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Social Security benefits are designed to supplement your income if you become disabled. You can apply for two types of disability benefits depending on your needs. But even if you follow all the rules and complete every form, you can still receive a denial. You may end up getting more headaches than help.

SSD

You qualify for SSD, or Social Security Disability, if you worked during your life-time and earned income from a place of employment or from self-employment. You must pay into Social Security to receive this benefit. The federal government has specific guidelines regarding the benefit.

Each year you work, you earn up to four credits toward your SS benefits. The Social Security Administration calculates your earned credits by your yearly income. The amount of your disability benefit depends on your age and how long you worked.

If you do not pay or work enough to qualify for SSD, the social security office can deny you. The government can deny you if it feels that you can work at some point in the future, or do not have a condition that affects your ability to work.

SSI

You can apply for your Supplemental Security Income if you become disabled from a medical condition or from serving in the military. If you happen to be a veteran with a disabling injury, you may qualify for benefits from the Veteran’s Administration and the Social Security Administration.

SSI applies to you if your doctor considers you unable to work because of a debilitating medical condition, disease or cancer. The headache arises when you need to prove to the administration that you are disabled and qualify for your benefits. You may spend a great deal of time seeing the administration’s doctors, completing paperwork and calling the Social Security office during the process.

Getting Help

It can take a year or more to receive an answer about your case. If the Social Security Administration does deny your claim, you can obtain help from pro-bono lawyers and advocates who specialize in Social Security claim cases. They can assist you with filing an appeal but you must do so within 60 days of your initial denial.

Your advocates can help you during the appeal hearing. If you still receive a disability denial, make another appeal to the Appeals Council. Keep in mind that the council can uphold the hearing’s decision and refuse this claim as well.

Lots of people understand very well that Washington, DC is the center of politics in the United States, being the place where all the decisions get made.  It’s got an enormously vibrant energy to it, with a very lively urban population.  It’s a very diverse place, with many cultures, perspectives, and economic backgrounds, that make it an ongoing conversation that’s always in process.  It’s been that way for quite awhile.  Checking into a DC luxury hotel is just the beginning of the introductions to this rather fabulous place.

It’s a pretty splendid introduction, too.  There are plenty of opportunities to be blown away by conveniences, amenities, and excellent hospitality.  Then it’s time to dig into DC culture.  Learning the history of the place is as fascinating as any place, but it’s rather surprising to some to discover that so many influential people have lived here, or live here now.  The usual suspects, always, are the politicians, but there are a number of artists and actors, including the movie veteran Alan Hale, Sr.

He’s from DC, and his career may have been a second mate, but his legacy is first-rate.  He is the character actor who played alongside Errol Flynn in dozens and dozens of films.  He’s one of the old-school greats, that generation of distinguished gentlemen to make films about swashbuckling heros.  He played alongside Humphrey Bogart, Douglas Fairbanks, Clark Gable, and James Cagney.  He was one of the big players in making the notion of hearty men being naturally brave heros an icon for generations to come.  He died of liver failure before he was 60.   He was also famous for his role as Little John in the Robin Hood films of the 30s.  He is also remembered by later generations as the father of Alan Hale, Jr., who is remembered by many as the captain of the SS Minnow on Gilligan’s Island.

It seems that most people who are born and raised in New York City have a story to tell, many stories to tell in fact.  One woman born in New York, has used her talent for story telling, not only for beginning and maintaining one of the most diverse and enduring careers in Hollywood and on Broadway, but she has used this gift for the betterment of society and the human condition, focusing on education, the homeless, children and many other causes and charities that she donates funds and her time.

Whoopi Goldberg had moved from New York to San Diego, where she worked extensively in improvisation and theatre.  It was during this time that her characters came to life, the ones that would fill her one woman performance, “The Spook Show”.  This show landed Goldberg a spot on Broadway, a Grammy Award, and a special on HBO. Her career was begun in fine fashion.  Although she began her career on stage, Goldberg moved quite quickly into the worlds of film and television.

Her first screen performance was a dramatic and emotional role in the “The Color Purple“, the adaption of Alice Walker’s novel.  She was honored with a nomination for an Academy Award and did win the Golden Globe award that year.  As with so many actors who begin on stage, they can never quite leave the theatre all together.  When ever you journey to city, as the concierge of your hotel in NY, for a listing of what is running currently on Broadway, or check it out online ahead of time.

For just as Goldberg has returned many times to the stages of Broadway, so to have many other stars and celebrities of today.  Seeing the work of such fine actors live, in a play or a musical, is seeing them at their finest, as there are no cuts, no edits, it is just those on stage bearing their raw talent.  Theatre is exciting as you never really know what may happen, and in New York, on Broadway, you find some of the best of the best.