End Note - June 2010
Happy Heart = Healthy Heart?
June 14, 2010
According to researchers at Columbia University, exercising, eating right, and not smoking may not be enough to avoid a heart attack – you may also have to be happy. The study, which was published in the European Heart Journal in February, is entitled “Don’t worry, be happy: positive affect and reduced 10-year incident coronary heart disease: The Canadian Nova Scotia Health Survey.” Read More

Appeals Council Remands to Different ALJ
June 14, 2010
In another example of achieving the almost impossible, LJ Fisher of the Rochester office of the Empire Justice Center obtained a remand from the Appeals Council ordering that the claim be assigned to a different Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). Her client, who has HIV disease, first applied for SSI on February 18, 2004, and was denied by the ALJ on June 28, 2008. LJ had argued that he met 14.08N (now K) or alternatively lacked the RFC (residual functional capacity) for even sedentary work. Read More

Web News - June 2010
June 14, 2010
Where is the Hip Bone Connected?; Find More Medical References; Access "Know Your Rights" Info for Veterans; Limited English Procicient (LEP) Complaint Form Online; TWP, SGA Charts Available. Read More

Greater Garnishment Protections Proposed
June 14, 2010
Rules proposed by five federal agencies would significantly increase protections from debt collection practices of freezing bank accounts that contain exempt Social Security and other protected federal benefits. Read More

Appeals Council Persuaded by New Evidence
June 14, 2010
Paralegal Amy Leach of the Norwich office of the Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York achieved the near impossible - a reversal by the Appeals Council based on a claim of mental retardation under Listing 12.05C. The case involved a redetermination under the adult standards of an eighteen year old who had been receiving SSI (Supplemental Security Income) as a child. See 42 U.S.C. §1382c(a)(3)(H)(iii) (P.L. 104-193) and 20 C.F.R.§416.987. Read More