Disabled mired in backlog for aid
Wednesday, January 31st, 2007
By Chris Fitzsimon
N.C. joining federal effort to speed benefits to needy
FRED KELLY
frkelly@charlotteobserver.com
Ronald McKoy, homeless and HIV positive, applied for Social Security disability payments in October 2004 because he said he was too sick to work.
About a year later, social workers say, the 50-year-old McKoy barely weighed 100 pounds and went to a local hospital vomiting blood.
Yet, even when he died in February as a resident of the Uptown Men’s Shelter, he was still awaiting a judge’s ruling on whether he qualified for disability benefits.
"He was clearly disabled," said Lynn Bishop, McKoy’s attorney. "I’m confident he would have won."
Bishop said the monthly payments — $947 for the average recipient — could have helped McKoy find a home and get food and medicine. McKoy had worked as a day laborer. Every American worker pays Social Security taxes, which fund the program.
Delays such as McKoy’s have prompted efforts to fight the nation’s ballooning backlog of disability cases. (more…)
Last 5 posts in Daily News
- Senator backs less business regulation - September 5th, 2008
- Drunken Driving - September 5th, 2008
- Easley budget adviser Gerlach going to Golden LEAF - September 5th, 2008
- Lottery case before Supreme Court next week - September 5th, 2008
- Bowles opposes lowering legal drinking age - September 4th, 2008
Email This Post
Print This Post
