Helping disability people comes with highs and lows. We experienced both this week.
We succeeded in winning a case that has been ongoing since 2012. Yes that’s right, 2012! John had to appeal to Federal District Court, and I represented her in three hearings. But, eventually painstaking advocacy prevailed, and now our client has money and healthcare. Thank heaven for her family who kept her afloat all these years.
The low was a client passed away this week before she was awarded full benefits. Ironically, the day we received a notice that SSA wanted to send her for a physical exam was the day she passed. It’s mystifying how SSA knew she was on her death bed, yet still wanted further evidence that she could no longer work. Fortunately, SSA had awarded her interim benefits so she had healthcare and SSI prior to her passing. It is a punch in the gut when we received the news.
As a Social Security and Federal Workers’ Comp attorney, I am rewarded by helping people when they are most vulnerable. Sometimes you have to take the good with the bad, but both situations highlight how broken the disability system is. What’s worse, there’s no clear indication that anyone wants to fix the system to benefit the disabled instead of the government. Our country must do more to help those who need support the most.