Medical Conditions and Social Security Disability Claims

I am frequently asked what someone's chances are of winning a Social Security disability claim if they have a certain medical condition. You can be found disabled for almost any medical condition if it is severe enough and limits your ability to work to the required degree. However, in this post I will discuss some of the most common medical conditions that are awarded SSDI and SSI benefits. The most common medical conditions found in people who are awarded SSDI benefits are in the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue category. As of 2010, this category amounted to 32.5% of people awarded benefits had a musculoskeletal or connective tissue condition. This category includes conditions of the lumbar spine, thoracic spine, cervical spine, arthritis of the joints, amputations, soft tissue injuries and many more. According to the same report, mental disorders were found in 21.4% of those awarded SSDI or SSI benefits. The mental disorders can be broken down further into different types of mental medical conditions. Mood disorders amounted to 11.2% and this includes depression and bipolar disorder. Organic mental disorders amounted to 2.9% this includes mental disorders such as dementia and mental retardation and can be caused by traumatic brain injury, strokes, brain tumors, and getting older. Schizophrenic and other psychotic disorders was 2.1% of those awarded benefits. This category includes among others schizophrenia. Intellectual disability is 1.8% with autistic disorders, developmental disorders, childhood and adolescent disorder not elsewhere classified, and other mental conditions amounting to the remaining 3.4%. So musculoskeletal system and connective tissue and mental disorders combined accounts for 53.9% of those awarded SSDI or SSI benefits. Of those awarded benefits 10.2% had a medical condition involving circulatory system. This category includes heart attacks, strokes and others. Neoplasms were found in 9.0% of awardees. Neoplasms include different types of cancers and tumors. Medical conditions involving the nervous system and sense organs was found in 8.2% of those awarded benefits. All other impairments made up the remaining 18.7% of those awarded Social Security disability benefits. Like I said earlier you can be found disabled based on many different medical conditions if you can document the severity of your condition and how it limits you from being able to work. I felt this statistical information on medical conditions and Social Security disability claims would be interesting to my readers.

Is The SSDI Program Sustainable?

Congress recently had hearings on the sustainability of the Social Security disability program. Chairman Johnson in his opening statement provided some interesting statistics. "The continuing growth of the program is striking. At a time when workers paying into the system has increased nearly 70% between 1970 and 2010, the number of people receiving disability benefits increased by almost 300%, from 2.6 million to nearly 10 million."  The chairman continued by stating:  "according to the 2011 trustees report, without congressional action, the disability insurance trust fund will be unable to pay full benefits beginning in 2018, just a little over six years from now. The path we are on is unsustainable, and we are putting individuals with disabilities at risk if we do not accept soon."  There would appear to only be a few solutions to this problem. There would either have to be a reduction in benefits or an increase in revenues. I am guessing that we may see a combination of these two. It is a shame that we've gotten to this point of a crisis situation. Congress has been punting this problem for years and years and as usual because of the delay we are now at a point where the changes will be painful to taxpayers and possibly the disabled as well. It is my hope, that our government will take this issue seriously and find a way to make the Social Security disability system sustainable for the long haul. Social Security disability benefits are a crucial safety net for society's disabled. This is a system in which those that are eligible have been paying into, through their taxes from work, with the understanding that if they become disabled or when they retire there will be benefits available to them. All of us who have paid into the system deserve the protection it provides and hopefully Congress can find a solution to this urgent problem.

Veterans and Social Security Disability Benefits

In this article, I will address the two questions I get asked the most by veterans considering applying for Social Security disability benefits. The question I get asked the most is whether or not you can receive both Social Security disability and VA compensation benefits at the same time? You can receive VA compensation and Social Security disability at the same time. That being said, it is important that you know that VA pension benefits and supplemental security income (SSI) are handled differently than VA compensation and Social Security disability (SSDI). So as long as you are sure you're getting VA compensation and applying for Social Security disability then you can get both benefits. However, if your receiving VA pension and getting or applying for SSI this is not the same since these benefits are based in part on financial need.

Probably, the second most common question is if getting 100% VA compensation will result in a favorable Social Security disability decision? It is also frequently asked in the reverse, does winning a Social Security disability claim mean you will get 100% VA compensation? It is important to know that a favorable Social Security disability decision or a 100% VA compensation rating is not binding on the opposite agency. If you are applying for Social Security disability benefits and you have a 100% VA compensation rating or individual unemployability this is good evidence that you are disabled, but it is not automatic. If you are applying for individual unemployability through VA compensation a favorable Social Security disability decision can be helpful in many cases. I say it can be helpful in many cases and not all cases because individual unemployability is determined by the VA by only considering your service-connected disabilities. Social Security disability will look at all of your disabilities when determining if you are disabled. So it is very possible you may be disabled under Social Security disability rules but not be entitled to individual unemployability under VA compensation rules. For more information on VA compensation visit my website on the subject. If you're looking for more information on Social Security disability you can visit my website on that subject. If you would like to speak to somebody on the phone about VA disability or Social Security disability feel free to call me at 1-877-527-5529.

How to Prepare for a Social Security Disability Hearing

For most claimants the most intimidating part of a Social Security disability claim is the hearing before the adminstrative law judge. In this article, I will explain some simple tips to help get you through the hearing process. Probably the most important thing is to make sure your file contains all your medical evidence and opinion evidence from your treating doctors. Opinion evidence can come in the form of RFC's or doctors report. Good opinion evidence will explain your medical conditions and how these conditions limit you in your ability to work. A letter from your Dr. stating that you are totally and permanently disabled with no clarification is basically useless. At the hearing stage, you will have an opportunity review your file. Take this opportunity to make sure all of your medical evidence and opinion evidence is in your file. You will also be able to see what Social Security doctors have said about your condition and your limitations. It also helps to understand what type of questions will be asked at your Social Security disability hearing. To get an idea of the questions that will be asked follow the link to my page on SSDI hearings. You may also want to consider hiring an SSDI lawyer because if you hire an experienced disability lawyer they will have handled many Social Security hearings. This will not only help you understand what to expect, but your lawyer should be skilled in the ability to ask questions and cross examine. They will also be able to present the theory of your case as to why you are disabled. If you choose not to get a lawyer then you should make sure you understand exactly what you have to prove to win your particular claim. Once you understand what you have to prove, you should then go through your file and make notes about the exhibits that help show you are disabled under Social Security rules. One thing to remember, is that Social Security hearings are informal hearings, which means you do not have to worry about rules of evidence. A Social Security disability hearing is fairly straightforward, with the ALJ or your lawyer if you have one asking questions of you. It is also possible there may be a medical expert or vocational expert or both at your hearing. In this situation, I strongly recommend getting an experienced SSDI lawyer since it would be nearly impossible for me to be able to explain how to cross examine these witnesses. One other thing you should know about the hearing is that most of the time you will not get a decision the day you have your hearing. It usually takes a couple of months to get a decision from the hearing office. For more information on SSD or SSI hearings follow link above to my page on the subject.

Social Security Disability: Don't Sabotage Your Case

The following true story is from Tracey E. Cahn a very experienced SSDI lawyer who works for my law firm. This story illustrates how someones disability can sometimes hurt their case. It is also an example of how it takes a big heart as well as a sharp mind to practice as a Social Security Disability lawyer.

There are disabled clients who are so desperately ill that they sabotage their Social Security Disability cases. Fortunately it is a rare occurrence, but it is a situation that definitely exists. Who would sabotage their case? I am not a fan of the generalization, but here it goes – these are people who are scared beyond reason, and often it has to do with an irrational fear of losing their children.

Today, I am going to discuss a woman I represented at her Social Security Disability Hearing yesterday. Ms. X has been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, hypertension, obesity, degenerative disc disease, depression and anxiety. These conditions can certainly be disabling. However, in this instance, I believe Ms. X has another condition that has yet to be diagnosed. I believe she has an organic brain disease. I do not know what happened, but I believe something has happened that has caused her IQ to decline drastically.

Ms. X has a college education and served in the military. She is twice divorced and has two children; both children are mentally challenged and receive disability benefits. Ms. X filed for disability benefits several years ago and previously appeared at an SSDI hearing. The Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ruled that she was not severely disabled, and he based his decision primarily on the Claimant’s testimony regarding her tremendous care of her sons.
Her sons do need a great deal of attention, and she gives them all she can. However, what she did not tell the ALJ at that initial hearing is that most of their care is performed by aides supplied to her children in the morning, in the afternoon and in the evening, seven days a week. I did meet one of her sons. He is a sweet boy who behaves much like a well-spoken four year old; he is a teenager.

The first ALJ never heard about the extraordinary help she has for the children, never heard of her limited responsibilities for her children, never heard about the fact that she worked many part-time jobs around her sons’ schedules, never heard that even after her hours were reduced at her last job, she was still missing days due to pain and making many mistakes. Why did the ALJ not hear all the evidence? She left the ALJ with a false impression of her abilities because she was afraid he had the power to take away her children. She was too fearful to tell the full truth, and sabotaged her initial case as a result.

I was assigned to Ms. X’s new case for disability benefits about a month ago. I reviewed the file, and called her. I explained who I am, and reminded her of her upcoming SSD hearing. She had forgotten. I found her to have a very distracted mind, but I had no idea of her fear that she might lose her children. I had many medical records to review. I also had a report from a doctor, a primary care physician, stating that she has severe problems with concentration. This report was my only hint of what might be going on with her.

During the last few days before the hearing, I spoke to Ms. X no less than three times. I did my usual preparations for myself and the client. Together we filled out some forms that she had forgotten or neglected to complete. I was set for the hearing, but unsure of how she was going to get there. Especially since I was driving nearly 200 miles to get to her disability hearing, I wanted to make sure she would be present. I knew she could not tolerate a drive of that distance; I needed to make sure she had a ride.

The day before the hearing, I called Ms. X, we had another pleasant conversation. She tried to assure me that she would get a ride from a neighbor. Luckily the hearing was in the afternoon. I told her I would call her the next day at 9am, while I was on my way to her hearing, to see whether she did in fact have a ride.

I called. She did not answer the telephone. I called a half hour later, she did not answer. I called at least three more times. She did not answer the telephone. At that point in my journey, I had to make a choice. I could continue my drive and get to the hearing 2 hours early, or I could detour an hour and look for my client at her home. I detoured.

Fortunately, she did not live in a bad neighborhood. In fact, she lives in a relatively new townhouse community. It was very pleasant. I found her apartment, and rang the bell. I did not have much hope of an answer, but I felt that I had to give her the best opportunity to be heard. She did answer the door.

I arrived at her home an hour and a half before her hearing. Her hearing was to be held in a city an hour’s drive away. She appeared at the door wearing a bathrobe; I had awoken her from her nap. Her son was in the living room crowded with stacks of laundry, a bicycle and a bounty of other materials I was not interested in identifying. He was playing with pictures from a child’s movie from 10 years ago. I told her I was there to drive her to the hearing. She was not grateful. She was fearful. I told her to get dressed, we needed to be at the hearing in an hour. She agreed. She called a neighbor who was luckily available to watch her son.

As she dressed, I spoke with her son. We talked about the pictures he was playing with. I remembered the movie because my daughter, a year older than this boy, had loved that movie when it came out ten years before. Like this boy, she played with pictures of these characters, but she was five at the time.

Ms. X took about ten minutes to ready herself, and we left. Usually when I do a favor for a client, they are overly appreciative. Here, Ms. X did not appreciate my efforts in any way. She seemed frightened of me. I was annoyed at first. She had hired our firm to represent her in her Social Security disability claim, and she was not even going to have the courtesy to call me to let me know that she was not going to be there. I thought it was amazingly rude that she had known that I would be calling her and that she would not pick up the telephone. I kept my temper, and inquired how she had intended to get to the hearing had I not arrived. She said that she had planned to call the cab company to pick her up. I was in disbelief. Then, I learned what fear and misunderstanding had done to her. She started crying that the judge was going to take her kids away from her. She thought I was from the government and that I was dragging her to family court to have her children removed from her home.

I was shocked. I had spoken to this woman several times, others from my office had spoken to her, and she had hired us to represent her. But, she had become deluded and fearful and was panicked. I tried my best to calm her. I explained that the ALJ was not charged with making a decision about her children. I explained that my understanding is that she is a very good mother, and that she gets a lot of support to care for her children. I told her that I would tell that to the ALJ, but that the ALJ’s primary concern is whether she is disabled from working under the Social Security rules. No more, and no less.

She seemed to relax a bit. At least, she stopped crying for a while. She was scared that the ALJ would ask her too many questions and that she would not remember dates and times. I told her that all she is expected to do is tell the truth, and remember to the best of her ability.
We got to the hearing office. Generally I do not drive clients to their hearings. I only do it when I feel safe with the person, when they do not smoke and when they absolutely have no other way of getting there. I did not feel safe with Ms. X, but she does not smoke, so with 2 of out three of my rules met, I drove her. When I do drive clients to their hearing, I generally will drop them off at the front door of the building and then I find parking. Here, I did not trust that Ms. X would be safe alone. I thought she might wander off.

We made it to the 5th floor, and met the security guard. He instructed us to make use of the coat rack. My client put down her bag. Within moments she was thrown into a panic. She had forgotten what she did with the bag, and starting crying and screaming that someone had stolen it. Fortunately, I found it quickly under her coat and gave it to her. Nevertheless, she kept insisting someone had stolen it.

When called, I asked to speak with the ALJ alone. The ALJ was receptive. Before the ALJ started questioning my client, I wanted her to understand what I had observed that morning. The ALJ was very understanding. We had never met before but she struck me as the type of judge you always hope for – kind, patient and intelligent.

My client came in. Questioning began. My client asked the ALJ twice during the hearing what this proceeding was about and where she was. We gave her a full explanation both time. I am not sure whether she forgot or whether she just did not trust our answer. Questioning continued. The ALJ ruled from the bench that she would award benefits. The client remained impassive, but was glad to be allowed to leave.

I had already told Ms. X that I would be driving her home, but she still cried that she had no way of getting home. I explained to her what the decision meant. She did not trust what I said. I bought her sons their favorite candy bars. She was happy about that. I drove her home. She slept most of the way.

I was happy the day was over. I hope Ms. X will improve. I am glad we prevented her from sabotaging her case again.

How to Win a Social Security Disability Claim

There are many things you can do to win your Social Security Disability claim. I clearly cannot cover all of them in this one post, but I am going to explain two basic things that can help any disability claim. If you want to give yourself the best chance to win your SSDI or SSI claim you should read my full website on Social Security Disability. However, for those of you who preferred the abridged version I am going to explain the two basic ways you can win your claim and what you need to do it.

The first way you can be found disabled is if you meet or equal a listed impairment. To be found disabled under a listing it is extremely important that your doctor believes you meet or equal listing and is willing to write you a report explaining which listing by number and why. The report should include any medical evidence, tests, x-rays, MRIs or other medical evidence that the listing requires. It also helps if the doctor who is writing the report is a specialist in the area which you are claiming to meet a listing in. This sounds very easy, but the medical listing of impairments were written to be difficult to meet or equal, because if you are found disabled based on a listing they will not consider your age, education, or past work experience. The listing of impairments requires a severity of a medical condition that is so severe that anyone who meets the requirements is clearly disabled no matter what their age, education, or past work experience is. Most people applying for Social Security Disability benefits will not meet or equal a listed impairment. That being said, this should be the first place you look and if you feel you may meet or equal a listed impairment you should take a copy to your doctor to see if he or she feels the same way.

The second way you can be found disabled is if you can show the limitations caused by your medical conditions would prevent you from working. Your age, education, and past work experience are important here and dictate exactly how limited you must be to be found disabled but to be safe it is best to assume you have to show you cannot do any work. Nobody knows what limitations you have from your medical condition like you do. Unfortunately, Social Security cares more about what doctors believe your limitations are. This is why it is very important that you get opinion evidence from your treating doctors. In every case, Social Security examining and nonexamining doctors will give their opinion of your limitations from your medical conditions. You will need to get your treating doctor's opinions so that the Social Security doctor's opinions are not the only opinion of your limitations in your file. It is also important to know that your doctor's opinion is supposed to be given more weight than the opinion of the Social Security doctors if it is supported by the rest of the medical evidence. There are two ways to get your doctors opinion of your limitations. You can ask your doctor for a report explaining your medical condition and how it prevents you from working. The second way, and in my opinion the easier and better way, is to get RFC forms completed by as many of your treating doctors as you can. If you have an RFC completed by your doctor, and it shows limitations that would prevent you from working, and you have medical evidence that supports that opinion, then you have a real good chance of winning your Social Security disability claim. If you have two or more RFC's that show you have limitations that would prevent you from working and you have the medical evidence that supports these opinions then it would be very difficult for Social Security to deny your claim.

So, those are the to basic ways to prove you are disabled. You should always check if you meet or equal a listed impairment and get a report from your doctor if he or she believes you do to. Whether you are able to provide a report that states you meet or equal listed impairment or not, you should then try and get an RFC from each of your treating doctors. You cannot assume that Social Security will follow your treating doctors opinion, which is why you still need to get RFC's even if you have a report that states you meet or equal a listing. Also, if you have an RFC that shows you are unable to work, you should try and get another from one of your other treating doctors for the same reason. No matter what your medical condition is, if you can get a detailed report or RFC that shows you are disabled you will greatly increase your chances of winning your Social Security disability claim.

Social Security Disability: Knowledge to Win

I was once asked in an e-mail why it is that a person who is truly disabled for SSDI or SSI and whose doctors believe this person is disabled, still has to lose twice and then is forced to get a lawyer before they win their case. The e-mail was implying that there's some sort of conspiracy to force people to get lawyers before they can win their claims. I can assure you nobody from Social Security wants to make sure lawyers get clients. I think the problem is not that one is forced into getting a Social Security Disability lawyer to win their case at a later stage in the process to win, or that they win just by having a lawyer. I think one of the major problems and I have been writing about this for sometime, and it was the inspiration for me starting my website, is that people in general do not have access to the knowledge required to know what they have to show to win their claim. I believe lawyers are partly to blame for this, because most lawyers will not take cases at application because the fee they receive is based on past due benefits and they feel the work that is required to make sure the application is done correctly with all the evidence needed to win is not worth the fee they would get if they win at this stage. Many lawyers tell people to apply and call back when you are denied. You add this response, to the general belief that no one wins at application (which is not true 30 to 40% of cases at application win), and what you get is many people applying with no help and no knowledge of how to win. I personally handle cases at application for a few reasons. First, I believe if I help with the application I know the client will not only have a better chance at winning at application, but even if we do not win at application I know the application was done in a way that won't hurt but will help the case throughout each stage of the process going forward. Another reason to take cases at application is, because if we win I might only get a small fee if any, but I will have a very happy client who will refer me to other people. If you think about it if you get a lawyer at application and you win you may have no fee at all. Since SS will not pay a claimant for the first 5 months they are disabled there is a good chance there will be no past due benefits or very little therefore no fee at all or a small fee. One of the biggest problems is that people wait until they have been denied one or two times before they get a lawyer to help them. I can assure you there is not a conspiracy which forces people to get lawyers. Lawyers in particular lawyers who exclusively do disability claims know exactly what needs to be proved for any given case, and they know what evidence they need to prove the disability. A lawyer not only goes to law school to learn how to understand law and present evidence, but if they are experienced in a particular field like SSDI they have handled hundreds if not thousands of Social Security Disability claims. Can someone applying and pursuing SSDI on their own ever hope to be able to know as much or be able to handle a disability claim as well as a lawyer like this. I am a lawyer who has been practicing SSDI law for 15 years but when I bought and sold my last house I used a real estate lawyer. Could I have researched and done it on my own? Yes, but would I do as good a job as a lawyer who only does real estate law? Probably not. Ok, so I explained why experienced SSDI lawyers are helpful in getting SSDI benefits. That all being said, there is always going to be people who want to do it on their own, or who have a really strong case and do not need a lawyer. They will need the knowledge of what they have to prove to win and need to know what evidence is needed to prove they are disabled. Again, I have to say that lawyers are partly to blame here as well. When I looked up SSDI law on google about 4 or 5 years ago all I found was websites for lawyers with little or no good information on how to win a claim on your own. All I found was websites created by website companies looking to sell leads to lawyers that knew nothing about SSDI law but know how search engines work. The other type of websites I found were law firm and non-lawyer companies websites created by website people with no helpful information except reasons why you need their particular company or lawyer to win. This is when I started my Ultimate Social Security Disability website. I decided I was going to tell the world exactly what you have to do to win your claim for benefits in as easy to understand language as possible. I think if you spent any time reading my website, you will see that is exactly what I have done. Yes, I still get clients from the website, but I also get so many e-mails from people who were able to win their cases with the help of following the advice on my website, and from my e-mail responses to their questions. If you know someone who has a really strong case then tell them to read my website before just jumping in. In an e-mail to me it was asked how someone at SS can ignore all the doctors and conclude on their own that a person is not disabled despite what the doctors say. This can be an example of how knowledge of SSDI and what you need to win can be explained. One thing is that there are not just the claimant’s doctors but several SS doctors are involved as well. Some examine the claimant and give opinions and others look at the evidence and give opinions of what the client can do and not do in a work setting. If the claimant's doctors just write "it is my opinion the claimant cannot work" it is not worth the paper it is written on. If the claimant's doctor on the other hand fills out an RFC form which explains exactly what the claimant can and cannot due and why, then the claimant will have a much better chance of winning. This comes from understanding that you have to assume SS doctors will almost always have these forms filled out showing limitations that would allow the claimant to work. If the claimant has their doctors do the same thing but show the claimant cannot work then SS, by their own rules, must find in favor of the client because the treating doctor's opinion holds more weight than a SS doctor if the treating doctor’s opinions are consistent with the medical evidence. If a person knew this from the beginning, they would have made sure to have their doctors fill out these forms and could quite possibly win their Social Security Disability case much sooner. If a claimant on their own with this knowledge or if they had a lawyer they would have done this. This is just one small example of how knowledge of what you have to prove and how you do it for your particular claim can make the difference between winning at application with or without a lawyer and waiting 2 years with no money until you win. Just my view and I hope you can see a different side of the situation. I too believe the system can be unfair and takes too long and I also believe SSDI lawyers can take allot of the blame for not taking cases at application and Social Security and disability lawyers not taking time or effort to educate the public on how to win a claim on their own if they want to.