social security disability - social security disability lawyer - supplemental security income - social security disability benefits

If you have recently received your hearing date letter notifying you of the date and time of your Social Security disability hearing you probably only have a month or two to make sure your file is complete. With this letter you should receive a copy of your file on CD. If you did not recieve your file there should be instructions on how you can get your file. You should review your file as soon as possible. This way, you can determine if all of the evidence you need to prove your case is in the Social Security file. You will want to make sure all of your hospital records, treatment records, and opinion evidence from your doctors are in the file. It is extremely important that you make sure you have opinion evidence from your doctors. There are a couple of types of opinion evidence that is valuable in a Social Security disability claim. One, is a detailed report from your doctor explaining your medical condition, your treatment and limitations you have from your medical conditions. The second type of opinion evidence is what is referred to as an RFC form. These are forms designed to help your docotr know what limitations are important in a Social Security disability claim and to get their opinion on what your limitations are in those areas. When you get your file you will also want to look to see what the Social Security doctors have said about your condition and limitations. You have waited a long time to get this hearing so make sure you do everything you can to win at this stage. This includes, getting a lawyer if necessary. You may strongly want to consider getting a lawyer if you are not 100% sure what you have to prove to win your case or if you have the evidence to do it. You may also want to consider getting a lawyer if your hearing letter states that a vocational expert and or medical expert will also be at the hearing. Hearings that include medical and vocational experts can be significantly more complex than hearings without them. Depending on their testimony you may have to cross examine these experts. This is not an easy task, especially if you have no experience in cross examination and or you do not understand entirely the purpose of these experts, and what their role is in the hearing. I would also like to take this opportunity to wish you all a happy Fourth of July weekend.

If you feel you are unable to work due to your medical condition it may be a good idea to speak to your doctor and get their opinion on whether they feel you can work. The reason I say this, is because in most cases to have a good shot at what your benefits you will need the support of your treating doctors. Doctors are people too, and because of this they have their own ideas about disability, just as you and I do, and the decision-makers at Social Security do. You must always keep in mind that some doctors might be of the opinion that almost nobody is disabled from being able to work. So I am not saying if one of your doctors feels you could work that you should give up hope. No one but you truly knows if you are able to work. However, it certainly helps to know ahead of time what your doctors opinion is. You should also ask yourself the same question and try to envision yourself doing gainful employment with the limitations you have. You must be honest with yourself, because the Social Security disability process is long and frustrating and there is no guarantee you will win your case. This means you could go months or years without any income. You should also consider the fact that even if you are found disabled by SSA you will not be entitled to Medicare benefits for two years from the date your entitled to SSD benefit payments. If you are applying for supplemental security income benefits in most states your entitled to Medicaid when you are approved for benefits but some states have additional qualifying factors. I am telling you this, because in these tough economic times if you have a severe medical condition or conditions it is easier to say to yourself that you will not be able to find work. You must keep in mind that Social Security will not only look at your past work but will also look to see if there is other work you do based on your age, education and work experience. By no means am I trying to discourage you from applying for disability if you are disabled. I just want you to keep in mind it is not easy to get disability and if you can work, you should work as long as possible. Another thing you should know, is that many states have state temporary disability which can get you benefits up to the first six months. I am surprised at how many people do not know this could be a possibility for them. This is extremely important for a few of reasons. The first reason is that Social Security will not pay you for the first six months of your disability. The second reason is that many people in desperation apply for unemployment benefits and then apply for Social Security disability. When you apply for unemployment benefits you are stating that you are willing and able to work. This obviously contradicts a Social Security disability application. So if you stopped working due your medical condition it would be a good idea to check with the state in which you live to see if they have state temporary disability. Again, not all states have this so you must check with your state. Third and finally, if you are able to get your state temporary disability this can help with the financial burden while waiting for a decision from Social Security. These are just some of the things you should consider when you are making the decision of whether or not you will apply for Social Security disability benefits. Read this website and learn how Social Security determines if you are disabled. If you know how they determine this and can apply to your situation it can help you come to conclusion of whether or not you have a good chance to win your disability claim.