS

FOURTH QUARTER 2021

NADR NEWS

FOURTH QUARTER 2021

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NADR NEWS

FOURTH QUARTER 2021

NADR’s 22nd Anniversary and Conference Celebration

Sunday, April 3, 2022 11:00am-6:00pm 9:00 am 6:30pm-8:00pm

Optional Ticket: Old San Juan Tour with Lunch at Barrichina NADR Charity Golf Tournament Meet n Greet

Monday, April 4, 2022 8:00am-9:00am 9:00am 9:00am-10:30am 10:30am-11:00am 11:00am-12:00pm 12:00pm-1:30pm 1:30pm-3:00pm 3:00pm-4:15pm 4:15pm-4:30pm 4:30pm-5:30pm 7:00pm-11:00pm

NADR NEWS

Breakfast President's Welcome Keynote Speaker - Dr. Thomas Van Vleet Networking Break Annual Business Meeting and Legislative Update Lunch SSA Update Covid and the Brain - Dr. Fiano Networking Break Ethics President’s Banquet

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SECOND FOURTH QUARTER 2021

NADR’s 22nd Anniversary and Conference Celebration

Tuesday, April 5, 2022 ALL MORNING BREAK OUTS TO BE AUDIO RECORDED

Breakfast or Morning Excursion (TBD) Session A Breakouts 8:00am Beginner Rep – How To Be Successful on the EDPNA Exam 9:00am-10:30am (& as a Disability Advocate)- Dr Carletta Griffin Emerging Rep -The ABC’s of Disability for Children – Vicki O’Connell Intermediate Rep –Understanding Medicare - Julie Phelps and Shirley Jenks Advanced Rep - Topic TBD Networking Break 10:30am-11:00am Session B Breakouts 11:00am-12:30pm Beginner Rep - Topic TBD Emerging Rep - Topic TBD Intermediate Rep- SSDI Workers Comp Offset and Impact – Dorene Carney Advanced Rep- Seila Law Session- Dave Chermol Lunch or Afternoon Excursion (TBD) 12:00pm-2:00pm Session A Breakouts Beginner Rep – How To Be Successful on the EDPNA Exam 2:00pm-3:30pm (& as a Disability Advocate)- Dr Carletta Griffin Emerging Rep – The ABC’s of Disability for Children – Vicki O’Connell Intermediate Rep - Understanding Medicare - Julie Phelps and Shirley Jenks Advanced Rep - Topic TBD

NADR NEWS

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SECOND FOURTH QUARTER 2021

NADR’s 22nd Anniversary and Conference Celebration

Tuesday, April 5, 2022 ALL MORNING BREAK OUTS TO BE AUDIO RECORDED

3:30pm-4:00pm

Networking Break

4:00pm-5:30pm

Session B Breakouts Beginner Rep - Topic TBD Emerging Rep - Topic TBD Intermediate Rep- SSDI Workers Comp Offset and Impact – Dorene Carney Advanced Rep- Seila Law Session- Dave Chermol

5:30pm-6:30pm

Sponsor Happy Hour with Door Prizes

**Sessions A and B breakouts on Tuesday morning will be repeated on Tuesday afternoon, so you can choose which excursion you’d like participate in on Tuesday**

NADR NEWS

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SECOND FOURTH QUARTER 2021

NADR’s 22nd Anniversary and Conference Celebration

Wednesday, April 6, 2022 ALL SESSIONS TO BE LIVE STREAMED VIA ZOOM

8:00am-9:00am

Breakfast

9:00am-10:00am

Virtual Mock Hearing via Zoom

10:00am-10:30am

Networking Break

10:30am-12:30pm

EDPNA CEU Requirements Afternoon Excursion - TBD

NADR NEWS

9 5

SECOND FOURTH QUARTER 2021

Top Talklist Posts of 2021 Piggyback 2 Prior Apps 2/4/2021 Original Post: I have a case with 2011 Onset. DIB w current Insured status. All of the Initial apps are within the 2-4 years of the previous initial denials. My memory is that I can piggyback those-correct? Gerard A. Palma, Esq. Replies: No, you cannot domino or leap frog claims. In the case of two or more previous applications which have been finally denied, only the date of filing of the current application, or other current request for reopening date, is used to compute the amount of time elapsed since the prior initial determination notices. Successive claims for benefits cannot be tacked together in order to avoid the bar of the regulatory time limitations for reopening and revision. David Hatfield OK. So, it's just a 4 year max no matter how many applications then for DIB. At least I have one going to 2015 that squeaks in by about 11 days. Thank you. Gerard A. Palma, Esq. Only "exception" is the SSR 91-5p scenario where claimant is mentally incompetent and was not represented. That is a good cause analysis and so reopening time frame rules do not apply (that is why I italicized "exception", as it is not a reopening issue but rather good cause for late filing). David Hatfield No 91-5p scenario here. Thank you though - your input is always appreciated David. Gerard A. Palma, Esq. Review HALLEX I-2-9-20, Computing the Time Periods for Reopening, and apply your case's timeframes to the examples there. HALLEX I-2-9-20(B) provides "under limited circumstances, an ALJ may reopen multiple prior determinations or decisions." and gives examples of when that might be. Marilyn Hamilton Thank you, Marilyn! Gerard A. Palma, Esq. NADR NEWS NADR NEWS

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FORTH QUARTER 2021 FOURTH QUARTER 2021

Income Limits of Parents for SSI Cases 2/18/2021 Original Post: Hi--I apologize for a second question of the day, but I am not always clear on when a parent has too much in income in a child's SSI case. 1) Case 1--single mom, with two minor kids in the home, dad out of the picture (does not work and does not see the kids). Mom receives $4,000 a month in VA disability. Would that VA income make it so she has too much income for SSI for one of her minor kids to be eligible or is VA disability money looked at differently than other sources of income? 2) Case 2-mom works full-time and made $37,000 last year, but this year is working even more and could be about $49,000 a year, gross. Dad is already on disability. Only one child in the house, the child that has the SSI case. Both cases have children that have significant impairments, I am just worried about the non-medical requirements. Do I need more info on income/financial situation to see if there are any issues on either case in terms of having too much income for T16 on a kid's case? Thank you! James B. Winston, Esq. Replies: James, I'm attaching a worksheet (SSI-Income-Deeming December 2020) I've recently found that is excellent for calculating parental deeming to a child. There are instructions on where to fill in the blanks only at the bottom in a certain area. That said, in both of your scenarios the parents appear to have too much income. 1. The $4000 a month in VA income of the mother is treated as unearned income and is far too much for resource limits. That said, if she is getting that much, the child SHOULD be getting money from the VA him/herself much like an auxillary payment from SSDI eligible parent. 2. The $37,000 ($3,083.33 monthly) income of the mother, if this was the only income in the household and only one parent would reduce the SSI benefit to only $99 a month according to the chart i've attached. When you add in the second parent, the check could go up to $496.00, but add in the fathers DIB benefit (assuming it is over $350 a month) and it knocks the check down to zero. Since the mother's income is going up this year, and SSA looks at it month by month not yearly, her income would likely knock the child out of benefits by itself. Plug the numbers into the sheet and see what you come up with. Feel free to email me off-list with any questions. Michael Wener, NADR Vice President NADR NEWS NADR NEWS

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FORTH QUARTER 2021 FOURTH QUARTER 2021

Thank you, Michael, I appreciate it. I will plug in the numbers and may take you up on your offer to contact you with questions on this! James B. Winston, Esq. James, I should clarify something in my response to you. I stated "resource limits" when talking about the mother's income monthly VA income. This is incorrect and should have read "income limits". The 2 are definitely different and I apologize for any confusion. Also, if the child is receiving an AUX benefit from the mother's VA benefit, that money would count as unearned income to the child, further reducing the chance of SSI eligibility for said child. Michael Wener, NADR Vice President Does anyone have a "list of typical ALJ questions of claimants" handy? 2/12/2021 Original Post: Does anyone have a list (speaking of not reinventing the wheel) that ALJs "typically" ask claimants? I have a client who is EXTREMELY anxious and wants a list of all possible questions :-) Obviously, that can't be done and I can work up a list based on my experience, but so many of you are so much more experienced than I, perhaps someone has one already? If so, I thank you in advance. Hoping all of you hard-working NADRites have a restful weekend. Sara Meza Romero Replies: I had a judge that asked the same questions every time. Covered more questions than any other judge. I transcribed the questions for a client with similar concerns if that helps. Dorene Carney Hi Sara, You may find the attached helpful. (Hearing Questions) Tyler Brown Thanks, Tyler. This is a great list! NADR NEWS

FOURTH QUARTER 2021

C Jane Johnson, ADR, EDPNA I know this sounds mean, but if I have a client who has Anxiety or other mental illness that is exacerbated by stress, I sometimes do not give them anything that is going to make the hearing easier because it makes them appear calmer than they are in real life - where there are no scripts. Of course, I always explain that to my client. Diane Jaquish That is an interesting strategy and guess I could see the benefit of it in some cases. I guess I was thinking of the extreme (for example, I had a client with agoraphobia once) who would need the prep just to calm her nerves enough to be able to participate and function in the hearing at all. I've also found that by prepping the witnesses, it also prepares me as the rep from those "OMG what did witness just say and how do I deal with that on the spot." I had another claimant who was of advanced age and walked with a cane. She also suffered from pretty bad anxiety. She was so concerned that if she brought her prescribed can to the hearing and used it that the judge would think she was trying to fake disability. I assured her that would not be the case and judge approved her claim at the hearing. Although it doesn't seem to be as helpful as it once was, if by prepping the claimant for the hearing I could identify additional or corroborate limitations listed in the record elsewhere, I would use them when cross examine the VE and always cite to to ALJ the exhibit # and/or client's testimony to identify on the record where limitation is found. I've noticed that has helped me both at hearings at times and Appeals Council because those limitations have often been citing when receiving favorable decisions from ALJ or AC. However, your thought of not over prepping claimants with severe mental health issues could be helpful to show the judge their true functioning. I guess you have to balance that against being able to successfully get the client through the hearing despite their anxiety. I will keep in mind for future mental health and intellectual disability cases; especially since they seem to be getting more difficult to prevail on these days. Tyler Brown

NADR NEWS

FOURTH QUARTER 2021

NADR NEWS

FOURTH QUARTER 2021

NADR NEWS

FORTH QUARTER 2020

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Sarah Bohr’s Pocket Guide to Key Social Security Rulings - 12th Edition

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FOURTH QUARTER 2021

Automated Intake Contact & Matter Management SSA Merge Forms Included Automatic SMS/Text Messaging Manage Tasks & Appointments Web-Based Intake Questionnaires New and Improved Calendar Options Integrates with Outlook Includes the SSD Claim Process Track Time, Fees, & Costs Medical Records Management Multiple Law Types Included QuickBooks Integration

Robin Ventura (866) 367-7919 | rventura@prevail.net NADR NEWS

FOURTH QUARTER 2021

NADR MENTORING GUIDE (For MENTORS and MENTEES)

KEY METRICS NADR ENGAGEMENT NEWS

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS

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