Social Security Disability
Most workers are required to contribute to Social Security and Medicare
from their paycheck. This payroll deduction is often met with typical
disgruntlement or indifference. It only when a worker becomes disabled
due to an accident or illness and becomes unable to work that the
importance of paying into the system is realized.
Unfortunately, disabled people often are confronted by a complicated
and uncaring government bureaucracy which provides little assistance
or information by which to understand the claims process. Claimants
become very frustrated by the poor assistance received from Social
Security Administration personnel. If you have become disabled and
have not filed a claim, call the Social Security Administration at
1-800-772-1213 to receive information from your local district office
and information concerning making a claim. If you are unable to travel,
a claim can be made over the phone. For persons with Internet access,
you may wish to log on to www.ssa.gov
obtain initial information. As you will discover, these government
resources are quite limited. In order to obtain better assistance,
you may wish to consult with counsel from the beginning. Legal assistance
will always help a Claimant to a better understanding of the claims
process and with gathering the necessary documentation by which to
prove a claim for disability benefits.
The claims process proceeds in several steps.
- The process begins when a disabled person makes an initial claim for disability benefits. These claims are routinely denied unless the person suffers from a serious or life-threatening illness.
- Most persons will need to file a reconsideration of benefits, which, often, is subject to routine denial unless very strong evidence of a serious work disabling illness or injury is submitted for consideration.
- Following reconsideration denial, the Claimant will need to request a hearing before an administrative law judge. As with all other steps in this process, administrative delays of several to many months can occur due to inefficiency in the Social Security Administration or failure by the Claimant to comply with many application requirements. Under no circumstance should a Claimant attend a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge without assistance of skilled legal counsel. Without such assistance, a Claimant is inviting a ready denial of benefits, which can be difficult to overturn.
- Should the Claimant be unsuccessful at the hearing, appeals to the Appeals Council and/or Federal Court are available. Again, if your claim is denied at any level, you should seek the advice of an attorney. It is not uncommon for persons who have been denied several times to be subsequently approved when they receive assistance of an experienced counsel.
Many times, claim files will be incomplete due to missing medical
and employment information or absent/incomplete forms. Claimants are
often disturbed to learn that the Social Security Administration employs
physicians who "review" files and make findings of nondisability
without ever examining the Claimant (or, for that matter, ever treating
patients for illnesses). In other cases, outside doctors are hired
by Social Security to perform examinations. These examinations tend
to be very short in duration and involve little or no testing. Even
more disturbing is the chronic failure of the Social Security Administration
to secure the necessary medical records documenting the treatment
of a Claimant by which to conduct any meaningful claims review. Due
to this poor and inefficient system of claims review, it is absolutely
essential for the Claimant to submit documentation to the claim file.
The assistance of a skilled lawyer cannot be underestimated in the
case file development process.
Disability decisions by the Social Security Administration are based
on a complicated scheme of government statutes comprising the Social
Security Code which is supplemented by numerous Social Security Rulings
and an extensive body of case law developed over many years. Knowledge
of these volumes of codes, rulings and cases are what separate a skilled
attorney from other practitioners who merely say that the engage in
Social Security Disability representation. An easy way to verify a
counsel's experience is to request information concerning the
practitioner's record in federal court. This can also be verified
easily by conducting a Lexis or Westlaw search under the attorney's
name. Federal practice requires a practitioner to be familiar with
the emerging case law and recent changes in Social Security statutes
and rulings, all of which change with surprising frequency. The skill
of your advocate is essential given the importance of receiving disability
benefits becomes a Claimant's sole source of income due to disability.
801 Roeder Rd., Ste. 550 Silver Spring, MD 20910
Phone: 301-495-6665
Toll Free: 1-866-NEED-LTD (633-3583)