Two New Pages Added to Ultimate Social Security Disability Guide

I have recently completed two new pages for my informational website on Social Security Disability called The Ultimate Disability Guide. The first new page deals with ssdi and ssi denial rates. The information provided should at least give you some idea of the rate at which SSA denies and approves claims. The chart shows the allowance and denial rates for ssdi and ssi at application and reconsideration.

The second page is about the backlogs at SSA and the average processing times for each Office of Disability Adjudication and Review or ODAR. This basically covers the time period between filling your request for hearing until a decision is made. So if you are one of the many people wondering how long does it take to get a decision at the hearing stage or as Social Security likes to say how long does it take for the claim to get processed. The above page link is for you but try not to get to discouraged by what you see.

New page on SSDI and SSI hearing wait times.

I have just finished my new page which gives the average processing times for social security disability cases at the hearing stage for every ODAR in the country. Go to the link above to see how long it takes for a case to be processed in your area. I hope this information is helpful in preparing you for the long delays at the hearing level.

SSA Backlog Highest It Has Ever Been

In July of 2007 there was a total of 749,224 cases pending. This is the largest amount of cases ever. The average processing time is a whooping 528 days. SSA hopes to hire about 1,000 new employees to deal with the increase. This will probably do little to help the situation. In the mean time those applying for Social Security Disability benefits look to deal with longer and longer wait times. The Social Security Administration is working on other initiatives to decrease the processing time which I have mentioned in other post and I will continue to update as more information becomes available. This information was obtained from the NOSSCR Social Security Forum.

How long does it take to get SSDI or SSI decision?

I have not posted in a while but I have been working on gathering statistics on how long cases are taking at each stage of the process. I know this is very important to allot of you and I am working hard to get accurate numbers. I will be posting the results over the next couple of weeks. I will try and cover wait times at the various ODAR offices or hearing offices and the local district offices. Check back often to get this valuable information.

SSA Medical Listing Changes

The Social Security Administration was supposed to change several of the medical listings by July of this year. SSA has recently announced that the present listing will remain in affect until July 2008 or until they are done with the update to the listing. So the medical listings have not changed and will not at least for a little while longer.

Slow Summer Months at Social Security

The summer months tend to be a little slow as far as SSDI and SSI hearings go. This is probably because many SSA employees and ALJs take their vacation time during this period. It usually picks up quite a bit as soon as fall rolls around. In fact I usually find the fall months schedule the most hearings. So if your hearing has not been scheduled yet and you are close to the end of your waiting period for your area hopefully your hearing will be scheduled in the fall months. The long wait times are the hardest part of applying for disability so try and be as patient as you can and if you have been waiting longer than 15 months or so for a hearing make sure to check up on your case.

Veterans Disability

I have been reading allot of rating decisions from the VA lately and I am amazed at how the Veterans Administration has handled some the claims for compensation and pension. I can clearly see why many veterans have been pushing to have the right to hire lawyers. Many of the ratings decisions show that the VA did not get all the medical and service files before making a decision. In others, I noticed the veteran was never sent for the proper exam or the decision maker flat out disregarded the opinion of the doctor who did the exam for the VA. I strongly believe that lawyers will help to make sure the files are properly worked up and ready for a decision before one is made.

E-File Less Than Perfect

I have had allot of experience with SSA E-File in Social Security Disability claims and although in general it is a vast improvement over the paper way of doing things there is a few things that need to be worked out. When a file is in electric format we are now supposed to send our medical records in by fax or using the Internet. To do this lawyers are given a bar code which tells the computer receiving the medicals which file it belongs to. It appears clear to me since I deal with many different ODAR offices throughout the country that the different ODAR offices are not on the same page. Some offices send a bar code and others act like I am crazy when I ask for it. I recently got medical records sent back to me that I sent to them in the mail. The letter said I have to send them in by fax using the bar code. Hard to do when bar code is not sent to me. I am just kind of venting here but overall I do see the benefit in the new process I guess it will just take time for all of SSA employees to come up to speed and fine tune the system.

Article on VA Disability

I know many of the Veterans out there are looking for news on VA Disability. I will be interviewed for an article on the website VA Watchdog on the new law that allows veterans to hire lawyers. When the article is released I will post it here so that it is easily accessible to anyone interested. It is a long time coming for veterans who have been fighting for the right to hire a lawyer in their disability claims. And an exciting time for lawyers who have been waiting to be able to help or veterans. Check back soon.

New Law for Veterans Disability Starts Today

Just a reminder that any Veteran who files a Notice of Disagreement today or after today can hire a lawyer to represent them in their claim for Veterans' Compensation or Pension. If you have any question about the new law feel free to e-mail me. You can also check out my site called Veterans Disability Lawyer Site. The site is in its early stages and will be updated with more information and tips on getting veterans disability as time goes on. Make sure to book mark the site and come back often.

Vocational Expert at Your Social Security Disability Hearing

What do you do if you find out there will be a vocational expert at your hearing? The first thing you might want to consider is getting a lawyer. A VE's job at the hearing is to give his opinion of your prior work and functional requirements of those jobs. The VE will then be given a hypothetical of what your limitations are from the judge. The VE will then give his or her opinion on whether given those limitations you could perform prior work. The VE will also be asked his or her opinion if there is any other work an individual could do based on those limitations. If the VE says there is other work he will then give the number of jobs available in the economy in both the local area and nationally. Seems simple enough so why should you have a lawyer? The lawyer will be given a chance to present his own hypothetical of your limitations based on the medical evidence that may be more restrictive than that given by ALJ. A lawyer can also challenge the VE's opinion and cross examine the VE to show the jobs the VE says you could perform you actually can not perform. See my website page on Social Security Disability hearings for more.

Baby Boomers Affect on Social Security Disability

One very important reason there has been so many process improvements at SSA is because of the expected explosion of cases from the baby boomer generation. I expect that the improvements in the process especially the move to electronic files will do allot to help but I think we can expect longer delays in processing time just due to the sheer number of cases that are expected in the coming years. Another problem with this increase in cases will be the financial health of the Social Security Administration. The days of ignoring the financial crisis of SSA is coming to an end. I believe over the next few years even the politicians will have to pay attention and actually take steps to fund the Social Security System. I don't pretend to have the answers on how this will be done but it must be addressed if this extremely important program is to continue.

Social Security to Hire More ALJs

The Social Security Administration is in the process of hiring many new Administrative Law Judges. This is a very important development because the backlogs at SSA for SSDI and SSI claims is a huge problem. I have noticed recently many ALJs retiring and they were not being replaced. With the number of claims increasing the backlog of cases was sure to get much worse. It looks like SSA realized this and is taking positive steps to make up for the lost judges and increased case load. I don't know were these new ALJs will be assigned yet but I will update this post when I get the information.

New Site On Veterans Disability

I have received many e-mails from veterans asking about veterans disability. As a response to this and realizing that there is very little information or help out there for veterans. I have decided to launch a new site called veterans disability lawyer site. It is in the early stages and currently only has limited information but I will continue to add information frequently. I hope this new site will help veterans with any questions they may have about veterans compensation and pension. If you are a veteran you may or may not be aware that a new law was past that allows veterans to hire lawyers much earlier in the process. I am now representing veterans so if you have any questions feel free to contact me.

Update on Veterans Right To Hire Lawyers

I will try and explain the new law that allows Veterans to hire attorneys to represent them in their claims for disability. When you file your "Notice of Disagreement" will determine at what point in the process you can hire a lawyer. If you filed before June 20, 2007 you can hire a lawyer after the first denial at the Board of Veterans Appeals. If you filed after June 20, 2007 you can hire an attorney right away. There are some groups trying to get this new law repealed. I believe that Veterans should have a right to hire a lawyer early in the process to make sure they have the best chance of winning as early as possible. If the movement to stop lawyers from representing Veterans gains any momentum I will post it here. Click on following link for more information on Veterans Disability.

Reporting from Veterans Disability Conference

I am posting from New Orleans at the NOVA convention. I am here like many other Social Security Disability lawyers to learn all the aspects of a VA disability claim. I have been looking forward to this convention ever since the new law was past that allows Veterans to hire lawyers for their claims. The good news for vets is that the conference is sold out which tells me that there is allot of interest by attorneys to help our veterans. I know from the e-mails and phone calls I get that there is allot of Veterans out there looking for help with their claim. This conference should go a long way towards making sure there are many qualified lawyers to help with VA benefits. I will post anything I learn at this conference that I think may be of benefit to you. Vets can start hiring lawyers in June.

Lawyers and Social Security Disability

Whether to get a lawyer for your Social Security Disability or SSI claim is a matter of personal choice. I will tell my opinion from my experience in handling these cases how an attorney can help. I believe the most important function of a lawyer in SSDI cases is to fully develop the record. This means making sure all relevant medical records are in the file. A lawyer can look at a file and see what is needed to win a particular case. It is not enough in most cases to just have all the medical records from the treating doctors. You have to know what you have to show to prove disability for every individual case. This includes getting the appropriate RFC forms from the right treating doctors. The RFC forms are just another tool the lawyer uses to make a case. The limitations from these RFC that are supported by the medical records and statements from your doctors have to be tied into the "theory" of the case. A good lawyer will craft his theory of why the claimant can not work by integrating all the elements of the claim. Many things come into play including age, education, prior work, limitations, objective evidence, subjective evidence, testimony, possibly medical and vocational experts, the listings and many other factors. If you decide you don't need a lawyer it would be a good idea to learn as much as you can about Social Security Disability.

The Future of Social Security Disability

What does the future of Social Security Disability claims look like? I expect the new changes bringing SSA into the digital world will have a huge impact on SSDI and SSI claims. SSA is already moving towards paperless files but the technological progress I expect over the next couple of years should really improve the disability process. As it is now on my cases that are paperless I can submit evidence by fax or by sending it over a secure Internet connection. I can even communicate with the ODAR office electronically. If all goes well in the near future lawyers will be able to access the SSA file over the Internet. This will be very beneficial because Lawyers will know exactly what is in the file and what they need to still get. One big advantage to the claimant is that it will eliminate having to get medical records that are already in the file thus saving money by not getting duplicate medical records. By having access to the whole file from start to finish a lawyer will be able to evaluate cases and submit briefs at various stages of the process and hopefully get faster favorable decisions. Not only does this benefit the client but also will help to relief the SSA backlog. If the medical community can become digital, getting records will be as simple as a mouse click. SSA is also moving towards having medical and vocational experts available online thus removing the obstacle of having to schedule these experts for hearings which can cause delays. There are some lawyers who fear that SSA is becoming too digital and that this could take the human element out of these cases. I see it as the only solution to the growing back log at SSA. In my opinion these changes and many others will make for a faster and more fair process for the claimant.

Report from NOSSCR conference.

There are some interesting things I learned at the NOSSCR conference. It appears that SSA's plan to raise the ages in the grid rules will not be done. The theory was that with improvements in health care people are living longer and getting better medical treatment and therefore the ages in the Grid Rules needs to be raised to catch up with the times. It appears that they will not be raising the ages because it would have a negative impact on the poor in this country who do not have the advantage of the better medical treatment. It also appears as if SSA will continue to have an Appeals Council in some form. As part of the new process, Social Security is testing in the Boston area, the Appeals council was eliminated leaving no option to appeal an ALJ's decision except for a suit in federal court. I am glad to see it looks like they will keep the Appeals Council so that non-represented claimants can still make appeals without having to navigate a federal law suit.

I will be going to the NOSSCR conference this week

NOSSCR is an organization of Social Security Disability lawyers and representatives of which I am a member. There should be many interesting topics. I am most looking forward to seeing how the new SSDI and SSI process is going in the Boston area. I will report back on anything I learn. I will also be attending classes on many different topics and will write some posts on anything of interest.