Things you should know about Social Security Disability.

I have decided today to just list some things you should know about Social Security Disability. SSA uses a five step test to determine if you are disabled. Many people who write me about why they can't do the work they have been doing. This is not what determines if you are disabled or not. This is only one step in the process. See link above to see the steps the Social Security Administration takes to determine whether you win or lose.

A person applying for SSDI or SSI should not rely on Social Security to get the information needed to win your claim. They will send for some records from the information you give them but they can not be counted on to get everything you need to win. You need to be active in your case particularly with your own doctors to make sure you have all the prove you need to win your Social Security Disability Benefits.

Your age is a big factor in your chances of winning SSDI or SSI benefits. This is especially true for those with physical disabilities. If you are younger than 50 years old usually you will have a more difficult case.

If you do not speak English this can in some situations help your case but if you can speak and understand English and are trying to pretend you don't this will hurt your case tremendously as your credibility for everything else you state will come in to doubt.

If you have a letter from your doctor stating you are disabled this is not enough. ALJs and employees of the Administration often ignore these letters if they are not supported by the doctors own treatment records and the rest of the medical evidence. The decision of disability is for SSA to decide not your doctor.

If you do not understand what you have to prove for your particular case or do not have the ability to present your case well you should get a lawyer to help you. You do not have to pay lawyers upfront they get paid on a contingency bases and only get paid if you win your case.

There is much more you should know and you should research as much as you can even if you have a lawyer. For more information on what you need to know and how to win Social Security Disability follow the link.

Do You Qualify for Social Security Benefits?

You qualify for Social Security benefits when you earn enough "credits".  You earn credits by working and paying Social Security Taxes.  These credits are based on the amount of your earnings.  An individuals work history determines if you are eligible for retirement, disability, or your family is eligible for survivors benefits when you die.  For the year 2008 for each $1,050 of earnings you earn one credit, up to a maximum of 4 credits a year.  this amount needed to earn a credit goes up each year.  If you are in the military you also earn work credits.  The number of credits you need to be eligible for benefits depends on your age and type of benefit.  For all those born after 1929 to be eligible for retirement benefits you need 40 credits which amounts to 10 years of work.  For disability eligibility it depends on your age and when you became disabled.  if you became disabled before age 24 you usually need one and a half years of work or 6 credits in the three years prior to you becoming disabled.  If you are between the ages of 24 and 30 then you need credits for half the time until you became disabled.  If you became disabled at 31 years or older then you usually need 20 credits in the ten years before right before you became disabled.  i will now list the credits needed if you became disabled at the following ages:  31-42 years old you need 20 credits, at 44 you would need 22 credits, at 46 it would be 24 credits, at 48 you would need 26 credits, at 50 it would be 28 credits, at 52 you need 30 credits, at 54 you need 32 credits, 56 you need 34 credits, 58 you need 36 credits, 60 you need 38 credits, and at 62 or older you would need 40 credits.  The best way for you to know if you have enough credits is to look at the SSA statement you get every year from Social Security or simply call SSA at 1-800-772-1213.  For information see my website on Social Security Disability Benefits.

How do you prove you can't do sedentary work for SSDI?

In a Social Security Disability claim if you are under 50 years old or over 50 years old and have prior relevant work that is sedentary you will probably have to show you can't even do sedentary work to be found disabled. So how do you do this? If you don't know what I am talking about make sure to read how Social Security determines disability. To show you are limited to less than sedentary work you must think about your limitations from your medical conditions and how they would interfere with your ability to do a sit down job were you did not have to lift much if any weight. Now many of you with back problems might start off by saying you can't sit long. This is significant but will normally not be enough. The important thing here is why you can not sit long. It is probably because of pain. Pain can interfere with your ability to concentrate and focus on a task. Many pain medications can also interfere with these abilities. Many people who have chronic pain or illness also suffer from depression. If you suffer from depression make sure to get an RFC and treatment notes from your psychiatrist because depression can cause many limitations that would make even sedentary work difficult or impossible. Other things to consider are: Does your medical condition require you to take frequent breaks or elevate your legs? How frequently must you go to doctors for your treatment? Do you have days were you simply can not get out of the house? Do you have difficulty using your hands in any way from your medical condition? This is just a starting point to the types of limitations that can help prove you can't even do sedentary work. It is important to remember that it is not enough that you say you have these types of limitations it must be supported by your doctors opinion evidence and backed up by the medical record. You must think of how your particular medical conditions limit you everyday and think of how those limitations would affect you if you had a sedentary job.

OIG Looks at ALJ Productivity

There is much talk about the cause of the backlog of Social Security Disability and SSI cases. To see how long it takes at the hearing stage in your area click on this link. The Office of Inspector General recently released an audit report of the productivity of Administrative Law Judges to see if it played a factor in the backlog of cases. The Commissioner of SSA also has expressed the possibility that increasing the productivity of ALJs could decrease the backlog. SSA appears to be looking at setting some sort of minimal standard in terms of number of cases an ALJ should perform in a given year. There are several problems with SSA's ability to put a minimal standard of production on ALJs. First, Administrative Law Judges are supposed to be independent of SSA in their decision making. Therefore, SSA must be careful not to interfere with the ALJ decision making process. Second, the ALJs have a union that will probably appose any tough standard requirements for ALJs. Lastly, SSA will have to figure out what is an acceptable level of hearings per year for an ALJ. I remember the speech the Commissioner gave at the last NOSSCR conference and it was clear he was not happy about the production of some ALJs and expressed his frustration on his ability to do something about it, but it was clear he planned on working on the issue. I should note here that it has been my experience that the vast majority of ALJs are very productive, and as they should, balance that with the need for a fair hearing for the claimants. In my opinion, it is only a few ALJs that are not producing at a sufficient rate. However, SSA should have the ability to force those few to be more productive to help decrease the backlog of cases.

SSA Working on Updating Listings

The Social Security Administration has been working to update the medical listing of impairments. I will be very interested at the upcoming NOSSCR conference to see the progress they have made and the impact it will have on Social Security Disability claims. At the last conference SSA spoke about making the medical listings more current and easier to asses if someone meets a listing. There has already been a few changes to the listing. My hope is that the changes will help reduce backlogs by granting benefits to those with obvious disabilities earlier in the process. If they make the listings more understandable and more defined then the employees at SSA may be able to grant benefits earlier instead of "passing it on". I will be updating my page on the medical listing of impairments as they become available and as time permits. I will also report back anything I learn at the upcoming NOSSCR conference pertaining to the medical listings and any other topics I feel would be of interest to you.

How to win Social Security Disability benefits

Wining your SSDI or SSI claim is no different than trying to win anything else.  It takes hard work, knowledge, sometimes a little luck and almost always perseverance.  The hard work is the effort it takes to make sure you have all your medical records, RFCs, and doctor's reports.  This may not seem that hard but it often involves multiple request to your doctors and hospitals.  It can also be very difficult to get your doctor to write you a report or fill out an RFC form.  Some doctors will simply refuse to fill out forms or write reports and others will want to be paid for the time it takes them to write them.  You must acquire knowledge to know how SSA determines if you are disabled and what you need to prove your particular case based on SSA's rules.  This can be very difficult for someone who is not trained in law.  You can research the Internet but there are very few websites with any helpful information.  I do recommend my website and I have tried to make it as easy to understand as I could.  If you are just finding this part too difficult then you should consider a lawyer for your case.  Of course, there can be luck involved as well.  For example the person who is deciding your claim may be one who is very liberal in their interpretation of the rules or they may think everyone can work.  Perseverance is required because it often takes a very long time and you may be denied several times before you win your case.  It is important that you not get discouraged and keep appealing your denials.  This post may seem like very simple advice but it is also sound advice for wining your Social Security Disability benefits.

Social Security Disability Web Sites

Most of you who read my blog know that I also have a website devoted to Social Security disability information to help those trying to get benefits. I encourage you to read my website as I think it is the best resource on the web for those who are trying to win benefits on their own or who have a lawyer but want to know more about how SSA works and what they can do to help their lawyer win the case. You will find information like how to apply, how SSA determines if you are disabled, what happens at a hearing and most importantly tips on how to win your case. It even has pages on individual medical conditions like depression, back conditions, fibromyalgia just to name a few. If you want to know how long a claim takes for your area of the country you can find that as well. Take a look for yourself if you have not already and I think you will agree that the information on SSDI and SSI on this sight is second to none. If you do take a look I like to get feedback on what you like about the website and how I may improve it. Also if there is not information there that you are looking for let me know I am always adding new information, statistics, and tips. If you are thinking about applying for Social Security Disability or already have a claim going it is a great place to start your research. To view this website just click on the link at the top of the page.

SSDI and SSI Overpayment Rules Need Change

I know this is something that will never happen but SSA needs to consider changing their rules in regards to over payments in Social Security Disability and SSI payments. The way it is now even if the claimant is not at fault they will still usually have to pay the money back. Essentially if the claimant can "afford" to pay the money back then they are responsible for the pay back even if they are not at fault. I have seen over payments from a few hundred dollars up to over one hundred thousand dollars. What is almost comical to me is the payment notices that go to the claimant have way to many words and not enough information on how much the claimant is supposed to get and why. Then when SSA realises they made a mistake they act like the claimant should have known the amount they were getting is wrong. Anyway I am not suggesting that individuals who knowingly take money they know is not theirs should not have to pay it back. But sometimes you get a minor mistake by SSA that can over pay an individual just a little bit over many years and then all the sudden the government wants $20, 000 for the overpayment. The way the rules are now even though it was not your fault if you have enough money in SSA view to live on per month then anything extra should go to the overpayment. What makes matters worse is that almost no attorneys or representatives will take these cases. I made no attempt here to actually explain the exact language of the rules on overpayments. This was just a venting post on my part.

How to know if your lawyer is experienced in SSDI cases.

When looking for a lawyer or representative for your Social Security Disability or SSI case it might be wise to find out if the lawyer is experienced in these types of cases. So how do you do that? You can simply ask them how much of thier practice is devoted to SSDI or how many cases have they handled. You can also look to see or ask if they are a member of NOSSCR or NADR. NOSSCR is the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives. NADR is the National Association of Disability Representatives. Some lawyers who handle SSDI claims have taken the step of getting certified in some form. Some states have certification programs and there is also certification through non-profit organizations like the National Board of Social Security Disability Advocacy. Some states do not recognise certification in the field at all. However, any lawyer who has taken the time to get certified in one form or another in my opinion is showing their commitment to this area of law. Also to get certified the programs I am aware of require a great deal of proof of a lawyers commitment to the area of law. None of this means there are not good lawyers and representatives that are not members of these groups or that are not certified by some organzation. I am providing this information so you have more tools in your home work in finding a lawyer.

Reporting Good News for Future Claims

I have recently learned that SSA by order of Commissioner Astrue will be suspending the proposed rule changes that would disadvantage claimants trying to get Social Security Disability benefits. The rule that would require evidence to be submitted 5 days prior to hearing has been halted. Also the closing of the record on appeal has also been suspended. The Commissioner after recieving concerns from Social Security representatives and lawyers about the proposed rule changes has reconsidered in light of the understanding of the difficulty claimants sometimes have in obtaining their medical records in a timely manner. It was also announced that the DSI program in the Boston region will be terminated. The DSI program was a tested new process in that region. It incorporated the five day rule on evidence and ended the claimants right to administrative review of unfavorable decisions by ALJs. This does not mean there will not be changes at some point but for now the Commissioner plans to meet with lawyer and representative organizations to discuss possible changes in system.

The Future of SSDI Hearings

I recently had a hearing were the claimant was in one state the ALJ was on video from another state and I flew in from NJ to be with the client in their state. After the hearing I started to think about the future of Social Security Disability hearings. The Social Security Administration will soon start a pilot program that will allow lawyers to have the client at there office for a video hearing with an ALJ who is at his hearing office. Will we one day see a time when all the different players in hearing are in different states all connected by video conference? I think we will and it may happen sooner than we think. One difficulty SSA has in getting hearings scheduled is when an VE, ME and or interpreter is needed. SSA is already using interpreters, VEs and MEs on the phone on occasion. You also see many claimants who are hiring lawyers in other states for their SSDI claims. So it appears logical that one day we may have hearings were the lawyer, claimant, VE, ME, interpreter and ALJ all all in a different state brought together for a hearing by video conference. This idea may scare many people that the process will become too impersonal and that this could disadvantage the claimant. On the flip side if it could cut down very significantly on how long a claimant has to wait to have a hearing it may be worth doing in some situations. As I have posted about before SSA has already set up a National Hearing office to deal with extremely long wait times of certain hearing offices by video hearings from that office. For people waiting for hearings in some areas of the country for well over two years the idea might not seem so bad if it can cut there wait time down in half. Who knows, but it seems more and more possible if not probable that this could be in SSA's future.

New budget for SSA sighned into law.

On December 26, 2007 the SSA budget was signed by the president. The Social Security Administrations new budget for 2008 will be $9,746,953,000. This amount is actually more than the President asked for. In my opinion, the amount if used properly should help deal with the growing case load and hopefully decrease the increasing wait times at the hearing level. It will now be up to Commissioner Michael Astrue to make sure the money is spent in a way that will help decrease waiting times and get better decisions. I have posted earlier on some of the Commissioner's plans to decrease these wait times and improve the SSA process. As I have stated before I like many of the new changes coming to SSA and hopefully this new budget will allow for at least the most helpful changes to be implemented. The source of the information is from the NOSSCR Forum.

Medical Listing of Impairments

In Social Security Disability claims one thing that is sometimes overlooked is the Medical Listing of Impairments also known as the Blue Book. If your medical condition is found to meet or equal a listed impairment then a finding of disabled is appropriate with out regard to your age, education or work experience. To meet or equal a listing you must have a doctors opinion that says so and it must be documented by the medical evidence. It can be extremely difficult to meet or equal a listing and it is designed that way. However, you should always view the medical listing for your medical condition and if you feel you meet the requirements have your doctor look at the listing. If the doctor agrees that you meet the listing a report from the doctor that addresses the listing and the supporting evidence on why you meet the listing can go a long way to proving it. You do not have to meet or equal a listing to win your claim but always check. To see how the medical listing fits into how SSA determines if you are disabled click on the link.

Board Certified Social Security Disability Specialist

I have have just recently been approved as a Board Certified Social Security Disability Specialist by the National Board of Social Security Disability Advocacy. I consider it a great honor and I am proud of this accomplishment. It should be noted that not all states recognize the title of Social Security Disability Specialist. I will be listing the states that recognize this title in the next few days when I have collected all the information. I just wanted to share this with my readers. I hope you all have a great New Years and wish you all a favorable decision soon. I have put some information about my Board Certification on my website. It will explain what it is and what I had to do to get it. It will also show how the different states view certification as well as the ABA.

Pace of decisions and scheduling of hearings will improve.

In the new year I think you can expect quicker decisions and more hearings being scheduled for Social Security Disability and SSI claims. In the past this has always been a very active time of year. Also many of the SSA initiatives to speed up the process are close to full swing. I have noticed a sharp increase in the amount of hearings scheduled for the new year. There are many reasons I am predicting this. First, SSA's e-file program has been started in all states and many of the case are now in electronic format. Second, SSA made a real push this year to get the really old cases done before the new year which hopefully will get them back on track for reasonable wait times for the rest of the cases. Third, SSA has brought back a program that allows attorneys at SSA to make favorable decisions at the hearing level before they are even scheduled for a hearing. I have noticed in my practice that I have been getting much more of these recently. Fourth, SSA has initiated a quick determination process for really strong cases that has shown to be successful in getting out quick decision in obvious cases. Lastly, the holidays are almost over and SSA employees will start to get back into the swing of things. Hopefully, I am right and you will all hear something soon.

Holiday Wish List Favorable Decision

I know the number one thing on many of your minds this holiday season is getting back a favorable SSDI, SSI, or VA decision. I hope this wish comes true for as many of you as possible. For those of you who have not received a favorable decision you might want to go through the following check list to see if you are doing all you can to win.
Did you get all your relevant medical records in?
Does SSA have RFC forms from your doctors showing your limitations from your medical conditions?
Do you have a lawyer?
Have you researched what you have to prove to win your Social Security Disability claim.
Have you learned about what happens at a Social Security Disability hearing if you are at that stage.
I wish you all a Happy Holiday Season!

Social Securirty Disability and Back Impairments

One of the most common medical conditions listed in a SSDI or SSI claim is some sort of back impairment. The more common conditions of the back and neck are herniated discs, spinal arachnoiditis, spinal stenosis, osteoarthritis, degenerative disc disease, facet arthritis, and vertebral fracture. How a claim for benefits is won for these conditions depends on many factors. I will try and simplify the way the majority of these cases are won. In general if you are over 50 years old and your prior work is considered light or heavier you will probably only have to show your back condition limits you to sedentary work to be found disabled. If you are younger than 50 years old or prior work was sedentary the case usually requires that you be found capable of less than sedentary work and there would not be a significant number of jobs you could perform. There are some exceptions to this see my web page GRID Rules to understand the whole picture. So if you are under 50 or over 50 but your prior work was sedentary how do you show you can't even do a significant number of sedentary jobs with a back impairment. There are several ways you can do this I will discuss a couple here. Your inability to sit for long periods of time is important but what is more important is why you can't sit for long. It is because of pain. Your documentation and testimony of pain is important because it can show an inability to concentrate in a work setting. The medication you take particularly narcotic pain medication can further decrease your ability to concentrate. It is also very common for those who suffer from a long history of back pain to develop depression. The symptoms of depression can have serious impacts on ones ability to do sedentary work. To see how depression can affect a disability claim see my page on depression and SSDI. If your back impairment is in your cervical spine it can often lead to pain and loss of sensation in your arms and hands and often times leads to headaches. All these limitations also interfere with ones ability to do sedentary work. For more details on back impairments and Social Security disability.

Proposed New Regulations Will Curtail Claimant's Rights

There has been proposed regulation changes that will in my opinion make it even more difficult to get a fair decision in a Social Security Disability claim. SSA is proposing new rules allegedly to speed up processing times but will ultimately lead to an unfair process to the claimant and in my opinion more denials. One of these changes would restrict the submission of evidence at the hearing stage. Evidence would have to be submitted 5 days prior to the hearing date. There are exceptions to this rule but it appears as if the discretion is left up to the ALJ. I know from experience in dealing with SSDI cases for many years that it is not always possible to get all the medical evidence in 5 days before the hearing. Lawyers and claimants are often pleading with doctors who treat the claimants to get the records in a reasonable time. There is a provision to address this but it sounds like the discretion is left to the ALJ. This would be fine if I did not know from experience that some ALJs will take this new procedure to deny almost all medical records submitted after the 5 days prior to hearing. Evidence submitted after the hearing would be even more restricted. I will cover this topic again when the final rulings are released.

Drugs, Alcohol and Social Security Disability

One area of Social Security Disability law which is hard to find on the Internet is how drugs and alcohol addiction are evaluated by SSA in a disability case. Many of you may have heard that you can not get SSDI or SSI for drug and alcohol addiction. This is true but just because you have an addiction does not mean you can't get disability based on other medical conditions. The drug or alcohol addiction can not be material to the finding of disability. SSA is supposed to first determine if you are disabled based on all your medical conditions including the drug addiction. If SSA finds you are disabled based on all your conditions they are then supposed to decide if you were not using drugs or alcohol would you still be disabled under their rules. Proving disability in these cases can be easier if you have a long period of sobriety and during that time period you are shown to still be disabled. It is a little trickier when you don't have a long period of sobriety. In these situations it can be helpful to have statements from your doctors that show what your limitations would be even if you were not using drugs or alcohol. You can even get disability for conditions that were probably cause by your addiction if they are disabling even if you stopped using. An example of this is you can get disability for severe cirrhosis of the liver caused by alcoholism if it is disabling absent alcohol abuse.

Social Security Disability and non-exertional limitations

In this post I will address the importance of what is called non-exertional limitations and more specifically about concentration. They are exactly what the sound like they are limitations on your ability to work that do not involve physical exertion. These limitations are most important in cases involving people under 50 years old, cases that involve mental disabilities, and cases were someone over 50 years old had past work that was sedentary in nature. How much one can lift and do other physical activities is important but when trying to show you can't even do a sedentary job non-exertional limitations are key. A sedentary job usually requires one to be able to sit at a desk and do the work. If you have limitations in memory, concentration, dealing with supervisors or co-workers you can see how this would prevent even this type of work. Many case are denied because SSA says you can do sedentary work. One example of an important non-exertional limitation that is often overlooked particularly in cases that involve back conditions is an inability to concentrate due to pain or side effects from pain medication. One question ALJ's like to ask claimants at a hearing is why they feel they can't do a sit down job. The most common answer in these cases is because "I can't sit that long". What is often not mentioned is why you can't sit that long. It is because of pain. If you get increased pain after sitting would this not interfere with your ability to concentrate on the task at hand. As stated earlier narcotic pain medication also is known to decrease ones ability to concentrate. Ones ability to sit for periods of time is important but many ALJs and vocational experts will find jobs you can do that have an option for sitting or standing as you need to. So don't forget to mention how your pain and medication make it difficult for you to be able to concentrate. To get more helpful tips on how to win SSDI.