This information may help claimants with representation, as well as claimants who are not represented by an attorney or non attorney representative. Understanding how the Social Security Disability system works can make the difference between winning or not winning the continuing disability benefits and backpay to which a person is entitled. To win a claim for ongoing and past due benefits, claimants should learn about the disability process to improve their chances of winning benefits. |
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No. At least...not officially.
Approximately seventy out of every one hundred social security disability cases are denied at the initial claim level. Yet more than half of all cases heard by Administrative Law Judges are approved. Why the discrepancy? Here's why. Judges who hear disability claims have the freedom to call cases the way they see them. They evaluate a claimant's medical evidence and, based on the social security administration's stated criteria, render a decision: disabled or not disabled. Unfortunately, the system doesn't work that way at the lower levels (initial claim and reconsideration) where Disability Examiners handle cases. "Officially", Disability Examiners do what judges do: They read a claimant's medical records, evaluate them in the context of the disability program's rules, and make decisions as to whether or not claimants are disabled. But that's only officially. In actuality, Disability Examiners seldom ever have the final word on the disposition of the cases which they are assigned. In fact, more often than not, they must ensure that their "decisions" are in harmony with the policies of their supervisors and higher management. And these policies generally have the effect of sending one basic, if unspoken, message to disability examiners: don't make too many approvals. Why is this the case? The answer has to do with quality control. Disability Cases are screened by something called the DQB, the disability quality branch. The DQB checks finished cases for errors, and when errors are found, these cases are returned to the Disability Determination Services office (there's at least one DDS in every state) where they originated so "corrections" can be made. Of course, DDS offices which get a lot of returned cases tend to look bad. Therefore, returns are not looked favorably upon. Nor are examiners who get a lot of returns. At first glance, this would seem to be an excellent system for ensuring quality in the social security disability system. Here's the catch. Most of the returned cases tend to be cases that were marked for approval. With this in mind, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the effect DQB has on the disability approval system. In short, Disability Examiners shy away from making approvals and seldom ever give claimants the benefit of the doubt, simply because to do so might negatively affect an examiner's job standing. Now, how does this relate to the question asked on this page? Well, it may or may not. But it is very interesting that DQB focuses so many of its returns on cases which disability examiners tried to approve. Barring any other answer, one has to legitimately wonder, at some point, if the Social Security Administration does attempt to save money by limiting the number of cases which are approved. Disability Advocates Help with Claims Free Case Evaluation |
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SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY ATTORNEY, REPRESENTATIVE LAWYER LIST ANSWERS TO YOUR SSD & SSI QUESTIONS PAGE 1 ANSWERS TO YOUR SSD & SSI QUESTIONS PAGE 2 |
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If you suffer from a medical disability such as hip, neck, shoulder, ankle, wrist, back, or other joint problems, disc herniation, degenerative disc disease, spinal stenosis, carpal tunnel syndrome, rsi or repetetive stress injury, inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, arthritis, dysthymia, depression or other mood disorders, congestive or chronic heart failure, type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, diabetic neuropathy, high blood pressure (hypertension), seizure disorder, stroke, copd, emphysema, hearing loss or poor hearing, statutory blindness, peripheral field problems or other vision loss, clinical obesity, attention deficit hyperactivity or, simply, adhd, bipolar disorder or manic depression, panic disorder, schizophrenia, autism, head trauma, memory loss, low iq, mental retardation, learning disability, epilepsy, cancer, chronic fatigue, multiple sclerosis, lupus, anxiety, inner ear problems, meniere's, vertigo or dizziness, kidney failure requiring dialysis or other renal problems, cirrhosis, hepatitis, or other liver disease, pancreatitis, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, asthma, bronchitis, cystic fibrosis, rsd or reflex sympathetic dystrophy, crohn's disease, sarcoidosis, peripheral vascular disease, lyme disease, cerebral palsy, down syndrome, hiv, aids, anemia, sickle cell, thyroid problems including hypothyroidism, esrd or end stage renal disease, reflux, gerd (gastroesophageal reflux disease), cfids, muscular dystrophy, coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy, or tachycardia, bradycardia or other arrhythmia and have initiated or been denied on a social security disability, or ssi, claim for benefits, this site may assist you with your case. Social Security Disability benefits are often difficult to win; however many claims for social security disability are lost simply because a claimant did not know enough about the disability process to their social security or ssi claim. For information re: representation on a social security disability or ssi claim (attorney or non attorney representative), see the "questions" & "how" pages. |
| Social Security Disability The chances of winning on a disability case |