Gottheimer Continuing Fight to Help North Jersey Seniors & Veterans Access Benefits

Above: Gottheimer speaks with Fifth District residents at the Maurice M. Pine Free Public Library in Fair Lawn. 

NORTH JERSEY — Today, November 1, 2022, U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) joined with local North Jersey seniors from Allendale, Alpine, Hackensack, Harrington Park, and Ho-Ho-Kus to discuss how he helped them receive much needed retirement and health care benefits from Social Security and Medicare.

Gottheimer met with the following Fifth District seniors today:

• Bill Jaris from Harrington Park — who needed help accessing monthly Social Security benefits. Due to a clerical error from the Social Security Administration, Bill’s Social Security benefit stopped for four months. Within several weeks, Gottheimer and his constituent services team resolved the issue, got Bill his hard-earned Social Security payments, and Social Security back-paid him $8,000.
  
• Nancie Berman Solomon from Ho-Ho-Kus — who incorrectly received a deduction to her Medicare payments — causing her Medicare benefits to decrease more than $600 a month. This issue with her benefits was due to an income miscalculation from the Social Security Administration. Nancy knew Gottheimer and his constituent services team were available to help because she has been reaching out for years. Gottheimer reached out to the Social Security Administration, dealt with their error, and Nancy’s Medicare payments were restored and the missing payments were back-paid.
  
• Deborah Goodkin from Allendale — who had not heard back from Social Security for more than three months before reaching out for help. Deborah originally applied in September of 2021 for Social Security retirement benefits to begin in December 2021. Nearly three months passed and she had not heard back from Social Security, nor did she receive benefits that December. On December 30, 2021, she contacted Gottheimer and his constituent services team who got in touch with Social Security, and had Deborah on the phone with Social Security just two days later. Deborah not only had her payments restored, but also received back pay for the four months of missed payments.
  
• John Cavalier from Alpine — a West Point graduate and U.S. Army veteran who originally applied for Social Security benefits in December 2020, but did not hear anything in nine months. John reached out to Gottheimer and his constituent services team who helped move John’s application forward, cut through the red tape, and got the Social Security Administration to back-pay $50,000 to John and his dependents for benefits they were owed.
  
• Robert Kalisch from Hackensack — who had not heard back from local Social Security offices in two months and had not received a critical update on his application for Medicare Part B, impeding his ability to receive any medical coverage. Robert was retiring and without Medicare Part B he would have no medical coverage in case of an emergency. Gottheimer and his constituent services team were able to break through the bureaucracy standing in the way, helped Robert get an appointment, and Robert was able to successfully receive the help he needed in about two weeks.

“There is no greater responsibility than that we owe to those who have given so much to us. By taking care of Fifth District residents, we’ve helped more than 200 veterans access their VA benefits, we’ve helped more than 680 seniors access their Social Security checks, and we’ve even helped get 57 constituents back home from being stranded overseas,” said Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5). “One of the most important parts of my job is to be an advocate and a champion for my constituents. Thank you so much to Robert, John, Deborah, Nancy, and Bill for joining me here today. If you need help with any of the issues accessing Medicare, Social Security, passports, VA benefits, and so much more, please reach out to me.”

“It was frightening to think: what happens if I get sick, what do I do, how do I go to the hospital?” said Robert Kalisch to Gottheimer today. “If people like us have a problem, we should always come to someone like you and your staff. It’s like I told your staff: you get the job done, you do it in Washington and your people do it for us here and, on behalf of everyone that I know and everyone here right now, we all thank you.”

If you are experiencing an issue with a federal agency, Gottheimer and his constituent services team are here to listen and help with VA benefits, Social Security, Medicare, passports, delayed IRS refunds, and more. Reach out to Gottheimer in Glen Rock at 201-389-1100, in Newton at 973-940-1117, email at josh.gottheimer@mail.house.gov, or visit gottheimer.house.gov for more information and resources. 

Watch Gottheimer’s conversation here.

Below: Gottheimer speaks with Fifth District residents at the Maurice M. Pine Free Public Library in Fair Lawn. 

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