9-year-old girl bitten on face, neck by friend's dog
Understanding damages in a Tennessee car accident case
One of the first things people want to know about their car accident case is how much it will be worth. The likely amount of a potential recovery can affect many parts of a case, such as settlement negotiations and the amount of time and effort a plaintiff would want to put in.
The dangerous downside of truckers being paid by the mile
Tennessee sees distracted driving penalty increase by 20 percent
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) - Social Security Administration Funding Increased under Latest Spending Bill
On March 23, 2018, the Senate passed its version of the previously passed House bill for the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018. After years of almost equal spending, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will see a $480,000,000 increase in administrative funding over the fiscal year of 2017 appropriation. The bill directs the SSA to spend $100,000,000 of increased funding on reducing the disability hearing backlog for people waiting for claims on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claims. Additionally, $280,000,000 of the increase will go to information technology and modernization improvement that would also help increase efficiency of the SSA. Part of the agreement also supports efforts to modernize case processing systems used by State Disability Determination Sections, which are the arms of the Social Security Administration that evaluate and determine eligibility for claimants at the initial or reconsideration levels.
Semi strikes tractor, sends driver flying
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) -Claimants Awaiting Hearings Drops Below One Million
A recurring theme for my blog entries is the average processing time and number of claims waiting for hearings. Recently released statistics by the Social Security Administration (SSA) reveal that the number of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claims awaiting ALJ hearings continues to drop. As of February of 2018 there were 1,001,231 claims pending and as of mid-March the backlog dropped below 1,000,000. The decrease in the backlog is largely due to declining numbers of hearing requests, though ALJ productivity has increased slightly from 1.92 dispositions per ALJ per workday in fiscal year 2017 to 1.97 so far in fiscal year 2018. Additionally, there were 42 more active ALJs in the end of February than there were on average last fiscal year. However, as recently noted the average processing times for most hearing offices remain high.
