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Social Security Disability Insurance

Do you need Social Security Disability Insurance? Choose an attorney who can help you through the obstacles of your SSDI claim.

Imagine this: You are a 36-year-old office manager with a wife and two children. You do fairly well and can support your family on your salary, so your wife stays home with the kids. Things are going fine until one day you start feeling weaker and soon you notice you’re losing a lot of weight and aren’t able to keep anything down. You go to the doctor at your HMO and he tells you that you have symptoms of severe leukemia. The case was caught early enough to give you a strong chance of recovery, but you will have to devote most of your near future to therapy and rehabilitation. For at least the next three years, you will have to follow a strict regimen of diet and rest and participate in therapy on a daily basis. You quickly realize that the long hours and other demands required by your job won’t be an option while you restore your health.

You have a good long term disability insurance policy, and they agree to pay for your therapy and will also pay about 60 percent of your annual salary for up to five years. Your wife can work, too, if necessary, but you don’t want your illness to disrupt the rearing of your children and the stability of your family life any more than it already has. The Human Resources coordinator at work tells you about Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), and after some research you calculate that you may be eligible for $2000 a month – which will make up the difference between your regular salary and the reduced amount of the long term disability benefits.

You apply for SSDI at your local Social Security office, explaining your situation to a case worker, and providing copies of the documents social security requires, such as medical records, birth certificate, and W2s for the last two years. The case worker explains that your file will be prepared and sent to the Disability Determination Service for your state, which will review your case, collect medical records and determine whether your disability qualifies you for SSDI. You should hear back within three to four months.

Ninety days pass, and finally a notice arrives in the mail from the Social Security Administration(SSA) explaining that your medical conditions do not prevent you from working. You’ve been denied.

Now what do you do?

Hire an experienced attorney to help you prepare an SSDI appeal.

About 2 out of every 5 requests for SSDI are denied the first time they are submitted. Much of this has to do with the sheer volume of requests for SSDI each year. Your federal government knows the time and tax dollars it can save by following the old precept of “deny first, apologize later.” While this approach is designed to weed out SSDI applications that have no merit, many legitimate cases also get lost in this initial shuffle. Those with serious and legitimate disabilities who are denied the first time around often feel discouraged about appealing. They shouldn't.

At Andalman & Flynn, our attorneys have worked on SSDI claims at all stages - from initial application to appeals to federal court - for more than 15 years. While there is no magic formula to getting your SSDI claim approved, our familiarity with the Social Security Act and hundreds of pages of regulations implementing the Act allows us to maximize your chances of winning benefits.

For instance, telling the SSA that you have leukemia is usually not enough to be considered disabled. It wants to know the type and extent of your leukemia, and how its symptoms affect your activities, daily living and social functioning. It wants documentation regarding what type of medication and therapy you undergo, and whether all of your medical conditions, in combination, including both physical and emotional problems, prevent you from gainful employment of any kind. It also wants to know details about your work history for the last 15 years and whether you can work in a less strenuous position or occupation.

At Andalman & Flynn, our attorneys can help you anticipate the many questions your case may present to the SSA, and can assist you in answering those questions to the satisfaction of the SSA. After many years of working on SSDI claims, we’ve become well-versed in the methods the SSA uses to evaluate, approve and reject claims. We use that experience to help our clients get the disability benefits awards they need.

Remember, Social Security wasn’t designed to care only for the elderly of America. It was created with the wisdom that many workers are struck by the misfortune of severe disability, and that as a compassionate society we should provide assistance for those of us unable to work and fully support ourselves as a result of a major disability. If you are unable to work due to either injury or illness, the Social Security Disability Insurance law has created a right to SSDI benefits for those who meet the definition of disability set up in the Act. At Andalman & Flynn, we’ve helped thousands of families ease their financial woes and suffering by benefiting from that right. If you need similar help, contact us today.

Library for Social Security Disability Insurance:

Social Security Administration Suspends Proposed Rule Changing Appeals Process [PDF]
Description: On January 29, 2008, SSA Commissioner Michael Astrue notified Congress that SSA is suspending the rulemaking process for the proposed rule changing the SSA appeals process. A copy of the letter is attached. In the letter to Rep. Michael R. McNulty, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee, Commissioner Astrue stated:

In light of concerns expressed by the public and Members of Congress, we are suspending the rulemaking process for several of the provisions that have
become controversial.
Comments On Proposed Changes to Social Security Administration Regulations 2007 [PDF]
Description: As you know, the claims process for disability benefits is lengthy and cumbersome. Claimants are often discouraged by denial decisions and abandon their claim, rather than appealing the denial. However, the appeals process, including the Request for Reconsideration, Request for Hearing with an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), and the Request for Review by the Review Board (formerly the Appeals Council), is in place to protect the rights of persons with disabilities.
Social Security Disability Claims [PDF]
Description: The federal Social Security Administration (SSA) administers the primary component of our country’s social safety net for workers who become disabled. The SSA is one of the largest bureaucracies in the country, processing over two million applications for disability insurance benefits filed each year. These claims are primarily made by workers who have become disabled to work by injury or illness. Unlike workers’ compensation and automobile collision claims, there is no social security benefit available to a worker, unless they can establish that the worker is totally disabled. More specifically the worker must prove that as a result of a medically determinable physical or mental impairment(s) the worker is unable to engage in any substantial, gainful activity (SGA) for at least 12 consecutive months.
Drugs and Alcohol Burden of Proof on the Claimant [PDF]
Description: Claimant has the burden of proof to show that drug abuse or alcoholism is not material to the finding of disability.
Update on Judicial Review and Additional Evidence at the Appeals Council [PDF]
Description: Many practitioners are aware of the importance of presenting new and material evidence to the Appeals Council on an appeal of a denial of benefits by an administrative law judge (ALJ).
Vocational Experts Are Your Friends [PDF]
Description: The focus of this article is to provide practical advice on how to effectively examine/cross-examine vocational experts at Administrative Law Judge hearings on social security disability benefit claims.
THE 5-STEP SEQUENTIAL EVALUATION PROCESS [PDF]
Description: How does the Social Security Administration (SSA) determine if you are disabled to work? SSA follows a 5-step sequential evaluation process, as set out in 20 C.F.R. §404.1520. SSA has hundreds of pages of regulations to help implement the 5-step sequential evaluation process.
SOCIAL SECURITY’S MEDICAL-VOCATIONAL GUIDELINES [PDF]
Description: The Social Security Administration (SSA) follows a 5-step sequential evaluation process, as set out in 20 C.F.R. §404.1520, to determine disability. Step four and five of this process involves evaluating your ability to do work. At step four SSA must decide whether you can return to your past relevant work, which is work performed in the last 15 years. If you cannot perform your past relevant work, then SSA must determine if there are other jobs that exist in the national economy which you can perform.
October 25, 2005 letter to Commissioner of Social Security [PDF]
Description: Elliott Andalman's October 25, 2005 letter to the Commissioner of Social Security regarding proposed changes to the Administrative Review Process in Social Security Disability Insurance claims.
How To File An Application For Social Security Disability Benefits [PDF]
Description: Applying for Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits can be confusing and daunting. Here are some helpful hints to make the disability benefits application process easier.
Social Security Disability Benefits & Mental and Emotional Illnesses [PDF]
Description: The Social Security Administration’s (SSA) definition of disability is the inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months or result in death. This applies to physical impairments as well as mental illness and emotional disorders.

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Federal Disability Retirement (FERS and CSRS)

Divorce, Custody, and Family Law

Protection from Abuse and Violence

Criminal Law

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Collections

Personal Injury

Social Security Disability Insurance

Long Term Disability Insurance / ERISA

Maryland Teacher and State Disability Retirement

Employment Law

Disability

Wills, Trusts, Probate & Estate

General

Social Security Disability Insurance

Now what do you do?

Library for Social Security Disability Insurance:

Frequent Questions for Social Security Disability Insurance:

Case Results for Social Security Disability Insurance:

Web Resources for Social Security Disability Insurance:

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