Benefit Law Advice Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Benefit Law Advice - Case Study Example Also included in the conclusion is a finality point emphasizing that social services can have positive impacts or negative impacts on the social lives of those who live with disabilities. Obtaining benefits for DLA or Attendance Allowance can be tricky and confusing for many, especially when it comes to understanding what the different eligibility requirements associated with AA and the possible benefits are. Physical limitations are actually categorized in various ways, which often depend on what the Commissioner confirms as applicable for benefits of AA or not. Obtaining an AA varies from case to case (as was stated) but legislative law in Britain does recognize people as being eligible to receive it if they have a terminal illness, mental handicap, physical limitation, and are otherwise incapacitated due to a terminal prognosis that also included surgical procedures which could lead to limitations in their former routines. However, anyone age 65 or older who has received a prognosis of a terminal illness and only have on average 6 months to live is eligible for AA according to the Benefit's agency (Nosowska 2004, p. 284). Nevertheless, there have been cases where people have actually died while awaiting approval from the Commissioner for AA or DLA assistance (Nosowska 2004, p.286). The case that is being referred to is in regards to 22 elderly women who were diagnosed with terminal cancer. The Commissioner approved them for AA but the wait was so long and the financial burden so heavy that as was stated, a number of them died while waiting for approval to receive the care they needed (Nosowska 2004, p.284). It would seem that the Commissioner could have used a "common sense" perspective to process these 22 women's claims faster, yet did not. Also, one would think that it should have also been obvious that these elderly women were suffering from forms of dementia along with their terminal prognosis which limited their abilities to "function independently". A physical limitation or lack of competence is normally enough for the Commissioner to approve AA, which in these 22 cases it was approved but again the delay in achieving it is what lead t o the adversities in health for some of the women (Ariotti 1999, p. 216). When the view switches to individual assessments on personal capabilities in regards to lifting and muscle strength there are also an innumerable amount of variables that are weighed and considered. The Commissioners decision to change the original "lift and carry" assessment has proven to make a great difference when professionals are trying to determine whether an individual has the ability to perform work related duties or not. There have been specific cases in the past that have affected the Commissioner's decision to reform article 8 in the personal capability assessment procedures (Benefits and Work UK 2004). For example, due to a historic case known as "Howker", definite changes were found to be needed because some of the physical assessments in the testing were shown to have placed individuals in far worse conditions than before they were even assessed (Benefits and Work UK 2004). Also, it would appear that the wrong questions were