CAN YOU RECEIVE PAST DUE DISABILITY CHECKS?

If Social Security issues a Fully Favorable or Partially Favorable decision on your disability case, it means that you have been found to be disabled and eligible for benefits.

The next question is when you became disabled according to Social Security's rules.  The date your disability began is called the onset date.  There are actually two onset dates:

1.  The alleged onset date (AOD) is the date of disability claimed in the application.  It is "alleged" because it has not yet been proven or established.

2. The established onset date (EOD) is the date that Social Security decision makers accept as the date you became disabled.  This forms the date to which your benefits will be paid, minus any required waiting period (5 months for SSDI claims).

If you received a Fully Favorable decision, it means that Social Security has accepted your alleged onset date (AOD) as the date you first became disabled.  In this case, the alleged onset date becomes the established onset date (EOD).

If you receive a Partially Favorable decision, it means that you are found disabled but at a later date than your alleged onset date (AOD).  For example, you may have claimed to have become disabled on 2/1/17 but Social Security found that you did not become disabled under their rules until 4/1/18.  This change of the onset date results in two important consequences:

1)  It reduces your back pay because it shaves the period between 2/1/17 and 4/1/18 off your benefit period.

2)  It increases how long you must wait to be eligible for Medicare coverage under a Title 2 claim.  Medicare coverage becomes available 29 months after the established onset date.  So the earlier your established onset date the earlier you will be able to get Medicare coverage.

Why would Social Security not accept your earlier alleged onset date (AOD)?  There are two common reasons:

One, you may have worked at substantial gainful employment after your AOD.  For example, your alleged onset date is 2/1/17 but you continued to work through 3/31/18.  Even if you were medically disabled on 2/1/17, you could not be legally disabled under Social Security's rules  because you were working.  So the decision maker moves the onset date forward to the day after your last day of work.

Another reason is that the objective medical evidence may not prove disability back to the alleged onset date.  Perhaps you developed a serious medical condition around 2/1/17 but you received little or no medical treatment for the condition until March of 2018.  Therefore, you may have been disabled earlier but you can't prove it because there are no medical records dating back to 2/1/17.

I think the obvious point here is this:  If you have a serious medical condition that may lead you to file a disability claim, go to the doctor as soon as possible for examination and treatment.  Establish a medical record of your condition and symptoms as soon as possible. 

There is one other factor that affects how much back pay will accumulate in your disability claim:  how long will it take Social Security to decide whether you are disabled?

Initial applications often take 4 or 5 months to reach a decision.  Up to 75 percent of those decisions are denials.  So, if you must file an appeal and have a hearing, it will take an additional 12 to 18 months to get the hearing.  Past due benefits potentially accumulate while you wait for a favorable decision. One you get a favorable decision, the past due benefits become payable--all the way back to your AOD, minus any waiting period (typically 5 months).

Of course, you want to get all the back pay to which you are entitled.  Most likely, you have bills that piled up while you were waiting to be approved.  Back pay can help settle those bills and give you a fresh start.

An attorney or advocate familiar with Social Security law will work to obtain all the back pay available in your case.  Usually, the attorney (called a "representative" by Social Security) will pay for himself ten times over by getting you an earlier onset date and more back pay.  If he/she does not get back pay for you, you actually pay nothing in attorney's fees.

____________
Charles W. Forsythe
Social Security Disability Representation
7027 Old Madison Pike, Suite 108
Huntsville, AL 35806
CALL US:  (256) 799-0297

SOCIAL SECURITY JUSTICE (WEBSITE)