According tot the Council for Disability Awareness (CDA), 65% of initial SSDI claims were denied in 2009.  Putting it another way, only 35% of initial claims were approved.  For those waiting for their disability checks, that statistic and be quite demoralizing.

I just read a press release about Allsup, a company that assists  people with the SSDI claims process, which can be quite daunting if you attempt to do it by yourself.  The article’s author agrees that most people do, in fact, have their claims denied on the initial submission.  While many people quit trying after the initial application is denied, Allsup recommends that you don’t give up and attempt to appeal the decision.  They suggest that you get good representation for the appeals process.  More than three out of four disability claimants whose cases reach the hearing level have a representative, according to the Social Security Administration.

The article lists the ten biggest mistakes you can make in this process.  Some of them are: Giving up; missing the appeal deadline and reapplying at the initial level; not providing enough information; choosing not to appeal.; and not keeping copies of applications, completed forms and records.  You can see the whole list as well as some other very helpful information at www.allsup.com.

I have been telling my clients for years that counting on Social Security for retirement benefits was an exercise in futility, because most folks who apply for these benefits don’t receive them (Just 35% of the 2.8 million workers who applied for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits in 2009 were approved) and, even if they did qualify, they would wait for a long time to receive them and the benefit would be a minimal (the average monthly benefit in 2007 was just $978).

According to the article, laid-off workers and aging baby boomers are flooding Social Security’s disability program with benefit claims, pushing the financially-strapped system toward the brink of insolvency.

Congressional estimates say that the trust fund that supports this program will be insolvent by the year 2017.  For more facts and figures, take a look at the article from USA Today.  Having reviewed these facts myself, I know that I need to get my clients to seriously take a look at individual disability insurance.  Without the (already frayed) safety net Social Security provided, the need for this type of insurance has never been greater.

A good individual disability insurance policy should cost 1-4% of your gross income.  With the reality of a crashing safety net staring us in the face, that 1-4% of your income will be well-spent.

Take a look yourself – request disability insurance quotes by clicking the Get Started button above now.

According to the article, the disability insurance component of Social Security was created in 1956 to provide income support to individuals aged 50 to 64 who were permanently disabled.  However, as is typical with most government programs, eligibility and benefits have been expanded over the past 54 years.

The article, submitted by the Cato Institute, goes on to suggest that this program, originally designed to help seriously disabled individuals, has become a “gigantic budgetary burden that acts more like an unemployment program.”   The long-term upward trend in benefits suggests that many might very well be taking advantage of the system.

With so much attention on budget cuts, I wouldn’t be surprised if Congress takes a long hard look at the SSDI program and, at the least, make some cuts in benefits or make qualifying more difficult.

I never thought counting on Social Security for retirement was a very good idea.  I also have never liked the idea of relying on SSDI for disability benefits, if needed.  I am now more certain than ever that reliance on either is an invitation to financial disaster.

Protect yourself with a high-quality disability insurance policy and you won’t have to worry about what happens to this government-sponsored program,

The recently-released 2010 CDA (Council for Disability Awareness) Long-Term Disability Claims Review suggests that, while applications for benefits rose 21.4% in 2009 from the previous year (also a record rise from 2007 levels), the SSDI claim approval rate continues to decline.

The SSDI percentage approval rate for applications has been trending downward since the late 90′s.  Only 35% of workers applying for SSDI disability claim payments in 2009 were approved; 10 years ago, the approval rate for workers applying for disability was 52%.

If those statistics don’t get you thinking about looking into a quality long term disability income policy, here are a few more – 56% of SSDI recipients received less than $1,000 monthly; 84% of SSDI recipients received less than $1,500 monthly (both figures from 2008).

The safety net is fraying all over.  If you depend on it to provide security for you and your family, I’m afraid you will only find disappointment at a time when you don’t need any more bad news.  Protect yourself and your family with a disability insurance policy from a top-rated company.  You’ll be a lot safer if you do.

Officials estimate they’ll receive 3.3 million new disability claims over the next year, up from their previous estimate of 3 million projected just five months ago.

The unprecedented wave of new applications raises questions about the agency’s ability to curb historic backlogs and cut processing delays, a problem that has plagued the agency for years. Officials had been making progress in reducing a massive backlog of disability appeals cases.

Also adding to the problem are recent moves in at least 10 states to furlough hundreds of employees who process initial benefit claims.

Agency officials say the extraordinary increase is driven by the recession and an aging baby boomer work force reaching their most injury-prone years. Long waits for the agency to process claims and resolve appeals can leave some claimants struggling to make ends meet.

Since October, the number of people waiting to have a claim processed has jumped a stunning 30 percent, from about 556,000 eight months ago to more than 736,000 in July.

• You have to have been at work for at least 10 years before you are disabled in order to to collect the benefit after becoming disabled.
• The requirements to receive disability benefits are strict. Approximately 35 percent of the people that apply for social security disability benefits actually get those benefits. Prudent planning would have you obtain as much private disability insurance as you can get that covers you in your occupation with a residual (partial) benefit to cover you when and if you recover.
• The Social Security disability Insurance program pays $722 per month on average.