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Posts Tagged ‘Social Security Disability Application’

Can my Social Security Disability Attorney expedite my Social Security Disability Claim?

Saturday, August 29th, 2009

In most cases the answer to this question is no, but the goal of hiring a disability attorney is not to speed up or expedite your Social Security Disability case but to increase your chances of receiving Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income benefits.

Unfortunately, many claimants who receive benefits will only do so after their case has been heard by the Administrative Law Judge at the Social Security Disability Hearing. The Social Security Disability process can be extremely slow and the time it takes for your case to be processed can depend on the case load of the Social Security examiner who is reviewing you Social Security Disability application, the time it takes to receive your medical records from the doctors and hospitals you have visited and the number of cases up for review before the Administrative Law Judge who will review your Social Security Disability claim.

If a disability lawyer can not speed up your case, you may wonder if there is anything that can be done to expedite your Social Security claim. The answer is maybe. Gathering medical records is a very time consuming activity for not only the Social Security Administration office but also for your Social Security Disability Attorney. If you are in the application, reconsideration or Social Security Disability hearing level, and you have copies of your medical records, it may expedite your claim if you provide your medical records to your Social Security Attorney. Your disability attorney can coordinate submitting the medical records at the time they submit your Social Security Disability paperwork.

In some instances, a claimant may have a situation which is considered “dire need”. It may help to submit a dire need letter with all the proper information: past due bills, mortgage notices, etc. which will prove you lack the financial resources to support your self. Your Social Security Disability Attorney can ensure the letter is file appropriately. The dire need letter may convince the court to speed up their disability decision.

The final method to expedite your Social Security Disability decision is to submit an “on-the-record-review” of your case. This can be done after your Social Security Disability Attorney has made a request for your Social Security Disability hearing before the Administrative Law Judge.

Why doesn’t the SSDI Attorney or SSI Attorney complete the Social Security Disability Application?

Friday, August 28th, 2009

Many claimants request that the Disability Lawyer complete their initial Social Security Disability application, but most SSI and SSDI Attorneys do not have the time or resources to complete the initial Social Security Disability Application for each of their clients. The Social Security Disability information the claimant will be required to complete includes: all Social Security Disability forms related to the claimant’s work history, medication information and the log of their daily activities.

After the initial Social Security Application is complete, the Social Security Disability Attorney will file all appeal paperwork for the reconsideration and the Social Security Disability Hearing, maintain copies of all paperwork submitted to the Social Security Administration (SSA) and all other offices and complete all follow-up calls to ensure the appropriate Social Security Disability forms have been received by the SSA.

Can I file a Social Security Disability Claim with out a Social Security Disability Attorney’s help?

Friday, August 28th, 2009

It is possible to file your Social Security Disability application by yourself, but unfortunately, if you are denied at the initial level for either SSDI or SSI benefits, in most cases you will also be denied at the reconsideration level as well (certain states do not have a reconsideration level and you will skip straight to the hearing level if you are denied at the application level).

At the reconsideration level the main tasks for the Social Security Disability Lawyer is to complete the reconsideration appeal paperwork and complete status calls with the Disability Determination Services office and answer questions from the Social Security Administration.

At the Social Security Disability Hearing level the Social Security Disability Attorney will have experience at preparing disability cases, will be able argue that you are disabled according to the Social Security Administrative Impairment Listing definition, will understand how to review and evaluate your medical information and will prepare arguments to counter claims from the vocational expert that you may be qualified to retrain for other types of employment opportunities. In addition, disability lawyers have attended numerous hearings and understand the hearing procedures, how to respond to the Administrative Law Judge questions and how to argue against all expert testimony which is issued from either a medical or vocational expert. It is a good idea to have help from a Social Security Disability Attorney at the Administrative Law Judge hearing. Claimants who fail to have adequate representation have a much smaller chance of winning Social Security Disability benefits.

Sleep Disorder and Receiving Social Security Disability

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

You may wonder what a sleep disorder is. A sleep disorder is a medical disorder of your sleep patterns. It is any difficulty that you have related to sleeping. This includes trouble staying asleep or falling asleep, excessive total sleep time, falling asleep at inappropriate times or abnormal behaviors associated with sleep.

There are more than 100 waking or sleeping disorders that have been identified. These can be grouped into 4 main categories:

  • Problems with staying awake
  • Sleep-disruptive behaviors
  • Problems with falling and staying asleep
  • Problems with staying on a regular sleep schedule.

Out of the over 100 sleep disorders that are divided into 4 main categories, there are 4 common sleep disorders.

  • Insomnia – It is often a sign or symptom of other problems. It refers to the inability to fall asleep or stay asleep at night. It also refers to daytime fatigue and waking up earlier than usual.
  • Sleep apnea – The primary sign or symptom is excessive daytime sleepiness. Some people will not admit to sleepiness but feel fatigued. Other indications of sleep apnea are snorting, snoring and gasping sounds while you sleep. The person who is sleeping with you notices these. Headaches in the morning and restless or unrefreshing sleep are also signs and symptoms.
  • Narcolepsy – Excessive daytime sleepiness that is relieved by naps is a sign of this sleep disorder. Other indications are loss of muscle control (cataplexy) that happens with emotion like anger or laughing, the inability to move when waking up or going to sleep (sleep paralysis), dreaming during naps and having dream-like hallucinations as you fall asleep.
  • Restless leg syndrome – The primary sign or symptom is an irresistible urge to move your legs shortly after going to bed, in the middle of the night when you wake up, or even when you are wide awake during the day. Twitching or “creepy-crawly” feeling in your arms, thighs, calves, or feet are symptoms. Twitching or kicking leg movements while you are asleep or awake are also indications of this sleep disorder.

You or a loved one may have a sleep disorder. Sleep disorder may be the cause of you or your loved one’s disability.

If this is the case, do you need help? Do you need financial help?

Have you or your loved one applied for Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits from the Social Security Administration because of the disability caused by sleep disorder? Were you or your loved one denied?

If you or your loved one is thinking about appealing the denial by the Social Security Administration, you will need a confident disability lawyer like the one you will find at socialsecurityhome.com to represent you in the appeals process. This is true because people who are represented by a caring disability attorney are approved more often than people who are not represented by a lawyer.

Do not put this off. Contact the compassionate disability attorney at socialsecurityhome.com, today.

Can A Social Security Disability Attorney help speed up my Social Security Disability Hearing or Social Security Disability Decision?

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009

There are only a few scenarios in which a Social Security Disability Attorney can help speed up a Social Security Disability Hearing. It is important to understand that the main goal of hiring a Social Security Disability Attorney is to increase your chances or winning your Social Security Disability claim, not expediting the Social Security Disability process. That said, listed below are several ways a Social Security Disability Attorney may be able to help expedite your Social Security Disability Claim: 

  • Ensure all updated medical information is gathered in a timely fashion and sent to the Social Security Administration prior to all appeals.
  • In certain limited cases a Social Security Disability hearings may be scheduled more quickly if the claimant can prove they are in dire need. The Social Security Disability Attorney can work with the claimant to submit the necessary paperwork: dire need letter, past due notices for rent, utility bills, eviction notices and medical prescriptions. There must be serious financial need to warrant an expedited Social Security Disability hearing.
  • If you have had a Social Security Disability Hearing scheduled you may be able to expedite the decision by requesting an on-the-record-review (OTR). This OTR request will ask that the Social Security Disability claim be reviewed before the Administrative hearing is held. The main benefit of the on-the-record-review is that you may get approved more quickly with out waiting for the decision of the Administrative Law Judge at the Social Security Disability hearing. OTR Reviews are only approved if your physical or mental health condition has gotten substantially worse and your medical information is up to date and can substantiate your worsening health claim.
  • The last way to speed up the Social Security Disability hearing is to have a United States Congressman or United States Senator launch a congressional inquiry. A Social Security Disability hearing may be expedited for a claimant if a staff member requests it either by calling or writing. This is difficult to do, but has had limited success.

In most instances a Social Security Disability Attorney will not be able to move your Social Security Disability claim through the Social Security Administrative process faster than you can with out Social Security Disability legal representation. What the Social Security Disability Attorney can do is increase your chances of winning Social Security Disability benefits at all levels of the Social Security Disability process.

Most ssdi.htm”title=”SS Disability Insurance” >Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income claims are denied at the initial application level and the reconsideration level. If your Social Security Disability claim is appealed to the Administrative Law Judge level and you are scheduled for a Social Security Disability hearing, representation by a Social Security Disability lawyer can greatly increase your chances of success.

A Social Security Disability Attorney has the experience to gather, read and evaluate your medical documentation and prepare the information for the Administrative Law Judge in the format he requires.  The Social Security Disability Attorney can evaluate your mental and physical health impairments and help the Administrative Law Judge evaluate how it compares to the Social Security Impairment Listing and determine the amount of your residual work capacity.

The most important thing a Social Security Disability Attorney offers is the expertise to navigate the Social Security Disability hearings, decipher and answer all the Administrative Law Judge questions and answer questions regarding your work capacity. If there are vocational or medical experts who are providing expert testimony for the Administrative Law Judge, your Social Security Disability Attorney can respond to the experts and provide additional information which the Administrative Law Judge can use to make his decision.

Applying for Social Security Disability Benefits

Monday, March 2nd, 2009

You believe that you are disabled and would like to apply for Social Security disability (SSD) benefits. Or, you have a child that you believe is disabled and would like to apply for Social Security disability benefits for your child with disability.

How do you go about doing this? What do you have to do to apply for these benefits? Where do you have to go? Is the application hard to fill out? How long is the application? What information will you need to have to fill out the application?

These are all questions that you may have. These are questions that you need answered.

To begin with, there is an application that you have to fill out in order to apply for Social Security disability benefits. This application can be filled out in one of three ways.

The first way to fill out an application for Social Security disability (SSD) is by going in to your local Social Security Administration office where you can fill out the application in person. If you do not have a Social Security Administration office near where you live, there are two other ways to fill out the application.

You can fill out the application online. To do this, you have to go to the Social Security website which is www.socialsecurity.gov. Here, you can fill out an application for Social Security disability (SSD).

The other way to fill out the application for SSD is by telephone. The number to call is 1-800-772-1213. If you are deaf or hard of hearing the number is 1-800-325-0778.

When you go to the website to apply for SSD online, the first thing you are asked to do is to select the age category of the person who is disabled. If it is a child under the age of 18, you are then directed to a page that tells you how to apply for disability benefits for a child.

You have to complete an Application for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and a Child Disability Report. At the present time, only the Child Disability Report can be filled out online. The SSI application has to be done either by phone or in person.

Also on this page, you will find steps on how to apply for your child with disability. These steps include a Child Disability Starter Kit that answers common questions about applying for SSI benefits for children, and it has a worksheet to help you gather the information that you will need.

If you are applying for yourself or another adult over age 18, you are directed to a page that tells you how to apply for disability benefits for an adult. You have to complete an application for Social Security Benefits and an Adult Disability Report. Both the application and the Adult Disability Report can be done online, by phone or in person.

As with the page on filing for a child, there are also steps on how to apply for an adult on this page. There is an Adult Disability Starter Kit that answers common questions about applying for benefits for an adult, and a worksheet to help you gather the information that you will need to fill out the application.

Our next post will give you details about the application and the information you will need to fill it out.