ALABAMA DISABILITY COUNSELORS

Choosing a legal theory for your disability case is vital if you want to win it.  Yet, this is probably the one area that individuals who represent themselves just don't know how to do.  What is a legal theory?  What are your choices?  What decides which one you will use? A legal theory is best explained this way:  What will cause a judge to decide that you meet all of the requirements that the law sets forth to get a disability benefit? A legal theory is NOT the belief that you are disabled, the belief that you can't work, or the theory that you've paid into Social Security for years and now it's time to get something back.  These are beliefs, feelings or attitudes--not legal theories. A legal theory will develop as an attorney pours over the medical records and facts of the case.  It will be fact based, not opinion based.  The word "theory" may sound a bit subjective or wishful, but it is not.  A legal theory is how the facts line up ...

Filing for Social Security Disability (SSDI) is a big step.  You probably know that the process is usually long and frustrating.  Should you wait?  Are you ready to file now?  Let's ask a few questions to help you evaluate: 1.  Are you now working?  If not, you may need to consider filing.  If you are working and earning $1,260 per month or more, you won't be eligible to file at this time. 2.  Do you have a severe disability that is probably going to keep you from working for at least 12 straight months?  If you do, you definitely should consider filing.  SSDI doesn't pay for short term impairments lasting less than 12 months. 3.  Has your doctor told you that you are probably not going to be able to return to work?  This is a good indication that it's time for file for disability? SSDI is a program sponsored by the US government that covers workers against long term disability.  You pay into it out of each paychec...

Many people get diagnosed with a disabling medical condition and their doctor tells them to file for disability.  The doctor may even say that you are disabled and should have no problem getting benefits.  Imagine how frustrating it is then to be denied and told that you don't qualify.  It happens all the time. Social Security's definition of Disability  is very narrow.  There are several conditions one has to meet before benefits will be approved. There are some things you should know that will improve your chances of getting disability benefits. 1.  Most people do not get approved with an application.  About 8 out of 10 applications are denied.  It usually takes two (2) appeals to have a chance of approval.  So, you must be prepared to stay the course over a period of months, or even years, to get approved. 2.  All unfavorable decisions must be appealed within 60 days.  After that, the case is dead. 3.  Return all f...

The only person allowed to help you when you attend a Social Security disability hearing is your advocate or attorney. If you go alone there will be no one to help you. The Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) presides over the hearing.  He or she is a finder of fact but is not allowed to advocate for you or try to help you win your benefits.  In fact, many claimants express the opinion that the judge seemed to be looking for ways to deny the claim.  At best, the judge is a skeptical, impartial investigator who asks hard questions and demands airtight evidence. The vocational expert will provide expert testimony about your past work and about other work that is available in the national economy.  This testimony certainly may hurt your chance of approval, especially if you don't know how to question the testimony. There is an empty chair right beside you at a hearing.  That chair is for your attorney, who should be sitting at your right side.  If that chair ...

About 4 out of 10 persons who apply for Social Security disability will eventually get benefits.  That number includes those who appeal their denied claims all the way to a hearing with a judge. Social Security weeds out claimants who are not technically qualified, mostly persons who haven't worked enough or worked recently enough to be covered.  The rest are sent to state agencies called Disability Determination Services (DDS) for medical decisions. The DDS agencies will deny about 7 out of 10 claims on medical reasons.  They will find that the claimant's medical impairments are not severe enough to qualify for benefits.  These denied claimants may (and should) appeal the decisions.  This first appeal is called Reconsideration.  Only about 2 out of 100 will be approved at Reconsideration. Those denied at Reconsideration should appeal and ask for a hearing, which is the next step.  Here, the claimant goes to a hearing before an administrative law...

There are two different disability programs, both administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA).  Both of them commonly get called "disability benefits," but the two programs are not at all alike. There is Social Security Disability, also called SSDI or Title 2.  It's for individuals who have worked long enough, and recently enough, and paid enough taxes into Social Security. The other program is Supplemental Security Income, also called SSI or Title 16.  It doesn't require any work or taxes but restricts the claimant's income and financial means. Let's compare the 2 programs. SSDI (TITLE 2) No restrictions on your income or money in the bank Where you live has no affect on your benefits Requires you have worked and paid into the system Monthly benefit is based on your lifetime earnings history and may be has high as $3,011 per month (maximum). You must be found unable to work to qualify. SSDI comes with Medicare after 29 months of d...

Social Security recently addressed the question of whether a claimant can opt out of a hearing by video teleconference (VTC) and ask to appear in person before a judge.  The final rule does still permit a claimant to opt out of VTC hearings and ask to appear in person before the judge. I no longer object to video hearings unless my client does.  The main advantage of a hearing by VTC is getting it scheduled a bit sooner.  It's my observation that a video hearing will happen 3 or 4 months sooner than an in-person hearing.  Obviously, it gives Social Security more flexibility in scheduling. Claimants who wish to opt out of a VTC hearing must still exercise that option before the hearing has been scheduled.  Social Security will send an opt out form after they receive the appeal.  The claimant must decide at that time whether to opt out of the VTC hearing and return the form within 30 days.  Failure to opt out will result in the hearing automatically ...

At Step 4 of the disability determination process, they must determine if you can perform any of your past relevant work (PRW, for short).  If you are age 50 or above, this is probably the Step that will decide whether you get benefits or not. So, is all of your work considered "Past Relevant Work?? Not necessarily.  To be judged as PRW, a job must meet the following criteria: 1.  It Must Have Been Performed With the Past 15 Years. Jobs you held longer than fifteen years.  Older jobs don't count, which is a good thing.  More about that later. 2.  The Job Must Have Been Performed as Substantial Gainful Activty or SGA. The simplest explanation is that part-time jobs usually don't count.  You must have earned a certain minimum amount of wages at each job.  The amount changes year to year.  For example, in 2019 your work would count as substantial if you earned at least $1,240 per month. 3.  You Must Have Held the Job Long Enou...

I think most of the work performed in Social Security disability cases resemble an iceberg:  you only see a little of it while most of it remains invisible. When you appoint an attorney representative to help with your disability case, there are many services performed that you may not see or realize.  In addition to attending your hearing with you and arguing for approval, your attorney will..... Order all your medical records and keep them updated Read and analyze all your medical records Seek additional written testimony/opinions from your doctor Determine if other written testimony should be obtained (from past employers, co-workers, family members, etc.) Review your past work record to see how it impacts your case Classify your past work as skilled, unskilled or semi-skilled Classify your past jobs according to their exertion levels Outline medical reasons you cannot perform any past work Outline medical reasons you can't perform some other work Prepare a d...

Social Security will always ask your doctors to send your medical records.  These are often not sufficient to get your claim paid, however. You should also ask your doctor to complete a form called "Residual Functional Capacity" or "Medical Source Statement" for you.  Social Security will not ask your doctor for this form in most cases.  It's up to you. I might also add that most doctors do not have this form in their office.  It's not a form they routinely use, so they will depend on you to furnish the form to them. A Residual Functional Capacity form is more often used by lawyers than by doctors.  So, a good place to get the form is from an attorney or advocate who does disability work.  My office will send this form to anyone who requests it free of charge. Once you receive the blank form, you should take it to your doctor's office and request that it be completed.  You should then get the completed, signed form and send it to Social...

Social Security disability applications may be denied for medical or non-medical reasons.  Non-medical denials are also called technical denials . If a denial letter says, "you are not disabled according to our rules," you have received a medical denial.  The agency is saying that your impairment is not severe enough to meet its definition of disability. There are several things may cause a technical denial.  Here are some of them: 1.  Lack of Work Credits .  You haven't worked enough to be covered by SSDI (Social Security disability insurance).  Most people need 20 credits.  It is possible to earn 4 credits per year.  So, you would need to have worked for the past 5 years, or at least 5 years out of the past 10 years.  In 2019, you earn 1 credit for each calendar quarter that your earned at least $1,360 dollars.  Beginning in 2020, you must earn at least $1,410 in a quarter to earn 1 work credit. 2.  Insufficient Recent Wor...

Social Security "back pay" is a lump sum payment for the period of time between the onset (beginning) of your disability and the time your claim gets approved.  For example, you became disabled on June 1, 2017 but had to appeal and wait for a hearing.  Social Security finally got around to approving you on September 1, 2019. The period between June 1, 2017 and September 1, 2019 probably qualifies for 1 month of payment for each of those months (minus the mandatory 5-month waiting period).  That's a considerable amount of lump sum back pay.  However, if Social Security amends your onset date, it reduces the back pay.  Let's say for example they decide you were not disabled on June 1, 2017 but you didn't meet the rules for disability until December 1, 2018.  All benefits between June 1, 2017 and December 1, 2018 will be eliminated.  Your back pay just go cut! What Are Your Options if Social Security Reduces Your Back Pay Due to Amending Your Allege...

A Social Security appeal hearing lasts about 45 minutes.  It is your absolutely best chance to get approved and paid.  No step in the process, before or after the hearing, gives you as good a chance.  So, it is important to prepare for the hearing and to know what to expect before you get there. I spend one to two hours with each of my clients prior to going to the hearing.  We sit down in my office and go over the case.  What is relevant, what is irrelevant?  What should we focus on?  How should questions be answered?  Are there traps to avoid? Below, I am giving a few of the common and relevant things that you will be asked by an administrative law judge (ALJ).  This, of course, is not a complete list of questions. 1.  When did you last work?   The judge wants to know the most recent day you completed a day of work for pay, no matter how little the pay was.  If you worked 1 day, they want to know.  This is a Step 1...

A disability hearing puts the claimant in front of a judge for a 45-minute fact finding session.  The judge asks a lot of questions in search of the facts in a case.  You, the claimant, will do a lot of talking.  What you say can help or hurt your case. The first point I want to make is:  Tell the truth.  If you forget everything else in preparing for your hearing, just tell the truth. Some other tips that will help you at the hearing: 1.  Don't Exaggerate or Downplay Symptoms These are the two extremes to avoid.  You must sound reasonable. The symptoms and limitations that you describe must be in line with what the judge reads in your medical records.  The judge is skilled at comparing what you say to what your medical records say.  If you describe pain at 10 on the 1-out-of-10 scale, but the doctor has noted level 5 pain in your records, you come across as exaggerating.  On the other hand, I see claimants play down thei...

It isn't enough to tell the Social Security Administration that you are disabled.  It isn't even enough for your doctor to say that you are disabled.  You must prove that you are not able to sustain a full-time job. The government will require proof in the form of medical records over a period of time which show severe symptoms and limitations.  Your records must show severe restrictions in the kinds of activities you would be required to perform on the job:  standing, walking, lifting, kneeling, reaching, crouching or crawling.  You may also have restrictions in the use of your hands for handling or grasping.   Restrictions don't necessarily have to be physical.  Mental restrictions can prove that you are disabled, too.  Some of the mental functions of work include the ability to concentrate or focus for up to 2 hours at a time follow simple directions and complete tasks respond appropriately to supervisors and co-workers Maintain p...