Social Security Disability Advice for Filing

It is well known that the wait for disability benefits can be a long one. It takes on average three to four months after filing a claim to receive a decision from the state disability determination agency, and if your claim is denied upon initial review (the vast majority are) then the reconsideration appeal and, if necessary, disability hearing can take additional months, or even years (the backlog of disability cases waiting to be heard before an administrative judge is considerable in all areas of the country).

The ideal situation, then, is for a claimant to have their disability application approved quickly by the disability examiner at the first level of consideration, the state disability determination agency. This is indeed a rare occurrence, but it does happen, and at any rate you can help speed up the process if you follow this advice for filing for social security disability benefits:

1. Seek medical treatment for your condition as soon as possible. The idea is to make sure that you can provide documentation from a qualified physician that demonstrates you are a) currently suffering from a medical condition that is inhibiting or preventing you from working and b) that this condition is ongoing rather than temporary, and is likely to prevent you from working in the future.

2. Make sure that the physician from whom you are receiving treatment is willing to help you document your condition when you apply for disability benefits. This means letting your doctor know up front that you plan to file for disability, and asking if he or she would be willing to fill out a residual functional capacity (RFC) statement for you in support of your claim. It is important to get an idea beforehand if your physician is willing to be involved in a disability case—some doctors are unsympathetic toward disability patients in general, and others do not want to spend the extra time involved in providing a disability examiner with the necessary paperwork. If you get the feeling that your physician is not willing to help you make your case, or is in any way skeptical that your condition is truly disabling, find a new doctor. All disability benefits are awarded based on information found in medical reports, and without this documentation your case will certainly be delayed, and, in all likelihood, denied.

3. Provide a detailed, organized, medical and work history. This is by far the most time-consuming part of the disability process for the claimant, but it makes all the difference in the world in how quickly a claim is decided. Don’t expect that vague dates, lack of addresses, names, etc., is something that will be acceptable or that the disability examiner will fill in these blanks for you. At some point you will have to come up with the correct information, so do it sooner rather than later. One thing all disability cases that are approved early in the process have in common is that they have plenty of verifiable medical evidence to back them up.







For information on Social Security Disability, visit the

Social Security Disability SSI Resource Center















Additional Resources


Medical Condition – Social Security Disability
Win Benefits – Social Security Disability
Can you appeal a disability denial if the deadline has passed ?
How to qualify for disability

Disability, Social Security — how long is the process?

If you have recently filed a claim for social security disability (SSD), it may take longer than you think to receive a decision in your case. While it is true the average time elapsed between the time you apply for disability and the time you receive a decision is about 90 days, many cases are not decided within this timeframe. It is not uncommon for it to take up to six months (or even longer) to receive a decision from disability determination services (DDS).

While it may be tempting to blame the slow pace on the disability examiner assigned to your case, it is far more likely that delays are caused by the failure of physicians and hospitals to forward medical records to the examiner in a timely fashion.

It may be hard to believe, but the disability examiner (who evaluates your level of disability based on information given in your medical records) has about as much incentive to process claims quickly as the claimants themselves. Examiners’ performance evaluations are based on the number of cases they are able to close over a given period of time.

If three to four months has passed since you filed for disability and you haven’t received word from DDS, call the social security office at which you filed the claim and ask if they can tell you if there has been a decision in your case. You can also ask them for the phone number to for the disability determination services in your area (this can go by a different name, but usually has the word disability somewhere in the title), because if you really want a detailed status of your disability case, this is where you need to call. DDS should be able to direct you to the disability examiner who is assigned to your case, who can tell you if the case is pending or if a decision has been reached on your disability application or reconsideration appeal.

It can also give you the chance to find out the nature of the delay in your case—if your examiner is having difficulty getting records from a particular physician, you may want to call the doctor’s office yourself, and (politely!) remind them that DDS has made a request for your records.







For information on Social Security Disability, visit the

Social Security Disability SSI Resource Center















Additional Resources


How do you find out if a Social Security disability claim has been approved or denied ?
Is qualifying for SSI different than SSD (social securtiy disability?
An SSI case for disability-who is eligible ?
Social Security disability and assets
Social Security Denial Letter
Social Security Disability Medical Review

Missouri Disability Lawyers

Cofman and Townsley, missouri disability lawyers, have been in business in the state of Missouri and the greater East St. Louis area of Illinois for more than 30 years. Composed of Stuart Cofman, Larry Townsley, David Nissenholtz and Sheldon Weisnstein, they have over 125 years of experience combined. Specializing in Missouri social security disability and Illinois Social Security Disability cases, their website answers questions such as, ‘How do I qualify for Social Security Diability benefits?’ and ‘What are my chances of being approved?’

They also offer a free online or phone consultation and evaluation of your case 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

In addition to answering questions and offering consultations, the website is full of articles, videos and information on their other specializations, from auto and boat accidents, to drug injuries, medical malpractice and nursing home abuse. On the website you can find up-to-date news straight from their firm, a downloadable online press kit, a glossary of legal terms and a long list of resources on varied subjects. The website is a plethora of information and has a section for in-depth articles and links to youtube.com videos for more information on topics of interest.






For information on Social Security Disability, visit the

Social Security Disability SSI Resource Center















Additional Resources

Social Security Disability Medical Review
Social Security Disability Denial
Assets, Social Security Disability
Who is eligible for SSI
Qualifying for SSI and SSD
Social Security Disability Claim approved or denied
How to qualify for disability
Can you appeal a social security disability denial?
Win social security disability benefits
Social Security Disability Medical Condition

Social Security Disability Information and Social Media

Here are some examples of how the topic of social security disability and the phenomenon of social media may intersect.

In the first example, My Social Security Disability Blog, we see a use of the site, My Blog Log, which is a fairly innovative site, the purpose of which seems to be to provide interconnectedness among bloggers.

In the second example, we see a site listed on technorati, http://technorati.com/blogs/disabilityblogger.blogspot.com , a website that, like My blog log, lists blogs and provides a mechanism for bloggers of every stripe to find one another. However, technorati seems to be unique in the sense that an authority score is assigned to each technoratic participant.

In the third example, we see a use of the site, Stumble Upon. Stumble Upon is yet another example of social media that allows site operators and bloggers to find one another. However, stumble upon features a toolbar that allows a member to "stumble" any site they are currently visiting (as long as they happen to be signed in at that momment).

In future posts, we may look at the appearance of this topic in other social media outlets (such as Digg and Reddit) and in other forms of popularization such as article submission sites.






For information on Social Security Disability, visit the

Social Security Disability SSI Resource Center