Government shut down and Social Security Benefits; observations by Jill Warren, Esq., of Whibbs & Stone, a leading Pensacola Social Security Law Firm

If you have any questions regarding Social Security, please contact Jill Warren, Esq., at 850-434-5395.

While rumor has it that a government shut down is not in our near future, I know that the mere possibility must bring with more questions than I could ever anticipate.  The purpose of this short article to put to bed some of the scarier rumors out there and to hopefully ease the minds of all past, present and, possibly even, future clients.

How will a government shut down affect your Social Security disability checks?  President Obama has recently remarked that the checks will not be issued; however, this is not accurate.  The correct answer is that your disability check will likely arrive just as it always does with little appreciable difference.  Social Security benefits are paid out of a trust funds rather than the discretionary spending fund.  This means that the government employees necessary to make sure that your disability check arrives on time will still come to work.  And, yes, in case you were wondering, your disability check will be worth more than the paper it is printed on.

What will happen to my application for Social Security benefits?  The answer is that it will remain pending.  The unknown is whether the “essential personal” necessary to process the new applications will be told to stay home.  The practical effect of this  is that your application may take longer to process if these employees are not allowed to come to work.  The last time the government shut down approximately 60,000 Social Security workers were sent home, initially.  The good news is that before all the important players were able to agree on a budget Social Security employee were called back to work to process pending applications.  If the past is any indication of the future, my guess is that processing will continue as usual since it is now fairly clear that all Social Security employees are essential.

Amongst all of the uncertainties, there is one thing of which I am completely certain.  Whether the United States Government is open or closed for business come Monday morning, Whibbs Stone Barnett Turner, PA will be open for all your disability needs and concerns.