Budget Deal Approved: Changes Made To Social Security

Updating a blog post we brought you last week, President Barack Obama has signed into a law a budget compromise that will include changes to the Social Security system. The compromise allows the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program to be funded through a shift in tax revenues from the Social Security Administration’s retirement fund. The SSDI program was expected to run out of funding by late 2016. If funding were exhausted, some beneficiaries would have seen a drop in benefits.

“The budget compromise would increase the Disability Insurance share to 2.37 percent of FICA and self-employed payroll taxes for 2016, 2017 and 2018,” the Times-Picayune reported. In previous years, the share was 1.8 percent of FICA.

Additionally, the budget bill calls for funds to be allocated to investigate instances of potential fraud (which is very rare). The New Orleans Times-Picayune recently had an article about the budget compromise, as acting SSA commissioner Carolyn Colvin was in the city to discuss the SSDI program.

Union officials representing administrative law judges (ALJs) have indicated that the compromise will allow the SSA to hire more judges to tackle the SSDI backlog over the next three years. “The changes will help judges clear a backlog of benefit denial appeals, some of which have taken as long as two years to decide,” the paper reported.

Colvin said the SSA is committed to hiring more ALJs over the upcoming years, as she told people in New Orleans that she would like to increase the number employed from 1,450 today to 1,925 by 2017.

Work With a Tulsa Social Security Attorney If You are Seeking SSDI  

The budget compromise and the ability to hire more ALJs is good news for people who are seeking benefits. If you have questions about eligibility or the appeals process, talk to a Tulsa SSDI attorney.

By working with an attorney, you may improve your chances of obtaining benefits or speeding up the appeals process. Visit our social media sites by using the icons on this page or call our office directly.

Troutman & Troutman, P.C. – Tulsa Social Security Disability lawyers

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