Joel Max Grist Jr

My brother needed a bone marrow transplant. But, he made about $25 too much from Social Security disability benefits, his only source of income, to qualify for Medicaid. That was 1989. I was successful in helping him and have gone on to represent many, many people succesfully before the Social Security Administration. We used to hear stories of alcoholics and drug addicts getting monthly checks just because of their alcoholism or drug addiction. We still see ridiculous stories of people getting benefits that seem unworthy, but the rules have changed. It's tougher to get benefits now. Today, people who work their whole lives and are catastrophically injured many times cannot get the benefits they have paid for their whole working lives. Social Security disability has become a grossly unjust system. The average time waiting between requesting a hearing and getting a decision from a judge is now over 500 days. This is more than 500 days waiting in addition to the six months or more the person had to wait to be turned down on the initial application and at reconsideration. One of my early clients was finally approved for benefits after two appeals, on the same day she slipped into a coma. Cancer killed her a few days later. She never knew she was approved. The system failed her and fails many formerly hard-working Americans with legitimate claims every day. Fast service; Fast response; Fast results. These are my goals. Our goal is to make the work for the Social Security Administration ridiculously easy. When it's easy to say "yes" and hard work to say "no," legitimate claims get through the system FAST.