Appealing A Social Security Disability Determination

How to prove you are disabled
and win disability benefits

If your disability claim is denied, you have the right to file an appeal of the denial. You have a sixty-five day total appeal period from the date of your disability denial notice to appeal your disability decision.

If you choose to file an appeal, you will file what is known as a request for reconsideration. You can file your own reconsideration online or you can complete paper reconsideration appeal forms. Whether you file your reconsideration online, or by paper, you must return signed medical release forms (so the disability examiner who eventually gets your case can send for the medical records) to Social Security. Just a reminder, even if you file everything online you must return your signed medical release forms in order for Social Security to send it back to the state disability agency for a decision.

The reconsideration appeal is sent to the same state disability agency (DDS, or disability determination services) that made your initial disability claim decision; however, a different disability examiner will make your reconsideration determination. Do not be discouraged if your reconsideration appeal is denied as well. There are very few reconsideration approvals, because disability examiners have very little flexibility in making their medical decisions.

For most disability applicants, the reconsideration appeal is simply a necessary step to eventually get to a disability hearing. If you receive a reconsideration denial notice, you once again have sixty-five days to file your request for a disability hearing.

As with the request for reconsideration, the request for a hearing can be done online or on paper. You can file the appeal and complete the disability report form online or on paper but, but unlike the reconsideration appeal, you do not actually have to return the medical release forms to Social Security in order for your appeal to be sent to the hearings office.

Administrative law judge hearings are an individual’s best change of winning their disability claim if they have been denied at the initial disability claim level (i.e. the disability application level). In fact, more individuals are approved at administrative law judge hearings than at any of the other disability claim levels. Roughly two thirds of all disability applicants who attend hearings are approved for disability.

What if you are not successful at your hearing? If you are denied at the administrative law judge hearing, you can file another type of appeal: an "Appeals Council Review". So few of these reviews end in an approval, or even in a remand back to the judge (remands occur when disability case are sent back for the judge to address errors) that Social Security allows individuals to file a new initial disability claim while they are waiting on the Appeals Council decision.

The last appeal level is in Federal Court, and very few disability claims are ever taken to this level. Most individuals file a new initial disability claim if their hearing is denied rather than try to take it to Federal court.

Return to: SSDRC, or the Questions, Answers, Tips, and Advice page

Individual Questions and Answers

Social Security Consultative Medical Exams and How they affect Disability Claims

What will trigger a review of a social security disability claim?

Can you win your Disability Case by Yourself?

Is A Three Year Old With Disabilities Eligible For SSD Or Only SSI?

Crucial Information about the Social Security Disability Application Process and SSI

Applying for disability benefits in Texas

Does a person with severe keratoconus qualify to receive a disability grant?

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

What medical conditions can you apply for disability for ?

Social Security Disability Medical Evaluation Form, Can A Doctor Be Forced to Complete One?

Social Security Disability Requirements

How many disability appeals do you get ?

What are the Application Requirements For SSI Disability?

What are the chances of winning disability benefits through an appeal?

When Are You Allowed To Ask For A Social Security Disability Hearing?

When Social Security Disability Is Awarded Do You Get A Notice, And What Does It Say?

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

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

Are Social Security Disability Requirements Tougher For Mental Claims?

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

Social Security Disability Children Benefits

The Sequence of Steps to be Approved for Social Security Disability or SSI

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

Is There A Way To Get Automatically Approved For SSI And Social Security Disability?

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

Possible Advice If You Are Filing For Disability

Hiring a Qualified Disability Lawyer in Pennsylvania

The Difference Between Filing A New Disability Claim And Filing A Disability Appeal?

Am I Eligible For Social Security Disability?

When do you receive a Hearing for Disability?

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

Social Security Disability Mental Testing

Social Security Disability SSI - Mental and Physical Residual Functional Capacity

Preparing for a Disability Hearing to Win Social Security or SSI Benefits

The Psychologist Exam for Social Security Disability and SSI Claims

What does a Social Security Disability Lawyer or Representative do for your claim?

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

If Social Security Turns Down My Case Can I apply For Disability A Second Time?

What is the time frame for a judge to write up a decision for a disability hearing?

Applying for disability benefits in Wisconsin

Medical Source Statement for Social Security Disability or SSI

What is a Social Security Disability SSI Durational Denial?

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