social security disability - social security
disability lawyer - supplemental security income - social security disability benefits
This is the ultimate Social
Security Disability web site.
The purpose of this site is to provide free SSDI and
SSI information. I provide information all in one place that you will have a hard time finding on the Internet
anywhere. This site should help those who are contemplating applying for Social Security Disability or Supplemental
Security Income and those individuals who have already applied for Social Security Disability benefits, no matter
what stage they are at in the process. The information in this site should be used as a helpful guide to the Social Security Disability process. It will also provide information on how to win your disability claim. If you have any questions that are
not answered in this site or want a free consultation feel free to e-mail me. I will try to answer any questions you might have about Social Security Disability (SSDI) or Supplemental Security
Income (SSI). This site is the best place to go for free Social Security Disability information. If you read
this site you will know how to apply for disability benefits and how to win SSDI (SSD) and SSI. In addition
to this site, available to you are other sites which can further help you in your claim for benefits.
Websites are
a dime a dozen and we caution you to be careful when choosing which ones to utilize. There are many web sites out there that
are very good. We caution you to be careful of websites where the identity of the firm or author is hidden.
They are solely to generate clients. They offer only enough information to confuse you or convince you that you need
a lawyer. Other sites are constructed by individuals who have never handled a Social Security Disability claim
nor ever intend to. They are marketing people who are looking to sell leads to lawyers. In fact, there are some
websites out there using titles similar to mine don't be fooled. Here you will find Social Security Disability
information, answers and advice on how to apply, am i disabled, how to appeal and how to win SSD, SSDI, and SSI.
I do not hide who I am on this site and I will try to answer any questions you may have but I will
not pressure anyone to retain me as their lawyer. My sincere hope is that the information in this disability guide is
helpful to anyone seeking disability benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA). I will try to update
the information in this site as often as possible including an almost daily blog. In addition to the Blog on this site
please visit my other Social Security disability Blog for more SSDI and SSI tips. So be sure to bookmark this site for the latest news. This is a free disability
guide and will help with Social Security Disability and Supplemental Security claims. Please note that it is my
intention to provide accurate and up to date information on this site and I make great effort to do this. However, the
information on this site is not guaranteed and no lawyer client relationship exist. This site is not a substitute for
consultation with a lawyer.
How to Use this site. If you are new to
the process of Social Security Disability I recommend you start be reading the disability process. This page will give you an overview of how your claim is processed and what procedural steps you have to take.
To understand how SSA determines if you are disabled you should read the page "am I disabled?". After you read this page you should follow the different links to get a better understanding of what it
takes to prove your disability. I also strongly suggest you read "how to win" and "key to SSDI and SSI". There is a lot more information on this site but this should give you a good starting point to help your claim.
I provide this free information on Social Security Disability and Supplemental Security
Income so that everyone who is disabled has the tools they need to win disability. If you need tips on how to win
your SSDI or SSI claim continue to read this site and bookmark it so you can come back and use it as a reference while you
take on the Social Security Disability process.
1-877-527-5529
Here is what one person had to say about my website "Thanks for the site, absolutely a "Bible"
for all who have fear, doubt or lack of knowledge." Christopher. To see what other have said
about this website read the website testimonials on the page called "Best Social Security Disability Website".
If you need a lawyer for your Social Security Disability or SSI claim or just want to ask a few questions you can also
call me at 1-877-527-5529 and ask for Karl. Or you can click on the following link and fill out the
form if you prefer a local lawyer note that on form.
Whether you are represented by an attorney or not take it upon yourself to learn as
much about the Social Security disability process as you can. You have already taken the initiative by researching on-line and reading this site.
I also recommend that you visit the Social Security Administration's web site. It is a bit confusing but can be
a great resource for your claim for benefits.
If you choose to get your benefits without an attorney, this guide will help you learn the process used to determine if one
is disabled. This is not a complete site about Social Security and should not be considered legal advice.
You should also use the SSA's website in conjunction with this site. This will increase your chances of giving your
case the best chance to win your benefits. Remember the law in these cases is confusing and convoluted.
Statistics show that those claimants that are represented by an attorney are more likely
to win their claim for benefits than those who are not. In my opinion, the reason for this is because the lawyers
that handle Social Security Disability claims have a better understanding of how the Social Security Administration decides your case and they develop your case accordingly.
Remember this web site
is my attempt to give you the tools you need to win your SSDI or SSI benefits with or without a lawyer. If you decide you need a lawyer for your disability case or just want/need
to ask some questions, feel free to contact me. I also offer a free case evaluation for Social Security Disability and Supplemental
Security Income.
This site is full of free information and practical advice
on Social Security Disability. If you study this site you can learn the following: How to apply for Social Security Disability. What is the process by which SSA determines if you are disabled. How to win SSDI or SSI. What are the GRID rules? What you can expect and how to handle a Social Security Disability hearing. What are the medical listing of impairments? Do I need a lawyer for my disability claim. The definitions of common terms used. Helpful tips to help win your disability claim. What are Residual Functional Capacity (RFC) forms and why are they so important? What does your past work have to do with disability? What is
child's SSI? How to win Child's SSI. What is the difference between Social Security Disability and
SSI? What are the most important things to know and do when trying to get benefits. Are you disabled? What is an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) and what is his or her role in the process? What is the Appeals
Council? What can you do to help your Social Security Disability or SSI claim. How to get Social Security Disability
and SSI.
I wish you good luck with your claim and further encourage you
to finish reading this site.
The short answer is usually. SSA takes into account age when evaluating if someone can learn new skills for other work.
To get a better understanding of what I am talking about read my page called "am I disabled". You will see
the steps Social Security follows to determine if you are disabled. If your condition is severe enough to meet or equal
a listing then age does not factor into the equation. If you don't and you get to step 5 this is were it becomes
relevant. Chances are if you are under 50 years old you will have to show you are limited to less than sedentary work
at this step. So how does one prove they can't do even sedentary work? See my terms page for definition
of sedentary work. Some limitations that can prevent this type of work are difficulty using your hands, mental
limitations (ie. concentration and memory), inability to sit for any length of time, extreme pain causing difficulty in concentration,
side effects from medication, need to take frequent breaks, vision limitations, and many others. Just think about how
your condition would affect you if you had to do basically a sit down job for 8 hours a day with normal breaks 5 days
a week. It is not enough that you say you have these type of limitations. You need to have RFCs from your doctor
that show the limitations you have and back that up with medical evidence.
What is new in Social Security Disability and Veterans Law
I will be attending a conference of SSDI lawyers in a few weeks and I will update my site with any new information that
I feel may be helpful to you. I am also going to a conference on Veterans disability and will provide any new information
from that as well. Disability law is constantly changing and I will do everything I can to keep the site up to date
and full of new material. I find these conferences are extremely interesting and informative. I am especially
interested in how the new process in the Boston area is going and plan to write my thoughts on that. So keep checking
back I am adding new stuff all the time.
Medical conditions that have become more common in disability claims.
In my practice I have noticed an increase in claims for certain medical conditions. Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, RSD,
and Sarcoidosis are a few of these medical conditions. I don't know for sure if this is a general trend in Social
Security Disability or if it is just matter of people who I have helped in the past with these conditions referring people
to me. If it is a general trend I believe one reason for this is the medical community has recently become more aware
of these conditions and there symptoms and thus they are being diagnosed more frequently. The medical community and
Social Security Administration also appear to be more accepting of these conditions as real medical conditions. It was
not to long ago and unfortunately still occasionally today that many of the people suffering from these conditions had
a hard time proving disability because they had no clear diagnosis. I can remember many Social Security consultative
doctors stating there was no objective medical evidence of any impairment. I can say from my experience that fortunately
for those suffering from these conditions that the trend has appeared to have changed. I have added to my site
some pages on some of these conditions and how they are treated in a Social Security Disability claim.
I just got back from a few days off. I just want to let you know if you e-mailed me I will respond as soon as possible.
I plan to work on more individual medical conditions this week and will add them to my page labeled other medical conditions.
Many of you have requested RFC forms from me I plan to add more RFCs to my site to make them easier to get. I am fine
tuning some specific RFCs for certain medical conditions. This will make available RFCs for specific conditions.
The general physical and mental forms are good I frequently use them myself but I am trying to make them better and yet still
simple enough that a doctor will fill them out. I have found that many doctors refuse to fill out forms that are too
detailed. The key is to find a balance between being thorough and yet practical. After all a form is only helpful
to your case if the doctor fills it out.
Should you use representative recommended by insurance company?
Those who are receiving Long Term Disability benefits from an insurance company are often referred to a representative
to help them with their Social Security Disability claim. The reason the insurance companies do this is because if you
get SSDI then they can pay less through an offset. Should you take the representative they refer you to? It may
seem to make sense since the insurance company has an interest in you winning SS benefits so the person they recommend
is probably a good representative. The thing to keep in mind is that this representative although not an employee
of the insurance company does have a relationship with them. Now suppose there is a clause in your LTD policy that says
you can only get LTD benefits for 2 years for a psychiatric condition. You may be disabled for psychiatric and
physical reasons. How you pursue your SSDI claim could be influenced by the fact that if you are found disabled by Social
Security for mostly psychiatric reasons with less emphasis on your physical problems your LTD carrier could use this against
you and deny you after 2 years. Let me first say that most representatives would not put their business relationship
with the insurance company ahead of a client. But I personally would want someone unconnected with an insurance company since
I may have to be in a legal fight with that insurance company later.
If you have not been to this site in a while check out the new additions to the website. I have added a few new medical
conditions. I also added some information on some new states. I continue to add more posts on my blog
both here and at my blog on blogger. The Ultimate Disability Guide will continue to update regularly so don't forget
to book mark this site. I will be adding more medical conditions, states and general information about Social Security
Disability and SSI. If there is an area of this law that you would like to see me address let me know by e-mail.
If you know anyone who might be helped by reading this site be sure to let them know about it. As always, good luck.
Wait Times in Social Security Disability claims will get longer for a while
My opinion is that the amount of time it takes to get decisions will get longer at-least in the short term. I say this
because I think SSA is trying to make to many changes at ounce and they probably don't have the adequate amount of funding
to do so. Social Security is testing a new process in the Boston area. They are revamping there system on the
way lawyers get paid. SSA is also implementing electronic files. They are also making numerous other changes all
aimed at improving and speeding up the system. But as with any new changes all these things have to be integrated into
the existing Social Security System. Just imagine SSA employees have to learn all the new stuff while trying to keep
up with there present duties. In my practice I have seen the results of this. I am only speaking from my own observations
but I have noticed that many ALJs appear to have retired instead of having to learn electronic files. Even if these
ALJs are replaced it takes time and the new ALJs have to learn the system. In January of this year a new system
for paying lawyers went into affect and payment to attorneys was almost at a stand still for two months prior to and to months after
the changes. Again this is from my observation and that of other lawyers I spoke to. So I expect longer wait times
at-least until Social Security works out the new procedures. But then again the new process is coming after they are
done testing it in the Boston area so it could be bad for a while.
Reopening a Prior Claim for Social Security Disability Benefits
In a Social Security Disability claim you can only get paid from one year prior to when you applied. In an SSI
claim you can only get paid from date of your application. There is however a way to get more benefits if
you had a prior claim that was denied. You can attempt to reopen the prior claim thus allowing your benefits to be paid using the earlier
application instead of the later application. This is not always possible and the rules that govern this are complex.
What you need to know is if you had applied before and you have a lawyer make sure to tell him right away.
If you don't have an attorney you may want to consider consulting one who has handled many SSDI claims about
possibly reopening your prior claim. In my practice I have been able to get years of additional benefits paid to
disabled individuals using the rules on reopening. Not everyone who has had a prior claim can have that claim reopened
but it an issue well worth exploring.
We have attempted to provide up to date and accurate information, however the information in this site is not guaranteed.
No attorney client relationship exist. The information in this site is not a substitute for consultation with a qualified
attorney.
for
information on social security disability or if you need a social security disability lawyer to assist you with supplemental security income
or social security disability benefits then we are your primary source
