YOU MAY QUALIFY FOR DISABIILTY BENEFITS.....IF

You may qualify for disability payments from Social Security if.....

• You are currently unable to work a full-time job (not working now or earning less than $1,120 per month).
• You have a severe medical condition which will keep you off work for at least a total of 12 straight months.
• You have worked long enough, and recently enough, to be covered by Social Security disability program.  Not everyone has earned enough "work credits" to be covered.
• There is recent objective medical evidence and records to prove the severity of your disabling impairment.
• You have not yet reached full retirement age.  (If so, you may receive Social Security retirement benefits without proving disability).

If you believe you meet all of the above requirements, the process of being approved is still rigorous and challenging. Proving disability eligibility is usually a fight.  This is because Social Security's rules are so strict, narrowly defined and complex.

Up to 80 percent of individuals who file an application can expect to be denied.  The reason is always:  "You are not disabled according to our rules."

This is really the beginning of the right for your benefits.  Next, you file and appeal (within 60 days) and move to the next step of the process.  Below, I will give you the steps you should expect in your long, complicated fight for SSDI benefits:

STEP 1:  File and application with an 80% chance of denial.

STEP 2:  Beginning September 2019, ask for Reconsideration.  The same agency which denied your claim will "reconsider it."  There is a 98% chance of another denial.  This step can take 6 months.

STEP 3:  File an appeal and request a hearing before a US Administrative Law Judge (ALJ).  This hearing will be your best chance for approval, especially if you have adequate legal counsel at the hearing (and to prepare for it).

STEP 4:  If denied at the hearing, you may file another appeal with the Appeals Council in Falls Church, Virginia.  You will not have a hearing and will not actually go to Virginia.  A group of judges will give you a paper review.  Odds of winning benefits at this stage are very low.

STEP 5:  if denied by the Appeals Council, you may a lawsuit  against the Commissioner of Social Security in Federal District Court.  

Most claimants will only need to go through Steps 1 - 3.  However, nearly all claimants will need the Step 3 hearing in order to be approved.

So, a few claimants may get a quick, easy decision just by filing an application.  But most claimants will need an appeal and a hearing before being approved.

At the hearing level, it is imperative to have adequate legal representation.  Remember, of all the 5 steps available, the hearing level is the absolute BEST chance of being approved.  By far the best chance.
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Charles W. Forsythe
The Forsythe Firm
7027 Old Madison Pike NW, Suite 108
Huntsville, AL 35806
"Across from Bridge Street"
(256) 799-0297

SOCIAL SECURITY JUSTICE (WEBSITE)