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 is the process to file a Social Security Disability appeal?


How to prove you are disabled
and win disability benefits


 
If you have received a decisional denial letter on your social security disability or SSI claim from Social Security, you must contact Social Security to file a disability appeal within the sixty-day appeal process. You are allowed five additional days for mailing, so the actual appeal timeframe for appealing a denied disability claim is sixty-five days.

The social security disability appeal process involves four levels, which are as follows: request for reconsideration, the disability hearing request, the Appeals Council review, and Federal District Court. A large percentage of claimants are lucky enough to have their case finally approved when it is presented before an administrative law judge at the hearing level. But, nonetheless, roughly half of all cases heard by ALJs are denied.

If you are denied by an ALJ, you should apply for a new initial social security disability or SSI claim. You may also request that the appeals council in Falls Church Virginia review the decision of the judge in your case. However, the appeals council rarely overturns judge's decisions and for this reason you should file your new claim and your request for an appeals council review simultaneously.

Starting the process to file a social security disability appeal is simple. Simply contact the social security administration and request the appeal. SSA will then send you your paperwork. If you are represented by a social security attorney, your attorney will do all of this for you.

Timeliness, of course, is key. If you do not have your appeal paperwork turned in to the social security office by the formal deadline, and do not have good cause for a late appeal (such as illness, infirmity, or very extenuating family circumstances), you will be forced to begin the process from scratch.

Is the process for evaluating a social security disability or SSI disability appeal substantially different than evaluating an initial disability application? Answer: it depends. The first appeal, the request for reconsideration, is nearly indistinguishable from the disability application. The reconsideration appeal is handled by the same agency that processes the initial claim, only this time a different disability examiner is assigned to the case.

The second appeal in the system, however, is markedly different from everything that has happened at earlier levels of the system, including the reconsideration appeal. This appeal, the request for hearing before an administrative law judge, involves a face-to-face meeting between the claimant, a federal administrative law judge, and, if the claimant is represented, a disability lawyer.

At the hearing, the claimant may be asked questions regarding their functional restrictions and prior work history. They may also present information of a medical or vocational (work-related) nature to the judge which was not previously considered by the social security administration.

Because claimants may be represented at hearings by qualified representatives and because the entire nature of a non-adversarial hearing is inherently different than the process employed by the social security administration at the initial claim and reconsideration levels, most represented individuals manage to win their cases at hearings.















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












Individual Questions and Answers


  • What should you get from your doctor to file for disability benefits?

  • Making a Request for a Disability Hearing

  • If You Get Denied For Disability Should You appeal Or file A New Claim?

  • When should you File for Disability benefits with the social security administration?

  • What Happens If I Miss My Social Security Appeal Date?

  • Fibromyalgia and Applying for Social Security Disability SSI Benefits

  • If Social Security Disability sends you to an Exam, will it be done by your doctor?

  • Social Security Notice of Denial for a Disability Application or Appeal

  • Social Security Administration Disability Benefits From SSD and SSI

  • How Long Does It Take To Get Disability Benefits When You First File?

  • When Should You File for SSD or SSI Disability?

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

  • What are the Application Requirements For SSI Disability

  • Social Security Disability--Permanent Disability

  • If I am Awarded Social Security Disability Will My Benefits be Cutoff Later?

  • What is the Chance of Winning an SSA appeal for disability?

  • Getting a Social Security Disability Determination After Seeing a Psychologist at a Mental Evaluation

  • Kidney Disease and Filing for Disability

  • Hiring a Qualified Disability Lawyer in Florida

  • Social Security Administration Physical Consultative Exam (CE)

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

  • Should I List My Past Depression Medications on My Social Security Disability Application?

  • Is the Disability Medical Criteria to Get Social Security Disability or SSI Benefits hard?

  • If I am Awarded Social Security Disability Will My Benefits be Cutoff Later?

  • Should you talk to an Attorney before you file a Disability Claim with Social Security?

  • Do you need a Lawyer at the Administrative Law Judge Disability Hearing?

  • Filing Disability Appeals- Reminders About the SSD, SSI Appeal Process

  • Can You Qualify for Disability if you did not work much?

  • Social Security Disability Claims and Medical Exams

  • If you appeal a Social Security disability denial, how long does it take to receive a decision ?

  • Is Bipolar Disorder a disability according to Social Security?

  • The Social Security Disability Five Month Waiting Period

  • Do the Results of the Social Security Psychological Exam have any Bearing on Being Approved?

  • Can you be approved for disability without having to go to a hearing ?

  • Can you apply for SSI for a learning disability ?

  • Social Security Disability, SSI Decisions – What Is the Rate of Approval?

  • Social Security Disability Advice for Filing

  • Diabetes, Social Security Disability, and Applying for Benefits

  • Applying for disability benefits in Colorado

  • How Will Social Security Decide a Disability Case that's filed?

  • How does Social Security make decisions on disability claims ?
























    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