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It's an unfortunate fact that a substantial number of individuals who are eligible to file for disability benefits (ssi or ssdi--ssdi stands for social security disability insurance) don't file. Either that, or they wait far too long before filing a social security disability or ssi disability application. Why is this? It's anyone's guess, really. It may be that, in some cases, potential social security disability or ssi disability benefit recipients would rather not "throw in the towel", so to speak. And in some cases, it may be that the individual stopped working some time ago, but nurses aspirations of returning to work. And, yet, in other cases it may be that the person has no idea how terribly long the disability claim process is and how very important it is to get a claim started and rolling. Whatever the reason for not filing a disability application, though, here's some advice that should apply to most situations: because the social security disability and SSI disability evaluation process can easily stretch out to more than two years (from the time an initial claim has been filed and a disability hearing has been held, it can actually be as long as three years), if you feel you are disabled, you should file for disability as soon as you are eligible to do so. This, of course, brings up the question of who is eligible to file for social security disability or SSI. For either type of benefit, you are eligible TO FILE as soon as your condition prevents you from working (or at least working and earning above a certain fixed amount each month known as SGA, or substantial gainful activity - for information on SGA go to this site's definition section--Hint: look in the menu below). 
To be eligible TO RECEIVE disability benefits, you must also have a condition, or set of conditions, that lasts at least twelve months and, as we said, prevents you from working and earning at least a certain amount (of gross earned income each month). Regarding who is eligible to actually be awarded and receive disability benefits, the paragraph above essentially states the social security administration's definition of disability. However, there are a couple of items that it may be useful to point out. For instance, if an individual is filing for SSI disability (as opposed to social security disability), they are only eligible to file provided they do not have countable assets that exceed two thousand dollars. What do countable assets include? In this category, you would include real property other than the home in which you live, the fair market value of cars aside from the one you utilize as your primary transportation, the cash value you might have in insurance policies, and, believe it or not, excess burial plots. A second noteworthy item to point out is the fact that, although the social security administration's definition of disability cites twelve months as the minimum length of time for which a disability must exist, an individual who fully meets SSA's disability requirements, but whose duration of disability is less than twelve months can still qualify for something known as a closed period. For more information on filing for disability benefits, you may wish to read one of the following pages: How to apply or file for social security disability or ssi disability benefits How to improve your chances for winning social security disability or ssi disability benefits Disability Lawyer Help on disability Claims Free Case Evaluation |
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SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY LAWYERS, SOCIAL SECURITY ATTORNEYS HOW TO APPLY FOR DISABILITY USING AN ATTORNEY FOR A DISABILITY APPEAL |
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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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