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If your application for social security disability (SSD) or SSI is turned down, you can and should take advantage of the disability appeals process. The first level of appeal is referred to as a request for review or reconsideration. After you receive notice that your claim has been denied, you have 60 days to file this appeal, or you must start all over again with a new claim. (The only time it is better to begin with a new claim is if your original claim was rejected on a technicality; i.e., you made too much money at the time, had too many assets in your name, etc.) Your request for reconsideration may not be successful; in fact, statistics have shown that on average about 85% of all reconsideration appeals filed in this country are denied. The exact statistics for disability reconsiderations vary by state. For instance, disability applicants in Mississippi actually fare worse, with 92.9 percent of all reconsiderations denied, while those in California fare slightly better, with an 80.7 percent denial rate. Why are the odds against getting approved upon reconsideration? Actually, it makes perfect sense given the fact that the same agency (your state disability determination services office) that denied your initial disability application is in charge of rendering a decision on your reconsideration request. True, the appeal will not be reviewed by the exact same disability examiner, but reconsideration-level disability examiners are not likely to overturn a denial without some proof of glaring error on the part of the disability examiner who first denied your claim. The exception to this rule might be if you have some compelling new medical evidence to add to your file in support of your claim, or if your condition has significantly deteriorated since you first filing for disability (and you can back this up with medical evidence). However, this is usually not the case for those filing SSD/SSI appeals. Some believe that disability determination services (DDS) employees are actually instructed to give benefits to applicants only if it absolutely cannot be avoided. While this is not true, there is no official instruction at DDS to deny benefits to the disabled, it is fair to say that employees at DDS are not encouraged to err on the side of claimants in their decisions. Examiners at DDS may be inclined to focus on evidence that indicates you are not disabled, rather than the proof that you have offered that you are no longer able to work. This bias is present at both the initial application level and the appeals level, so it is unlikely that a reconsideration appeal will be approved by DDS. Yet, in spite of the dismal reconsideration approval rate, it is always worthwhile to file a reconsideration appeal. Why? Because if your reconsideration appeal is turned down, you can file a second appeal, a request to have your case heard before a disability judge. Second appeals are typically far more successful than reconsideration appeals, because they are decided by federal administrative law judges (ALJs) rather than disability examiners employed by DDS. ALJs overturn about half of all cases previously denied by disability examiners. Some claimants fare better at the social security hearing level because their condition has actually worsened since they first filed for disability (due to case backlogs, it can take one to two years for your case to be heard). However, many claimants whose reconsideration appeals are denied find that they are later approved by a disability judge, not because their condition has worsened, but because they have finally found someone who is willing to review all of the medical evidence in their case and render a fair, unbiased decision. 
Social Security Disability and SSI Disability Information
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