Maybe.
Before making any telephone or online contact with Social Security, you should speak with your workers’ compensation lawyer. In some situations, a pending disability application can add complications to your workers’ compensation settlement. This complication is called a medicare set aside and if it applies in your case, you will have to set aside part of your workers compensation settlement to cover future medical expenses.
Secondly, you need to make sure that your workers’ compensation lawyer adds language to any settlement agreement that pro-rates your settlement over your expected lifetime. This language, called Hartman language, protects you by reducing the workers’ compensation offset to your Social Security benefits.
As you can probably tell, Georgia workers’ compensation and Social Security disability do not always fit well together and you would be wise to speak with your workers’ compensation lawyer before doing anything to start a Social Security disability claim. Sometimes even a phone call to Social Security – even if you don’t formally file an application for disability – can be enough to impact your workers’ compensation.
If you are currently unrepresented in your workers’ compensation claim, you may want to call attorney Jodi Ginsberg of Ginsberg Law Offices for advice. Jodi has been representing injured workers for over 25 years and she is knowledgeable about the interplay between workers’ compensation and Social Security disability. Jodi can be reached at 770-351-0801 or through her website.
