SSDI Blog

Misinformation spreads rapidly, and it is crucial to separate fact from fiction, especially when it comes to something as important as Social Security. Michael Hiltzik, Business Columnist for the Los Angeles Times, recently tackled this issue in his important column, “An Exhaustive Debunking of the Dumbest Myths About Social Security.” This piece not only clarifies…

Applying for disability benefits through the Social Security Administration (SSA) can be a long and sometimes frustrating process. When you’re already grappling with a disability, the last thing you want is a denial from the SSA that further complicates your life. This post outlines five reasons your application for disability benefits could be denied, whether…

There are a variety of ways to establish disability within the guidelines set forth by the Social Security Administration. Terminal diseases and complete blindness often have quicker turnaround times due to the severity of conditions and general obviousness that such illnesses will not allow an individual to work. The determination of disability is often decided…

It’s easy to see why a representative would be necessary when applying for disability. In the early stages, the state disability agencies seem to be gunning to deny as many cases as possible. It feels like a race to the bottom, where in all outcomes you’ll be in last place. Your doctors have provided all…

The delays in processing Social Security cases are astonishing.  According to a recent article, as of March 2023, there are 1 million people who have filed applications for Social Security whose cases are pending.  The last time the delays were this bad was in 2010.  According to the article – I have no way of…

Is having cancer an automatically disabling condition for Social Security Disability? Our answer is simple but it requires a lengthy explanation.  The answer is No – Cancer is not an automatic disabling condition.  But let me explain. The problem with this question is that we have learned that cancer is not a simple disease.  There…

I speak to unrepresented disabled people every day who were just denied disability by the Social Security Administration. Talking to them, I realize that most do not have any understanding as to how Social Security makes a disability determination or how the sequential evaluation process works.  For example, veterans are often stunned if they get…

After the State Agency decides you are not disabled, you will receive a letter saying you are not eligible for disability.  After a page of standardized language, your notice may list on the second page what medical evidence the judge had reviewed.  But sometimes they list everything and sometimes they list nothing – a staffing issue…

To apply for Social Security Disability – and this is the difference between Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability (SSD) – one must be insured.   Insurance in Social Security is similar to having insurance on your car.  If you have insurance and get into a car accident, you are covered.  If you did…

There is an old joke in the real estate world that goes “how do you evaluate property?” The answer is, “There are three things that matter: Location, location, location.” In Social Security Disability, there are three things that matter: Medicals, medicals, medicals. “Medicals” is a short word that covers all medical evidence: medical opinions, medical…

Court hearings have changed dramatically since I first started doing them decades ago. In those days, your hearing was conducted in hearing offices called the Office of Hearings and Appeal, a name changed at great cost and for no purpose a number of times since. The participants in a court hearing have not changed much…

I recently received a decision on a case we have worked on for some time.  My unfortunate client has Huntington’s disease.  Huntington’s is a hereditary disorder that first incapacitates and then causes death.  Some famous people have had it.  Perhaps the most famous was Woody Guthrie, the folk singer who wrote “This Land is Your…

While the long-term effects of having had Covid-19 are still being discovered, new research shows the health consequences are more problematic and impactful then once thought. Nowhere is this more apparent than with mental health. Studies show…

The Judge The most important person at the hearing (besides you, of course) is the Administrative Law Judge or ALJ.  After all, he or she will be the one deciding if you win your case at this stage, or if you have to move on to yet another appeal.  The ALJ therefore has a great…

The best way to be prepared for anything is to know as much about it as possible. In this case, we feel that you should understand who is involved in the hearing. How most hearings work and how to try and get ready for it. We don’t want there to be any surprises on hearing…

The hearing comes about after you have lost at each of the first two stages.  You must appeal the second stage (Reconsideration) denial within 60 days of getting it in the mail.  To do this, you will need to complete a few forms. One of them is HA-501, which is the official request for a…

No matter how you file, you’ll be amazed at the amount of paperwork that goes into it. We have had clients joke with us that buying a house had fewer documents than filing for SSD or SSI! What do all these forms do and what questions do they ask? Let’s look at the major ones….

Winning and Losing Eventually, you will get a decision letter from Social Security in the mail. It will be a notice that tells you if your case has been approved or denied. Unfortunately, the majority of initial applications are denied. If you are lucky enough to win at the initial stage, you will start to…

The first thing you need to understand about applications for SSD and SSI is that they are made up of several steps or stages. At each stage, you have a chance to win your case. However, even if you don’t win at a stage, you have the right to appeal to the next stage. You…

Let’s say that at Step 4, you are found to be unable to do any of your past relevant work. Regardless of the reason – it could be too strenuous or it could be too stressful – it is ruled that you cannot do it. What happens next? Once your past work is out of…

So, your impairment or impairments didn’t meet the requirements laid out in the Listing of Impairments that we previously discussed.  Is your case over?  Not yet.  The next step is for Social Security to ask:  Can you do your past work?  In other words, even with your “severe impairment” (from Step 2), could you still…

So you think Steps 1 & 2 were a little complicated? Well hold on tight for Step 3.  This one is a real doozy. Basically, what you need to know is that there is a part of Social Security’s Regulations called the Listing of Impairments.  It runs about 50 pages, and it contains highly technical…

If you are even considering filing for SSD or SSI, you almost certainly think you have a “severe” impairment. You may use different words to describe your condition, but you probably think that it’s pretty bad. Otherwise, why would you be looking to get benefits? Unfortunately, this is yet another area where you and Social…

How the 5-Step Process Works As the name implies, the 5-step process is essentially a set of 5 questions that Social Security asks in order to determine if you are disabled. Each question basically has a yes or no answer. Depending on the answer, you may be found to be disabled or not disabled, or…

It happens every day.  A potential client comes in to our office and says that he deserves Social Security because he “feels” disabled.  Unfortunately, we have to tell this person that it is just not that easy.  “Feeling disabled” won’t cut it with Social Security.  You need proof – lots of proof- from lots of…

The next benefit type we’ll be looking at is Disabled Adult Child Benefits.  Even the title of this sounds complicated.  How can you be an adult and a child at the same time?  Simply put, this program is designed for adults who became disabled when they were still children.  They became disabled before they could…

In addition to SSD and SSI, which we have talked about, there are two other important disability programs under Social Security:  Widow/Widower benefits and Disabled Adult Children. Widow and widower benefits, are sometimes called “survivor” benefits. The short story is that both for retirement and disability purposes, widows and widowers can receive benefits on the…

The Social Security Administration offers two main disability programs.  The larger and more comprehensive one is SSD.  The other is Supplemental Security Income, or SSI. SSI assumes a whole different set of circumstances from SSD in terms of eligibility.  The program is designed to help the extremely poor and needy, including folks who have never…

Eligibility For SSD And SSI Together In some cases, a claimant could receive both SSD and SSI at the same time. This happens when you have worked enough to qualify for SSD, but your benefits from SSD would be at a very low amount. For instance, if you are scheduled to receive only $400 per…

One question that we often get involves the amount of benefits awarded. Social Security has a complicated formula, called your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), which they use to determine the precise amount of your monthly check. The easiest way to get a rough idea of what your check might be is to figure out what…

Some of you may be saying, “How does Social Security Disability affect me if I’m self-employed?”  Self-employed people also pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on their income up to $137,700 in 2020.  The difference is that they have to pay the whole 15.3% on their own unlike most workers who only pick up half…

The easiest way to think about your DLI is like this.   Imagine you own a car.  It is a great car, it runs well and you expect it to last for a long time.  Just in case, however, you choose to get an insurance policy for the car.  This way, if an accident occurs, you…

SSD is for workers who were on their way to normal retirement when something went wrong. They were paying taxes into Social Security through their paychecks through something called FICA, which stands for the Federal Insurance Contribution Act. But something always happens – a car accident, an injury on the job, a heart attack. Now,…

Let’s begin with some basics. Social Security is a government program that provides monthly cash benefits and medical coverage to Americans. Most of the people who get these benefits are retirees. But another group of beneficiaries is made up of people who cannot work because of a disability. Social Security administers two programs for the…

From Social Security Disability and You – A Guide to Winning the Benefits You Deserve Despite the fact that it was now providing solid benefits to retirees, Social Security at this early stage did nothing for the disabled.  Much of the delay was caused by the Social Security Board’s inability to find a fixed definition…

From Social Security Disability and You – A Guide to Winning the Benefits You Deserve By:  Charles E. Binder In January 1935, President Roosevelt received a report from his Council on Economic Security.  Their findings became the basis for the bill that FDR brought to Congress, which then became the Social Security Act.  Roosevelt cautioned…

Nearly everybody who looks at the history of Social Security points to one period as the most important in making a program as we know it today. What was that dynamic era?

Nearly everybody who looks at the history of Social Security points to one period as the most important in making a program as we know it today. What was that dynamic era?