 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 Osteoporosis and Filing for DisabilityHow to prove you are disabled and win disability benefits 1. Osteoporosis is a word that means porous bones, and it is a condition that causes bones to become brittle and very weak, leading to broken bones from even the most simple daily activities like coughing. 2. Osteoporosis is more likely to affect women, and public awareness campaigns have made women their focus, but men can also develop the condition. 3. Osteoporosis normally does not cause noticeable problems until the condition develops to the advanced stage. Eventually it will cause back pain, height loss, stooped posture and fractures, particularly of the back vertebra, hips or wrists. 4. Testing for osteoporosis includes a bone density test, which measures the strength of bone in the body. These tests are recommended for everyone, for women older than 65 and men older than 70. 5. The recommendations for bone density testing change with individual circumstances. Postmenopausal women with at least one risk factor should be checked immediately after menopause, women who experience early menopause or who have recently stopped taking hormone therapy should be checked, and men with at least one risk factor should be checked around age 50 rather than waiting for 70. 6. In addition, anyone taking medications associated with osteoporosis should be tested periodically, and anyone older than 50 who has had a broken bone should also be tested. 7. Osteoporosis occurs when the body can no longer replenish bone tissue as quickly as it loses it. This occurs in anyone over the age of 30, which is the peak point of bone mass. But osteoporosis develops in those who did not build up enough bone density between ages 20 and 40 to make up for the loss as they age. 8. Minerals and hormone levels both affect bone density. Low levels of calcium and phosphorus, and loss of estrogen production during and after menopause increase the likelihood of developing the condition. 9. To prevent osteoporosis, getting enough calcium and vitamin D is important, as is regular exercise. Avoiding smoking and drinking more than two alcoholic beverages a day will also decrease risk. 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 |