David Paletta

Reasons for Federal Court Remands.  If the Appeals Council (often referred to as the "AC") denies your request for review, you have the right to appeal the AC decision by filing a civil action in federal court. You do not appear before the federal court. Your attorney will submit a legal brief on your behalf. The attorney for the Social Security Administration will submit a legal brief on behalf of the government. A United States District Court Judge will review the briefs and render a decision. If the federal court rules [...]

Reasons for Appeals Council Remands. If an Administrative Law Judge (known as an "ALJ") denies the case, you may appeal by filing a Request for Review by the Social Security Administration's Appeals Council (known as the "AC"). You do not appear before the AC. Your attorney will send a legal argument to the AC which will review the entire record. If the AC finds your appeal has merit, it will order another Hearing be held before an ALJ. It is unusual for the AC to directly award disability benefits. For 2019 [...]

ONC's Cures Act Final Rule. In this article I will discuss how federal regulations adopted on May 1, 2020 dramatically change the rules of the game on how patients can access their electronic health records, and what fees can be charged for such records. The 21st Century Cures Act. The 21st Century Cures Act was adopted in 2016 to help accelerate medical product development and bring new innovations to patients including improved access to medical records. This Act encourages the "interoperability" of electronic health records. The term interoperability means ". . . [...]

MyChart Accounts are becoming a better alternative to HITECH medical records requests. I recently wrote a blog on how Ciox Health, LLC v. Azar affects HITECH medical records requests. Click here to read that blog. In this blog I want to suggest a better option to HITECH medical records requests is now widely available. This option is the patient's MyChart Account. Most health care providers now offer patients the option to access his/her medical records via an online MyChart Account. Once set up, the patient has access to all his/her medical [...]

The law on HITECH medical records requests has changed due to the recent CIOX Health case. On January 23, 2020, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia entered a Decision in the case of Ciox Health, LLC v. Azar, Case No. 18-cv-00040 (APM). The Court ruled that the HITECH Act cap on the fee a patient can be charged for medical records does NOT apply to records sent to third parties, such as a law firm. The decision of the Court can be found here. In response to [...]

The Approval Rates for Social Security Disability Judges vary widely among judges. Nationally, it varies from a low of 9% to a high of 96%. In North Carolina, the approval rates vary from a low of 23% to a high of 87%.  The national average is an approval rate of approximately 53%. Clearly, the judge randomly assigned to a disability case is an important factor that influences whether benefits will be awarded. For this reason I have obtained data on the approval rates of each disability judge in North Carolina (see [...]

Top 10 Tips for Hiring a Disability Lawyer Disability Lawyer David R. Paletta 1. Do NOT hire an out-of-state law firm. Large out-of-state law firms spends thousands of dollars advertising on TV and the Internet. Their # 1 goal is to make a profit. They do not allow you to have a personal relationship with an attorney. In my opinion, they do not provide the level of legal services I believe you are entitled to. 2. If you look for a lawyer online, avoid the middle men. In recent [...]

Social Security Survivors Benefits When an individual who is insured under the Social Security system dies, certain survivors are entitled to receive benefits. These are called Social Security Survivors Benefits. In order for this benefits program to apply, the deceased must have earned enough Social Security credits. You can earn up to four credits each year. For example, in 2019 you earn one credit for each $1,360 of earnings. When you have earned $5,440, you have earned your four credits for the year. The number of credits needed to provide Social [...]

Data on the Approval Rates for Disability Judges in Raleigh, North Carolina at the Social Security Administration Office of Hearing Operations (OHO). The 2nd appeal in a disability case is a Request for Hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (referred to as an ALJ). The Hearing may be in person or via a video conference. One of the most common questions I am asked is - what are my chances of winning? The Disability Judge that hears the case is certainly an important factor. To find out the approval rates for [...]