 SSDRC Filing a Social Security Disability Application - How to File & the Information that is Needed by SSA Do you need a Lawyer at the Administrative Law Judge Disability Hearing? Social Security Disability Back pay and How Long it Takes to Qualify for it 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 benefits If You Get Approved For SSDI Will You Also Get Medicare? How much is paid for the Social Security Disability Attorney Fee? How long does it take to be approved for SSI or Social Security disability? How To Get Disability Through SSDI or SSI Approved Should you get Help from a Disability Attorney before the Claim has been Denied? Answers to questions about SSD and SSI disability Qualifying for Disability - What is Social Security Looking for? How do I check the status of my Social Security disability claim? What Expenses Will A Social Security Attorney Charge In Addition To The Fee? |
Facts about Gastric Bypass and Filing for DisabilityHow to prove you are disabled and win disability benefits 1. Gastric bypass is a surgical weight-loss technique to treat severe obesity, and it is the most common obesity surgery in the United States. 2. Gastric bypass is the chosen treatment technique when an individual cannot lose weight through diet and exercise and is experiencing life-threatening or life-impairing symptoms of obesity complications. 3. Gastric bypass alters the digestive system, limiting the amount of food an individual can intake. Gastric bypass is not a 'quick and easy' fix, it requires significant lifestyle changes too. Paired with exercise and diet gastric bypass can offer long-term and consistent weight loss, and limit obesity-related medical conditions. 4. Gastric bypass works by dividing the stomach into two parts. The main stomach is much smaller, leading to changes in the body and the mind's response to food intake. Both parts of the stomach are re-attached to the small intestine to allow for proper digestion. 5. The result of gastric bypass is typically dramatic and rapid weight loss, and can reduce the rate of obesity-related deaths by 40 percent. 6. Immediate complications of gastric bypass surgery are infection and bleeding, just like all with surgeries. However, additional complications after surgery may include vitamin deficiency, dehydration, hypoglycemia, hernia, food intolerance, and digestion problems such as gallstones, kidney stones, and stomach ulcers. 7. The decision for gastric bypass is made following a significant evaluation by a variety of medical specialists. A variety of health factors, as well as the individual's agreement to follow through with diet and exercise are important to the decision making process. If it is determined that the likely benefits of surgery outweigh the risks, then the individual is approved for surgery. 8. Before surgery, the patient must begin a regime of food restrictions, exercise and cessation of smoking. Following the surgery, the patient is not allowed to eat for one to two days, and then must follow a diet restricted first to liquids, then to ground-up and soft foods for about three months. Over time, the individual builds up to regular foods but the individual will not ever be able to return to previous eating habits. Can you qualify for disability benefits with this condition? Whether or not you qualify for disability and, as a result, are approved for disability benefits will depend entirely on the information obtained from your medical records. This includes whatever statements may have been obtained from your treating physician (a doctor who has a history of treating your condition and is, therefore, qualified to comment as to your condition and prognosis). It will also depend on the information obtained from your vocational, or work, history if you are an adult, or academic records if you are a minor-age child. The important thing to keep in mind is that the social security administration does not award benefits based on simply having a condition, but, instead, will base an approval or denial on the extent to which a condition causes functional limitations. Functional limitations can be great enough to make work activity not possible (or, for a child, make it impossible to engage in age-appropriate activities). Why are so many disability cases lost at the disability application and reconsideration appeal levels? Speaking as a former Disability Claims Examiner, I can state that there are several reasons: 1) Social Security makes no attempt to obtain a statement from a claimant's treating physician. By contrast, at the hearing level, a claimant and his or her disability attorney will generally obtain and present this type of statement to a judge; 2) Prior to the hearing level, a claimant will not have the opportunity to explain how their condition limits them, nor will their attorney or representative have the opportunity to make a presentation based on the evidence of the case. At the hearing level, of course, this is exactly what happens. And a number of disability representatives will also take such steps even earlier, at the reconsideration appeal level; 3) Disability judges, unlike disability examiners who decides cases at the first two levels of the system, can make independent decisions without being overturned by immediate supervisors--which happens frequently. 
Return to: SSDRC, or the Questions, Answers, Tips, and Advice page Topics and Questions Other Links 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 |