SSDRC




What is the Application Process for Social Security Disability and SSI?

How do you Win Benefits under Social Security Disability or SSI?

If I am determined disabled, how far back will Social Security pay benefits?

How do you prove your disability case if you have a mental condition?

What Can I Do to Improve My Chances of Winning Disability Benefits

Common Mistakes after Receiving a Denial of Social Security Disability or SSI Benefits

How to File for Disability - Tips for Filing

If You Get Approved For SSDI Will You Also Get Medicare?

How much does a Social Security disability attorney get paid?

Social Security Disability SSI Criteria and the Evaluation Process

How long does it take to be approved for SSI or Social Security disability?

What do you Need to Prove to Qualify for Disability Benefits?

Social Security Disability SSI and Fibromyalgia

Social Security Disability SSI and Degenerative Disc Disease

Can I Qualify For Disability and Receive Benefits based on Depression?

Answers to questions about SSD and SSI disability

What Disabilities Qualify for SSI and Social Security Disability Benefits?

Social Security Disability Status

Social Security Disability Tips — how a claim gets worked on

Social Security Disability, SSI Disability - Terms, Definitions, Concepts


What are the chances of winning a Social Security Disability Benefits hearing?


How to prove you are disabled
and win disability benefits

 
Many people who file disability claims with the Social Security administration find that they must attend a hearing before an administrative law judge if they feel their disability claim has been denied erroneously at the initial disability application and reconsideration appeal levels. The disability appeal process is a lengthy one at best, and the wait for an administrative law judge hearing is a big part of the wait.

Most Social Security hearings offices are backlogged with thousands of disability claims waiting for their hearing dates. Roughly two million people file for disability each year and if even half of those individuals pursue their claims to a hearing, you can easily see how backlogs have been created and how digging out from such huge backlogs can be problematic, particularly when SSA is receiving so many new hearings appeals each year.

If you are not able to work because of your disabling condition you really have no choice but to be patient and wait for your social security hearing.

Although the wait can be long, the chances of winning your disability benefits at a hearing are the best of any level of the Social Security disability process. In fact, recent statistics indicate that as many as two thirds of all individuals who attend a disability hearing win their case. This may be the best chance for you to be approved for disability benefits, so it is important to make sure you do everything in your power to make things favorable for you.

Remember that, at this point, you have waited a long time for this hearing and you probably have been through a lot of emotional and financial hardship along the way. I have seen people ask in disability forums if they are allowed to represent themselves at their disability hearing. The simple answer to this question is yes. There are no rules against an individual representing themselves at their hearing.

The bigger question is whether or not this will give you a better chance of winning your disability case. Statistical analysis of disability hearing win-loss ratios at hearings office across the nation suggests that individuals who have professional representation, either through an attorney or non-attorney Social Security representative, have a twenty to fifty percent greater likelihood of being approved for disability benefits at their disability hearing versus those who choose to represent themselves.

There are many reasons Social Security representatives or attorneys are more successful in winning disability cases. For example, if you have a representative, they most likely have gathered the necessary medical evidence to update your file. They may have gotten physician statements from your treating medical sources, or even functional capacity reports.

These things are important, but there are other things that help win a disability case before an administrative law judge (ALJ). Your representative knows the Social Security vocational and medical guidelines and they are able to present your disability case in a way that is most beneficial to you. Conversely, you feel emotional about your disability case and you probably do not know the Social Security guidelines that could help win your disability case; whereas an experienced representative can simply utilize their knowledge of the system to present your case in an objective and well-ordered fashion. The goal of every representative, of course, is to win the case they are representing.














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Individual Questions and Answers


  • Who Do I Contact at Social Security To File For SSD or SSI Disability?

  • Does social security care if you are working when you are applying for disability?

  • Applying for disability benefits in California

  • The Cost and Expenses of a Disability Attorney or a Disability Representative

  • How Long Will It Take To Get Approved for Disability?

  • Social Security Disability Claim Denied and what to do about it

  • What If You Did Not Work Long Enough To Qualify For Disability?

  • Medical Evidence for Social Security Disability

  • Requesting a Disability Hearing After You are Denied

  • How Far Back Can SSI Back Pay Be Paid?

  • Receiving Benefits - Your Medical Condition and Social Security Disability or SSI

  • Does Your Doctor Decide If You Get Disability?

  • How long Does SSI last?

  • How Disabling Does A Condition Have To Be For Social Security, SSDI Benefits?

  • If I Am Determined Disabled, How Far Back Will Social Security Pay Benefits?

  • How to File for SSI

  • Who Makes the Decision at the Social Security Disability, SSI Hearing Level?

  • Social Security Disability Requirements

  • What Income Will Affect Your Disability Benefits?

  • Basic Facts about the Administrative Law Judge Social Security Disability Hearing

  • Why does Representation increase the win ratio at a Social Security Disability or SSI Hearing?

  • Appearing at the ALJ Hearing for Social Security Disability and SSI Benefits

  • What does SSA consider a severe impairment for Social Security Disability or SSI Disability Benefits?

  • What are the Application Requirements For SSI Disability?

  • What Happens During A Social Security Disability Interview?

  • If You Get Approved For SSDI Will You Also Get Medicare?

  • What makes you eligible for Social Security Disability or SSI?

  • Can You Work While You Appeal Your Social Security Disability Decision?

  • Proving Functional Limitations and why this is Important on a Disability Case

  • Are Social Security Disability Requirements Tougher For Mental Claims?

  • The Difference Between Social Security Disability (SSD) and SSI – How are they different Part II

  • Why is the Social Security Administration definition of disability so strict?

  • Social Security Disability Children Benefits

  • How Long Does a Social Security Disability or SSI Appeal Take?

  • Medical Disability- How does Social Security view your work and medical records

  • Why do I need an attorney for Social Security disability?

  • How much does Disability Pay?

  • What Does It Mean If you Are Denied For Disability Because Of Other Work?

  • Medical Evidence Used on a Social Security Disability or SSI Claim

  • Will my claim for SSD or SSI Disability Benefits be denied?

  • Am I Eligible For Social Security Disability?

  • What is considered a Disabling condition by Social Security?

  • How Disabled Must You be to get Social Security Disability Approved?

  • How Long Can You Receive Social Security Disability Benefits (SSDI)?

  • The Psychologist Exam for Social Security Disability and SSI Claims

  • How Does A Social Security Disability Examiner Work to Determine a Person’s State of Health?

  • Can my Social Security Disability or SSI benefits be stopped or cutoff ?

  • Is there a trick to qualifying for disability benefits with social security?

  • Can You Lose Your Social Security Disability Benefits When Your Case Is Reviewed?

  • If you are Denied for Disability, Should you File a new Application or File an Appeal of the Denial?

  • What are the Odds or Chances of Being Approved for Disability?

  • Disability Hearings - Information on the Social Security Hearing Process

  • How should I prepare for a disability hearing with Social Security ?

  • Disability Criteria - Eligibility For Social Security and SSI Disability

  • Are you allowed to work at all if you get Social Security disability or SSI ?

  • What is the Application Process for Social Security Disability and SSI?

  • Degenerative Disc Disease, Social Security Disability, and Applying for Benefits

  • What Is the Five Step Sequential Evaluation Process Social Security Uses In Every Disability Case?

  • Social Security Disability--Permanent Disability

  • Hiring a Qualified Disability Lawyer in Alabama

  • Is it hard to qualify for Social Security benefits if you have depression ?

  • How do you Apply for SSI?

  • What is an extended period of eligibility for social security disability or SSI ?






















    SSD and SSI are Federal Programs

    The title II Social Security Disability and title 16 SSI Disability programs operate under federal guidelines and, therefore, the program requirements--medical and non-medical--apply to all states:

    Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

    Recent approval and denial statistics for various states can be viewed here:

    Social Security Disability, SSI Approval and Denial Statistics by state

    Special Section: Disability Lawyers and unnecessary claim denials