 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 |
If you are Denied for Disability, Should you File a new Application or File an Appeal of the Denial?How to prove you are disabled and win disability benefits When it comes to social security disability and SSI claims (which are processed in exactly the same manner as each other, both programs using the same standard SSA definition of disability), there is usually very little point to filing a new disability application after a disability application has been denied. Filing a new disability application will mean that the claimant will need to go back to the social security office where they filed their first claim and repeat all the same previous steps, including going through another disability application inteview, filling out the same application paperwork, furnishing the same information regarding the medical treatment history and work history, and having the claim sent off to determination determination services (DDS) where it will be decided by a disability examiner yet again. Predictably, when this happens the claimant can usually expect to receive the same answer on their application (which means being denied). There is typically only one circumstance in which it makes sense for the claimant to file a new claim after being denied on a disability application. And that is a situation in which a claimant has filed a disability claim and it has then been discovered that the individual is working and earning too much income...to even be eligible to file a claim. When this happens, the social security administration will issue something known as a technical denial. The denial will have nothing to do with the claimant's medical condition because no medical determination will have been performed on the case. The case will have been stopped "dead in its tracks" by the mere fact that the claimant was working and earning too much to even be considered. If a claimant receives a technical denial based on the fact that they were working and earning too much income, it would be pointless to file an appeal. The correct response in that situation would be to file a brand new disability application--assuming, of course, that the claimant was no longer working, or had at least decreased their work hours and brought their income level down. However, in all other cases, the correct response after receiving a notice of denial (formally known as a notice of disapproved claim) would be to file an appeal. The first appeal is something is something known as a request for reconsideration; and while the chances of being approved for disability benefits on a reconsideration are very low (reconsiderations generally have about 13-15 percent rate of approval), getting a denial on a reconsideration will allow a claimant to file a request for a disability hearing. At social security hearings conducted by an ALJ (administrative law judge), a claimant will usually have better than a 60 percent chance of winning benefits, even more so if their case is properly prepared and presented by a disability attorney or a qualified non-attorney claimant's representative. 
Return to: SSDRC, or the Questions, Answers, Tips, and Advice page Topics and Questions 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 |