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Is filing for disability difficult?
Yes and no. Filing an application for either social security disability or ssi disability benefits is an easy process to get started. A person simply needs to contact their local social security office and have an interview date scheduled. Application interviews can be conducted at the social security office itself, or over the phone at a later date. However, when most individuals use the phrase 'filing for social security disability', they're not referring to just the application. They're referring to the entire disability process. And, in that respect, the process is not easy at all. By contrast, it can be gut wrenching. True, some individuals will sail through the system and get approved on their very first ssd or ssi application. They'll never have to worry about enduring the appeals process and all the things that so often come with it (medical records get lost, case files get lost, important paperwork gets lost, etc) and they'll never face the prospect of bills falling behind or suffering the indignity of eviction or repossession. But the percentage of claimants who escape such scenarios (i.e. get approved on their first application) tends to be fairly small. And for this reason, I would have to say that two of the worst aspects regarding the social security disability - ssi disability system are:
And, yes, an initial claim may take 120 days on average. But averages tend to be very misleading. The simple truth is that an initial claim application can take as little as a month...but can also take as long as a year. For, unlike medicaid applications, there are no deadlines when it comes to social security disability and ssi applications. However, for the majority of claimants, the initial claim is only where the process starts. And the vast majority of applicants for social security disability and ssi disability will have their claims denied at that level. When that happens, a claimant can either give up, file a brand new application (neither of those options is good), or follow the appeal process (usually this means filing a request for reconsideration, though in some states the recon step has been eliminated and in those states the very next step will be to file a request for a hearing before an administrative law judge). All in all, the entire social security disability process can easily stretch out to two and a half years or longer. And for this reason, the social security administration does a great disservice to U.S. citizens by not explaining the the likely amount of time a disability claim will take to finish. 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 3 ANSWERS TO YOUR SSD & SSI QUESTIONS PAGE 4 |
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