Web News - June 2012

June 19, 2012

Author: Louise M. Tarantino| Catherine M. Callery (Kate)

Whom to Contact at SSA?

Problems with effectuating your client’s favorable decision?  No award notice?  Can’t get a fee released that was  improperly withheld?  SSA has a list of Processing Center Telephone Contact Information numbers, which change depending on your client’s age and social security number.  http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2012-title20-vol2/pdf/CFR-2012-title20-vol2-chapIII.pdf .

Medical Provider Guides Available

The National Health Care for the Homeless Council published  two excellent guides for clinicians and medical providers in 2007: Documenting Disability - Simple Strategies for Medical Providers and Documenting Disability for Persons with Substance Use Disorder & Co-occurring Impairments.  They are still current and relevant to all providers, and are chock full of clear explanations and sample provider letters.

http://www.nhchc.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/DocumentingDisability2007.pdf
http://www.nhchc.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/DAAguide.pdf

Legal Services for Cancer Survivors and Their Families

The National Cancer Legal Services Network has announced the launch of a new resource for people with cancer.  This is the first website designed to simplify the process of locating much-needed free legal services for survivors and their families.  NCLSN helps patients address insurance, employment, financial and other non-medical issues related to their condition.  NCLSN was founded by LegalHealth, a division of the New York Legal Assistance Group.  www.NCLSN.org

20 C.F.R. Available as Searchable PDF

According to veteran DAP advocate David Ralph, the April 2012, Title 20 CFR, Parts 400 - 499, is available as a free text searchable PDF of Title 20, which one can download to disk.  This is the equivalent to the paperback copy that many of us used to (still do?) buy from the GPO.  The 1,301 page version of the  PDF April 1, 2012 edition of 20 C.F.R. is available at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2012-title20-vol2/pdf/CFR-2012-title20-vol2-chapIII.pdf

You can customize the file to eliminate many of the pages that you will never use:  1) Save PDF to local hard disk; 2) Open PDF file; 3) Print to PDF to a new file name; 4) Delete pages from the new PDF file as you would for any other PDF file.  You now have a custom 2012 version of 20 C.F.R.