Recognizing a need for clarity in evaluating patent eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101 for critical and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) innovations, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)...more
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) are two federal disability benefits programs that provide monetary assistance for people with disabilities. Both programs allow recipients who...more
The Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel held that the Social Security Administration’s withholding of post-petition benefits to satisfy the debtor’s prepetition obligation to repay overpayments qualifies as recoupment...more
The answer to how personal injury settlements affect Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits depends on your specific situation. However, there is a general answer: SSDI...more
Your Health, Your Choice: A Guide to Medicare Open Enrollment - The Medicare open enrollment period runs through December 7th, 2023. Medicare adjusts costs, coverage, and accepted providers on an annual basis. If you have...more
If you are applying for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) payments, you may be wondering what are common reasons for denial of an SSDI claim....more
Living with mental illness can make gainful employment impossible. The Social Security Administration (SSA) provides disability benefits to people with certain mental illnesses through two federal programs. Social Security...more
Estate planning can be a daunting task for individuals and families. The stakes can be high. The decisions are often numerous. Family dynamics frequently come into play. However, for those living with special needs or those...more
To qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI), a federal program that provides people with disabilities a monthly stipend, individuals must conform to very strict income and asset limits. Often, SSI beneficiaries who...more
This month’s Friday Five explores recent decisions that elucidate the difference between disputes that call upon the discretion and judgment of a court compared to disputes where the court is called upon to follow...more
In Hall v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117331 (N.D. Cal. June 23, 2021), a California district court held that an ERISA claim administrator properly terminated long-term disability (LTD) benefits after the...more
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a federal program that helps people with disabilities and very low incomes pay for food, clothing and shelter. It also is a key avenue to Medicaid coverage. SSI is often confused...more
This alert was featured in the March 2021 edition of The LHD/ERISA Advisor In Poisson v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177216 (C.D. Cal. Sep. 21, 2020), a California district court held that the contractual...more
Plaintiffs seeking recovery of group disability benefits under ERISA-governed plans routinely argue that claim fiduciaries failed to adequately consider and/or account for decisions by the Social Security Administration...more
The Social Security Administration (“SSA”) recently released key figures for 2021 that will affect all elderly and disabled individuals who receive program benefits, including social security retirement benefits, social...more
Every year nearly one million Social Security recipients nationwide rely on nonprofits, nursing homes and other so-called organizational payees to manage their benefits. However, the Social Security Administration exercises...more
Advocates are warning that a little-noticed proposed rule change could result in hundreds of thousands of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients, many of them children,...more
In Pena v. Honeywell International, Inc., issued on July 22, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit denied a former employee’s petition for rehearing en banc of the court’s April 26, 2019, decision addressing...more
For more than half a century, Social Security disability benefits have served as a lifeline for millions of people with special needs. In fact, Social Security offers two distinctly separate disability benefit programs --...more
Most special needs trusts (SNTs) are set up to benefit one individual. But it’s possible to contribute to a trust where the funds of many people with special needs are “pooled.” This kind of trust, called a pooled or...more
Social Security payments are set to grow next year, although for some recipients the extra income will be slightly offset by an increase in Medicare premiums and deductibles. Announced by the Social Security Administration...more
For most Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries, the Social Security Administration (SSA) issues monthly checks directly to the recipients. However, where the...more
In the vast majority of cases, workers’ compensation benefits are fully tax exempt, at the federal, state and local level. But this is not always the case where the workers' comp beneficiary is also receiving Social Security...more
Some people become disabled as the result of a work-related illness or injury. In these cases, the individual may be eligible for both Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and workers’ compensation benefits....more
In Van Rossum v. Baltimore County, Maryland, a jury awarded a community health inspector $250,000 in compensatory damages and $530,000 in back pay after deciding that her employer, Baltimore County, violated the ADA by...more