How Does a Social Security Disability Claim Proceed?
How Does a Social Security Disability Claim Proceed?

Starting a Claim for Social Security Disability Benefits

To make a claim for Social Security Disability benefits, you need to file an application with the Social Security Administration.

The Social Security Administration website provides an on-line Social Security Disability application form on its website www.ssa.gov.

If you have trouble finding a Social Security Administration office close to your home, call the Social Security Administration toll-free hotline number at 1-800-772-1213. (Deaf and hard-impaired individuals can reach Social Security Administration by TTY at 1-800-325-0778.)

Submitting an Application for Social Security Disability Benefits

Take the time to carefully fill out your Social Security Disability application. Remember that the Social Security Administration will use whatever information you provide to decide if you qualify for Social Security Disability benefits.

Give complete answers to every question. This could help the Social Security staff fully understand the severity of your disability, the limitations that it places on your capacity to work, as well as the prospect that your disabling condition or illness might get better or worse in the future. In addition, the Social Security Administration may process your application more quickly, if you include all the required information on your Social Security Disability application form.

If you have trouble understanding all the questions on the Social Security Disability application, you have a legal right to ask the Social Security Administration to help you. To get assistance, call the Social Security Administration toll-free telephone number listed above, or visit a local Social Security Administration office.

Getting an Answer from the Social Security Administration about Your Social Security Disability Application

After you send in your Social Security Disability application, the Social Security Administration may take several weeks or months to review your information and tell you its decision.

If your Social Security Disability benefits are approved, the Social Security Administration will send letters to let you know the amount of your benefits and your health coverage options. The Social Security Administration also will tell you about your responsibility to report changes in your medical condition, employment status, and other factors that could affect your eligibility for Social Security Disability benefits.

Be sure to read and follow all the Social Security Administration instructions, to help ensure that your Social Security Disability benefits continue for as long as you have a right to receive them.

If the Social Security Administration denied your initial application, you have the legal right to challenge the unfavorable decision by filing an appeal.

Appealing a Denial of Your Social Security Disability Benefits

Do not give up, if the Social Security Administration denies your claim. In fact, the Social Security Administration often rejects the initial applications of individuals who meet all the Social Security Disability requirements. Many of these people have to go through the appeal process to get their Social Security benefits approved.

To protect your right to appeal, you must act immediately after you find out that the Social Security Administration disapproved your application. You only have 65 days from the date stamped on the denial letter to ask for another review of your Social Security Disability claim.

A Social Security Administrative Law Judge conducts this review, after taking another look at all your Social Security claim information, including your application form, medical records, and additional material you submit to support your claim, and after holding a hearing at which you can present evidence to support your case.

Do not delay filing an appeal. If you miss the 65-day deadline, and decide later to seek Social Security Disability benefits, the Social Security Administration will make you go back and start the application process all over again.

Presenting Your Social Security Disability Claim at a Social Security Hearing

When you properly file an appeal before the 65-day deadline, the Social Security Administration will schedule an Administrative Law Judge hearing. Usually, the Social Security Administration takes between 6 months to 18 months to schedule your hearing date.

The Administrative Law Judge who conducts your hearing will evaluate the following factors, to decide if you should get Social Security Disability benefits:
  • Whether or not you accumulated enough Social Security earnings, or “work credits,” to qualify for Social Security Disability benefits.
  • If not, whether or not your income and other financial resources are so limited that you may qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
  • Whether or not you have an impairment that has lasted, or is expected to last, for at least 12 months, or is expected to result in death.
  • The nature and extent of your impairment.
  • Your ability to engage in substantial gainful activity since your impairment began.
  • The date that your disability began.
Our Michigan Social Security law firm represents individuals at this level of appeal. We want to help you get the Social Security Disability benefits you deserve.

If the Social Security Administration just denied your application for Social Security Disability benefits, or if you already filed an appeal and are waiting for your Social Security Disability hearing, take the time to contact an experienced Michigan Social Security lawyer immediately.

Protect your rights. Get the Bernstein Advantage today.

Challenging an Administrative Law Judge’s Denial of Social Security Disability Benefits

If you are denied Social Security Disability benefits at a hearing before an Administration Law Judge (ALJ), you have a right to appeal your decision further, to the Appeals Council. However, you only have 65 days from the date of the ALJ’s denial to file for that appeal.
 
Therefore, we recommend that you contact an experienced Social Security Disability lawyer immediately, if an ALJ denied your Social Security Disability claim.
 
If you or a loved one was denied Social Security Disability or Supplemental Security Income, contact an experienced Michigan Social Security lawyer immediately.

Protect your rights. Get the Bernstein Advantage today.
 
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