Boston Social Security Disability Law Blog

The Department of Defense and the Social Security Administration are working to develop a new system of electronic records processing that will allow Wounded Warriors, veterans and service members to apply for, and access, their Social Security disability benefits without as much waiting for processing and decisions. This new program is designed to shorten the amount of time it takes to gather records, process claims requests and make benefits accessible to those who need them.

Obtaining benefits can be a long, grueling process, but now there is hope for those who desperately need assistance. Massachusetts Wounded Warriors, veterans and service members may have a more optimistic future for qualifying and receiving these crucial Social Security disability benefits payments.

Many people have speculated that a person's medical future can be read in their genes. But before you turn to the DNA oracle and apply for Social Security Disability, it may be wise to consider the results of a new study in the journal Science Translational Medicine. 

According to researchers, sequencing an individual's DNA does not necessarily predict whether he or she will develop a specific disease. As one Harvard medical professor explained, "even if you know everything about genetics, [disease] prediction will remain probabilistic and not deterministic."  

In other words, there is no absolute certainty. We cannot be 100 percent sure whether a particular individual will develop or not develop a specific disease. Factors such as behavior, environment and random events all potentially influence outcomes.

The Social Security Administration currently has more than 100 cases pending from moms who conceived via in vitro fertilization. At issue is whether the children, conceived after one parent's death, can be considered "survivors" that are eligible for SS benefits.

The government contends they are not. At least one mother begs to disagree. The woman, whose husband passed away from esophageal cancer, said the pair made plans to have another child. According to reports, he instructed her to use his frozen sperm and resume attempts to give their son a sibling once he had died.

She followed his wishes. A little more than a year after her husband's death, the woman welcomed twins into the world. They were denied benefits under the Social Security system, which noted it operates according to state inheritance laws. Though the children were legitimate, they were not provided for in a will, and thus could not inherit property.

According to a new report, US families with autistic children earn around $18,000 less than families with non-impaired children. The wage disparity has been largely attributed to moms who scale back on work hours or stay at home to better meet their child's needs.

Mothers with autistic children are six percent less likely to be employed, work seven hours less per week and have less than half the annual income of moms without special needs kids. The same was not true of fathers.

Though researchers could not definitely conclude employment and wage gaps were caused by autistic children, an associate director of the Center for Autism Research at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia noted that in today's system, many parents must serve as both case managers and advocates for their kids. Usually, that parent is the mother.