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Winning disability benefits in the social security disability or SSI program---it can make the difference between staying afloat and going financially down the tubes. And, sadly, that is a strong possibility for many SSDI and SSI applicants. Many individuals who file for disability do suffer terrible financial effects as a result of their 1. condition and 2. the fact that winning disability benefits can be an uphill climb and a process that takes months or years. For any disabled individual, winning disability benefits is a vital concern. But for those whose savings and possessions are on the line (many claimants lose their entire savings, are forced to sell possessions, and even find themselves at risk of eviction or foreclosure), winning disability benefits faster is crucial to the goal of staying out of the financial abyss. Let's address the two SSD-SSI issues separately and in detail: winning disability and winning disability faster. How do you win social security disability or SSI? Quite obviously, you need to satisfy the social security administration's definition of disability. To be concise, SSA requires that a claimant must have a severe impairment that lasts twelve months or longer which prevents them from working at any of their current or former jobs, or prevents them from doing suitable forms of "other work". What can you infer from this definition of disability? You can infer that, to qualify for disability, the impairment, or impairments, must meet a suitable standard of severity. In other words, a sprained wrist most likely will not do (believe it or not, some individuals have actually applied for simple sprains). However, nearly any impairment can meet the severity test (which is somewhat subjective) and potentially qualify a claimant for disability. For example, based on the extent to which they functionally restrict a person's activities, the following conditions may be considered severe: congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, bipolar disorder, lupus, lyme disease, arthritis, diabetes, ms, vision problems, etc, etc, etc. And this list is hardly conclusive. There are many hundreds of medical, psychological, and psychiatric conditions that may qualify an applicant for benefits. 
You can also infer from the SSA definition of disability that a person's disability should be longstanding, meaning that, no matter how severe a claimant's condition is, it needs to last one full year at the very least. Does this mean that if you are legitimately disabled for 9 months that you will not qualify for disability. Yes and no. A claimant in this situation will definitely not qualify for ongoing and continuing SSDI (social security disability insurance) or SSI benefits. However, that same individual might qualify for what is known as a closed period, which basically means that a claimant would receive a lump sum disability check for X number of months and then nothing more. The definition of disability is, obviously, somewhat strict. Nonetheless, a claimant can elevate their chances of winning disability benefits by doing the following: 1. Listing in detail on the disability application ALL sources of medical treatment, along with the names of doctors who have provided treatment, the addresses of hospitals and clinics that have been visited, and the dates of treatment for each facility. Why is this so important? Because to be approved on a social security disability or SSI claim a claimant's medical records must be evaluated. And to make sure that all of a claimant's medical problems are given full consideration, the disability examiner (the person who actually makes the decision on an SSI or SSDI claim) should, without a doubt, have access to ALL of a claimant's records. The disability examiner should also have access to a claimant's records as far back as possible to ensure that the claimant can receive the maximum amount of benefits for which they are entitled. 2. Getting one's doctor or doctor's to submit supportive statements. These statements should be fairly detailed and should not simply state "my patient is disabled and unable to work". Instead, a statement from a treating physician should actually explain why it is that a disability claimant is unable to work. And to effectively do this, a doctor should indicate the functional restrictions a claimant has as a result of their physical and/or mental condition. For example, if a claimant has a severe lower back condition, a doctor, in his or her statement, should indicate any difficulty the claimant has with walking, sitting, or standing. If the claimant cannot sit more than 10 minutes at a time, this should be pointed out. In the case of a claimant with severe bipolar disorder, a psychiatrist should indicate any problems with rapid mood cycling and, perhaps, in interacting with work associates or supervisors. 3. Keeping up with one's case. That is, a claimant should know at all times what is happening with their disability claim. Typically, this will involve a certain amount of periodic calling to get status updates. Why is this a good idea? It makes sense for several reasons. First of all, by calling the disability examiner at DDS (remember, it is at disability determination services that a medical decision on a disability claim is rendered---the social security office simply takes the application and then forwards it to DDS), a claimant can sometimes "spur" the examiner to work a bit faster since, as the saying goes, "the squeaky wheel gets the grease". Disability examiners, by the way, generally do not like to receive calls from claimants and claimants who call quite often will sometimes have their files worked on faster simply to free the examiner from excess phone calls. Secondly, of course, by calling for status updates, an SSI or social security disability claimant can verify that whatever paperwork they may have submitted (such as questionaires and appeal forms) was actually received. Social security offices are legendary for not being able to locate claimant-submitted paperwork and asserting that it was "never received". Following just these few simple tips can improve one's chances, in some cases, of winning disability benefits. But how can you get a decision faster? Here are a few suggestions to follow for shaving at least a bit of processing time from your disability case. 1. Apply for disability as soon as possible. An astounding number of disabled individuals wait too long before applying for either social security disability or SSI. When should you apply for disability? As soon as your condition or conditions makes it impossible for you to continue working. 2. Provide, whenever possible, copies of medical records with the application for disability. Why would someone do this? There's actually more than one reason. First of all, the vast majority of the time spent "processing" a disability claim is simply waiting for medical records to be received. Yes, disability examiners (who work at DDS, or disability determination services) generally request a claimant's records on the same day that they receive an application from the social security office where a claimant filed. However, they still cannot process a decision on an SSI or social security disability claim until the records are actually received. And many hospitals and clinics are notorious for the amount of time they take to honor medical record requests. By sending in your medical records at the time you apply for disability, you can potentially shave weeks or even months off the time your disability case may take.
3 Consider getting a social security attorney to assist you with your claim. When should you get a disability attorney involved in your case? "When" will often depend on the claimant. Certainly, many people will not require the services of an attorney until they have been denied. However, many claimants can benefit from having the assistance of an attorney from the very start for the following reasons: 1. an attorney can sometimes help a disability claimant decide whether to appeal or file a brand application (appealing is generally the preferred option, though in some cases filing a new application will be the better choice) and 2. an attorney, after reviewing a claimant's case, may decide to work proactively on getting an approval as early as possible, perhaps even during the intial application phase. Winning disability can also depend as much on what a claimant does not do. And by this, we mean that a disability applicant can improve the chances of winning disability by avoiding certain mistakes. For a list of common mistakes to avoid on a social security disability claim or an SSI disability claim, you may wish to refer to the following page: Mistakes to avoid on Disability claims Disability Advocates Help with Claims Free Case Evaluation |
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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. |
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