 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 |
How do you get an SSI disability application and Claim started?How to prove you are disabled and win disability benefits Your SSI disability claim cannot be filed online unlike an application for social security disability. However, even when a title II social security disability application is started online, the individual who is filing the disability claim nearly always has to be contacted later. Why? So that the field office claims representative can get additional information, or clarify information that was provided by the claimant but was not quite clear, or to ask additional questions (such as about the claimant's work history, or medical treatment, or when they stopped working). This, being the case, one has to wonder just how effective starting a claim online really is. If you question the claims representatives that work in social security offices, they will readily tell you that, at present, the online process does not offer much advantage to the claimant or the individuals who are filing for disability. Ideally, the best way to get an SSI disability claim started, or to get a social security disability application started, is to contact a local social security office and request that an appointment be made. The actual disability interview can be done over the phone, or in person at the social security office. If it is done over the phone, then the paperwork can be submitted after the phone interview is completed. Of course, another way of getting an SSI or SSD disability application started is to simply file as a "walk-in". Yes, you can simply walk into a social security office and be seen. However, do not expect that you will be seen immediately as the office may be full of individuals who are being seen for scheduled appointments. If you visit a social security office in person to start your disability claim, you may wish to bring the following: A picture ID; a certified birth certificate (not just a photocopy) and a DD214 if you served in the military. Since the social security claims rep who will be taking your claim will be asking for your medical treatment history (including names of doctors and hospitals, names of diagnosed conditions, and dates of treatment) and your work history (names of jobs, descriptions of work performed, and dates of employment with specific jobs), it would be both helpful if you wrote this information down and brought it with you at the time of application. What happens after you get your SSI claim or SSD claim filed? Contrary to what some believe, the disability application is only "taken" at the social security office. It is not worked on there. After the claim is taken, it is sent to a state agency where it is assigned to a disability examiner. This individual will begin to process the claim by sending letters of request for medical records. These letters will be sent to every doctor and hospital listed by the claimant on the disability report form. Of course, the more information provided, the easier it will be to process the claim, and the more likely it will be that the claim will be approved; therefore, applicants, at this point, should endeavor to provide full and detailed information about their medical history. The disability examiner will also rely on the work history information provided by the claimant. This information will allow the disability examiner to identify the jobs that were held by the claimant in the last fifteen years. By identifying these jobs, the disability examiner will be able to compare the mental and physical demands of these jobs to the physical and mental abilities which the claimant still retains, and this will help point the way toward an approval of the disability claim, or a denial of the disability claim. 
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 |