If you're pursuing a claim for social security or ssi disability benefits, keep in mind that one of the ways of improving the chances to win disability is simply to avoid mistakes during the application phase or during an appeal. |
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When it comes to improving your chances to win disability (either social security disability or ssi), there are a number of things you can do, and they range quite widely. Improving the odds of winning disability benefits really starts with providing full and complete information on an application for disability. In other words, make sure that SSA knows about all of of your medical and/or psychological conditions and knows about your treatment sources. Regarding your conditions, that should be obvious---you want to receive full and proper considersation for any impairment that limits your ability to work. Regarding the various doctors, hospitals, and clinics that have provided medical treatment for you, you would think this would be obvious, but...amazingly, a high percentage of claimants are not careful enough in this regard. When it comes to indicating such information, do the following: supply the name, address, and phone number of every medical facility that has treated you. Also, supply the dates of treatment. Doing this will ensure that the disability claims examiner (at disability determination services, the agency that evaluates disability claims for the social security administration) who handles your case will have access to the information that is needed to fairly adjudicate your case. AND, it may save processing time on your claim by simply making it easier for the disability examiner to do his or her job. How else can you go about improving the chances to win disability benefits? Comply with all deadlines. If the social security office sends you a letter asking you to respond with certain information within a specified number of days, do so. If you receive a questionaire that needs to be completed, complete the form and send it back in. If the disability examiner handling your medical evaluation schedules you for a consultative medical exam, go to the exam and be on time. And, last but definitely not least, if you receive a denial on a claim, make sure you do your appeal in a timely fashion (SSA will allow you 60 days to complete an appeal, but since the appeal paperwork only takes a maximum of thirty to forty-five minutes, you should send in the appeal ASAP to save processing time on your claim). Thirdly, simply going to the doctor and maintaining regular medical treatment will be a mechanism for improving your chances to win disability. Medical documentation forms the only basis for which to evaluate your disability case and the more the better. And on that note, please understand the following: if social security sends you to a medical exam (a CE, or consultative medical examination), this generally means that the disability examiner does not have enough medical evidence to work with, or does not have enough recent medical evidence to use for an allowance (i.e. approval). This, of course, is not a good sign. Will going to a CE make up "the difference"? Not really. It will provide enough recent evidence for the examiner to close a case, but a disability case will seldom be won on the basis of a consultative exam having filled in the gaps. So, if at all possible (and this may be very difficult, of course, if you no longer have health insurance), keep going to the doctor. Lastly, getting a qualified attorney (or even a non-attorney disability advocate) will often be a solid means for improving the chances to win disability benefits. When should you get one? It may depend on the claimant, or even on the strength of a case, but, without a doubt, get an attorney if your claim is denied and you have to follow the appeals process. This is particularly true if your appeal will take you before an administrative law judge at a disability hearing---having an attorney at a hearing can definitely make a difference, improving not only your chances to win, but also your chances of receiving the most favorable onset (how far back your benefits will start). The following links may be helpful for improving your chances to win disability benefits: 1. Improving the chances with attorney representation on a disability case 2. Improving your chances for disability with a doctor's help 3. How-to information for improving your social security disability chances 4. What are the chances in an ssd (social security disability) or ssi appeal 5. Improving the wait time for a disability hearing - how to get one scheduled faster 6. Improving your chances at a hearing - presenting yourself before a judge 7. Social Security Disability Attorneys and Lawyers - questions and answers Disability Attorneys Help with Claims Free Case Evaluation |
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SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY SSI LAWYERS ATTORNEYS ANSWERS TO YOUR SSDI & SSI QUESTIONS PAGE 3 ANSWERS TO YOUR SSDI & SSI QUESTIONS PAGE 4 |
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