To quickly check on the status of your disability case, you can call your local Social Security office and speak to a disability claims representative. You can use the Social Security Office Locator tool to find the phone number for your local office.
Full Answer
 · Step 1: Understanding Social Security’s Definition of Disabled. The definition of disabled, according to Social Security, is that you have severe limitations from your health problems that keep you from doing any kind of work for at least 12 consecutive months. This is the first thing we look at when evaluating your case.
 · The magistrate explained that Social Security may not ignore a federal court's instructions with respect to a disability case. Here, the judge in the second appeal told the ALJ to afford the neurosurgeon's testimony significant weight. This instruction was not a suggestion. It became, in the magistrate's words, the “law of the case.”.
The Social Security Administration's (SSA) administrative appeals operation is one of the largest administrative judicial systems in the world. SSA issues more than half a million hearing and appeal dispositions each year. Under the Office of Hearings Operations (OHO), administrative law judges (ALJ) conduct hearings and issue decisions.
Find the address and location of your local OGC and bring the summons and complaint to the OGC. After the SSA has been served, an attorney for the SSA will file an answer. An answer is essentially a brief explanation of why the ALJ and AC were correct in denying your claim. You'll then need to file an opening brief.
Section 204(a) of the Social Security Act provides that the overpaid person (whether or not he or she still receives benefits), his or her representative payee, and any other person receiving benefits on the overpaid person's earnings record are liable (responsible) for repayment of an overpayment.
If you do not agree that you have been overpaid, or if you believe the amount is incorrect, you can appeal by filing Form SSA-561, Request for Reconsideration. You should explain why you think you have not been overpaid or why you think the amount is not correct.
Does Social Security Disability Follow You? If red flags have been raised about your disability, Social Security may hire a private investigator to “catch” you performing activities you have previously stated you can not because of your disability.
12% to 15%If the claims examiners find that you should have been approved, that your denial was mistaken or inappropriate, you will be awarded your benefits. However, this is rare – only 12% to 15% of applications are approved at Reconsideration.
The $16,728 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook: If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income.
If you believe that you may have been overpaid, but feel that it was not your fault and you cannot afford to pay us back:ask for a waiver of the overpayment; and.ask for and complete form SSA 632 (Request for Waiver of Overpayment Recovery).
(2) SSA employees authorized to listen-in to or record telephone calls are permitted to annotate personal identifying information about the calls, such as a person's name, Social Security number, address and/or telephone number.
Unlike private insurance companies the SSA does not generally conduct surveillance investigations, but that doesn't mean that they can't or never will. Once you file a disability claim, the SSA looks for proof of your disability.
The following five statements should never be announced at your disability hearing.“I can't work because no one will hire me.” ... “I don't know why I'm here. ... “I don't do chores because my significant other, friend or family member does them.” ... “I have never used drugs or alcohol in my life.”More items...•
Can an ALJ Decision Be Overturned? The only way to overturn a decision made by an ALJ is to file an appeal with the Appeals Council.
Under normal conditions, the reconsideration process takes approximately eight weeks. Once your request for reconsideration is submitted, the Social Security Administration will review your application again.
7 Tips for How to Win a Disability Reconsideration AppealFile a Timely Appeal. ... Submit the Right Paperwork. ... Draft an Effective Appeals Letter. ... Provide Additional Medical Evidence. ... Be Honest and Transparent. ... Get a Written Opinion From Your Doctor. ... Hire a Reliable Attorney.
You must have medical evidence to prove your disability case. The most important evidence is your medical records that show your diagnosis, your symptoms, and your response to treatment.
Your case may be taking longer at the first stage or the second stage and that’s just because of a backup at Social Security or at the next Department disability determination services. Or your case may be moving rapidly does that mean you’re going to win? Not necessarily, it doesn’t. It’s just really a matter of the personnel available to work on a case and how many cases they have to work on.
We never want you to wonder what is happening with your case. We are here to answer your questions. All phone calls and emails are returned within 24 hours. That is our promise to you.
The definition of disabled, according to Social Security, is that you have severe limitations from your health problems that keep you from doing any kind of work for at least 12 consecutive months.
We believe in client education: The Social Security Disability process is confusing . We think it is important that you understand each step in the process. So, we created a section on our website that is accessible only to clients. This client’s only section tells you everything you need to know about the disability process.
SSA issues more than half a million hearing and appeal dispositions each year.
The Social Security Administration's (SSA) administrative appeals operation is one of the largest administrative judicial systems in the world. SSA issues more than half a million hearing and appeal dispositions each year. Under the Office of Hearings Operations (OHO), administrative law judges (ALJ) conduct hearings and issue decisions. Within the Office of Analytics, Review, and Oversight (OARO), the Appeals Council considers appeals from hearing decisions and acts as the final level of administrative review for the agency.
In early March 2018, hearings pending dropped below 1 million for the first time since October 2014. As of March 2019, approximately 720,000 people were waiting for a hearing decision.
You have the right to appeal a denial of your disability claim by an administrative law judge (ALJ) and the refusal of the Social Security Appeals Council (AC) to review your case or reverse the decision of the ALJ. (Read about the Appeals Council here.)
An answer is essentially a brief explanation of why the ALJ and AC were correct in denying your claim. You'll then need to file an opening brief.
The judge may decide to do any of the following: Remand the case. Sometimes a federal judge will remand, or send back, a claim to the ALJ to be reconsidered. When this happens, the judge will often direct the ALJ to look at factors and issues that were not fully considered in the original hearing and decision.
A disability attorney cannot collect a fee unless benefits are awarded to you and the court approves the fee. After a favorable decision (approval of benefits) is issued, your attorney will file a fee petition under Section 406 (b) asking that reasonable attorney's fees be paid. This amount cannot exceed 25% of the amount ...
Affirm the ALJ's decision. If the federal judge affirms the ALJ's and AC's decision, your disability claim will be denied. Although it is possible to appeal to the Federal Circuit Court, the process is more difficult and more expensive.
A Response Brief is the SSA's chance to explain why you are wrong and why the ALJ's decision was correct. After you (or your lawyer) may file a Reply Brief, which is one last chance to defend your position and point out weaknesses in the SSA's argument. Sometimes the court will schedule oral (in-person) arguments, but this is rare.
The SSA cannot help you with a complaint (or brief) for a federal appeal. You can either file the complaint yourself or hire an attorney who is experienced in appealing disability denials at the federal level to assist you. If you choose to appeal the denial on your own, you must follow the federal court rules or you risk having your complaint ...
Checking the status of your case will also alert you if Social Security has made an error with your claim, such as misplacing your appeal paperwork.
If You Have a Lawyer or Representative. Disability claimants who are represented by a disability lawyer or non-lawyer Social Security disability advocate can allow their representatives to make these calls on their behalf. Your representative should periodically check the status of your case for you, both for the purpose ...
Social Security office personnel will typically have little information available as to the status of a hearing request. (Usually, if you call your Social Security field office to make a hearing status call, you will get a response similar to "We haven't heard anything.") Instead, make a status call on a hearing request to the hearing office itself.
A claims rep can usually provide a general update on your case, as to where it is in the process, but will not be able to give you much detail on when a decision will be handed down or whether there are any obstacles holding it up.
Your disability examiner works at a state agency called Disability Determination Services ( DDS ), not the actual Social Security Administration (SSA). Disability examiners are typically easy to reach by phone, and you can get the telephone number for your local DDS from your local Social Security office or from our state articles. Find your state article for a list of the DDS offices in all 50 states.
If you filed a request for a disability hearing, you may not hear anything for many months. In fact, most Social Security disability hearing offices are so backlogged with cases that it takes over a year, or more, to get an administrative law judge hearing. However, it is still worth it to check on the status of your case at least once ...
The next level of appeal (in most states) is a hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ). Once a disability claimant submits a request for hearing, the claim is no longer with the DDS; it has gone to the hearing office, called the Office of Hearings Operations (OHO), where it awaits a hearing date. (This office was formerly called the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR).)
The obvious advantage of filing a lawsuit is winning the SSDI or SSI benefits you believe you deserve. However, it is critical for you to consider the following disadvantages before moving ahead with your suit:
You must file a federal lawsuit within 65 days of the Appeals Council’s decision.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) offers a number of levels of appeal to challenge the reduction or denial of a claim for Social Security disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. But if you exhaust all of your options with the SSA, you can still bring a lawsuit in federal court.
Many Social Security Disability claims are denied due to a lack of solid medical evidence. If you want to qualify for disability benefits you will need to prove that you are unable to work due to your disabling condition.
Social Security disability applications face an overwhelming 70% denial rate upon initial evaluation. That is a huge number but it is based upon several very different factors, such as applying for a condition that does not meet the criteria or lack of proper medical documentation.
If you fail to follow the treatment prescribed to you by your doctor, the Social Security Administration will deny your claim. The reason for this is that the examiner will not be able to accurately determine whether or not your condition actually prevents you from being able to work if you are unwilling to cooperate with treatment.
For younger applicants, the number of work credits needed is based on a sliding scale given that you might not have worked long enough to earn 40 credits. To receive disability benefits, you must be unable to work. If you are capable of working in your current position, or if you could work with accommodations for your condition or in a modified capacity, then you will not receive disability benefits.
The Social Security Administration evaluates each claim using a comprehensive list of medical conditions, the Disability Evaluation Under Social Security , commonly referred to as the Blue Book. The Blue Book features 14 different categories of conditions and their related diagnoses, symptoms and treatment. The idea is that the SSA can quickly locate a condition in the Blue Book and determine whether your condition qualifies you for disability benefits.
You are able to bring witnesses who can support and corroborate your claims. There is an average success rate of 62% at this stage.
Fortunately, the Social Security disability benefits program offers a comprehensive set of appeals guidelines that have a great success rate. When you appeal a decision, the understanding at that point is that you truly believe you qualify for disability benefits.
The complaint must be filed in the United States District Court for the judicial district in which the claimant resides. The review of a final decision of the Social Security Administration concerning disability benefits pursuant to the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 39-406, is limited to two determinations. First, whether the Social Security ...
Those are the Western, Middle, and Eastern Districts. An appeal from a denial by the Appeals Council must be filed within sixty (60) days of the receipt of the denial. 20 C.F.R. § 404-981 Social Security assumes that the letter is received within five ...
2d 1453, 1456 (4th Cir. 1990). Section 405 (g), governing judicial review of final decisions of the Social Security Act relating to disability benefits provides that the Social Security Administration’s finding of fact shall be conclusive if supported by substantial evidence. 42 U.S.C. 405 (g) (Supp. 1993). This means that Federal Court cannot look at the case anew. The Court is looking to see if the record supports Social Security’s findings and whether the law was applied correctly. Whether the Court would have reached the same result is irrelevant. You must prove that the Social Security’s decision was either not based on the proper law or not based upon substantial evidence.
In fact, Susan has taken and won a case at the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals; Hines v. Barnhart, 453 F. 3d 559 – Court of Appeals, 4th Circuit 2006 one step below the United States Supreme Court.
This means that Federal Court cannot look at the case anew. The Court is looking to see if the record supports Social Security’s findings and whether the law was applied correctly. Whether the Court would have reached the same result is irrelevant. You must prove that the Social Security’s decision was either not based on ...
If you receive an "unfavorable" decision (a denial) or a "partially favorable" decision from the ALJ, you have 60 days from the date of the denial notice to request an appeal from the Appeals Council.
At Step Two of Social Security's five-step process for deciding disability cases, Social Security determines which of your impairments are severe and non-severe. As defined by Social Security, a severe impairment is one that "significantly limits an individual's physical or mental abilities to perform basic work activities.". ...
It often happens that the ALJ will fail to include certain elements or limitations of your RFC in her hypothetical questions to the VE about whether a person could work. For example, the ALJ might neglect to ask about a hypothetical person who can have only occasional interaction with co-workers. The unfortunate result is that the VE will identify certain jobs that a hypothetical person could do, but your RFC is more restrictive than the hypothetical individual's (one good reason to have a lawyer represent you at a disability hearing ).
The most common reason for the Appeals Council to remand a case is that the ALJ failed to give adequate weight to the opinion of the applicant's treating physician. If the doctor or mental health professional who regularly treats you has completed a Medical Source Statement or Residual Functional Capacity (RFC) form indicating that you have substantial work-related limitations, and the ALJ didn't give a good deal of consideration to these limitations, you may have solid grounds for appeal.
The Appeals Council will send your case back to the ALJ if you can show the ALJ didn't fully consider all of your limitations.
ALJ Didn't Consider Both Severe and Non-Severe Impairments. Even if one of your impairments was properly labeled non-severe, the ALJ needs to consider its effect on your ability to work. A Social Security regulation requires the ALJ to consider the restrictions and limitations caused by all of your impairments, even those that are non-severe.