This information may help claimants with representation, as well as claimants who are not represented by an attorney or non attorney representative. Understanding how the Social Security Disability system works can make the difference between winning or not winning the continuing disability benefits and backpay to which a person is entitled. |
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Thank you so much for the valuable information you have provided on your web site, it has been so helpful to me. One question however, are you suggesting that I can submit an RFC form to my doctor while my case is pending? I've really only just begun. I filed my case in December, have had one interview and returned the packets of forms regarding pain and daily activities. Please advise me as to when the best time to pursue this. The RFC form is definitely useful when your case is at the ALJ hearing level. An administrative law judge will actually welcome the chance to review the diagnosis, prognosis, and observations of your treating physician when this clinical information is submitted in a straightforward and concise format. At the lower case-processing levels, however (the initial claim and reconsideration levels at Disability Determination Services, or DDS), this is not quite the case. DDS examiners, generally at the direction of their unit supervisors, routinely ignore statements provided by treating physicians. In fact, DDS examiners routinely ignore the reports submitted by CE (consultative examination) doctors when those reports do not support a denial of a claim. Having said that, though, it still may be useful to submit an RFC form to a doctor while a case is being processed at the initial or recon (not every state has recon--it has been suspended in at least 10 states, as of 1/05) levels. Reason: not every DDS is so restrictive in their approach to claim decision-making. In fact, there is a wide gulf in the rate of approvals between the various states (according to federal statistics, for some "unknown reason" southern states deny a much higher percentage of disability cases than northern states). Basically, whether or not you submit an RFC form at the intial or reconsideration level, or choose to hold off on this until your claim gets to a hearing (if that happens to be the case) will be a decision call you will have to make. Since you may be in the position of having to ask your doctor to complete an RFC form at the initial or reconsideration level, and then ask for another RFC form to be completed when the claim is at the hearing level, you may have to consider whether or not your physician will likely be willing to do an RFC more than once. (To learn more about RFC forms and how to obtain an RFC form that may assist you in winning your claim, visit this site's RFC (residual functional capacity form) page.) 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 5 ANSWERS TO YOUR SSD & SSI QUESTIONS PAGE 6 |
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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. |
| Social Security Disability When should you get an attorney for a social security disability case? |