Last week I was at the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives conference and this week I am at the NOVA convention and next week I will be at a meeting with SSA to discuss the agencies program for lawyers to access the claimants file through the net.  So if you have e-mailed me it will take me a little longer than normal to get back to you but I try to get back to everyone who e-mails me as soon as possible.  When I am away from my office I try to add more pages to my website.  I have already added a couple of pages and will probably add a few more before I am done.  As always I wish you all luck with your disability claims.  I will post again soon.

It looks like attorney's access to the e-file over the Internet is still a little ways away.  At the NOSSCR conference I learned that the pilot program for allowing lawyers to view the SSA file remotely is not scheduled until June 2008.  It sounds like they still have some issues to deal with.  At-least it looks like it will become a reality soon.  I still believe when this program is implemented it will be the best thing that SSA has done to date to speed up the long processing times at the Social Security Administration.  I will be tracking this program closely and if I hear anything of significance on the issue I will report it hear.  I will continue to report on things I learned at the conference and will be adding more pages to my site this week.  I will soon be attending the NOVA conference on Veterans Disability and will also be reporting on that event as well. 

Michael J. Astrue Commissioner of Social Security spoke at he NOSSCR conference this week. He talked about his plan to decrease processing time of Social Security Disability claims. I will talk about a few of the his plans to reduce the huge backlog of cases. One thing he talked about was the success and need to expand the quick disability determination. The QDD is a computer program that screens cases for those that are most likely to win. They have reported that 97% of these cases were decided in the first 21 days. It presently screens for only a few medical conditions and most are types of cancer. This program was tested in the New England states. The plan is to expand the program to other states and include more medical conditions in the screening. He also plans to continue and even expand the use of video hearings to the point were lawyers will be able to hold hearings from their office. He also stated that they are hard at work to make SSA 100% paperless which would make the processing of claims at all levels much quicker. He also spoke of the return of the attorney adviser program which allows senior SSA lawyers to make fully favorable decisions before a case is assigned to an ALJ. He was greatly concerned by the baby boom generation which is starting to reach retirement age and the impact that would have in conjunction with his shrinking SSA work force. Commissioner Astrue also spoke of the problem of ALJ's who were not adjudicating enough cases.  After listening to him speak I came to the conclusion that he knows the immense problems he faces and appears to have the plan and determination to make a positive impact on the Social Security System.

So you have just received a denial on your Social Security Disability claim.  Don't panic and don't give up.  The best thing you can do is stop and think about what you have done to try and win.  Did you get in all your medical evidence?  Did you submit RFC forms from your treating doctors?  Did you take the time to learn all you can about how SSA determines if you are disabled?  Did you understand what you have to prove to win?  Did you handle the case yourself or did you get a lawyer to help you?  If you did all the things above perhaps you just got unlucky and the person deciding your case feels no one is disabled.  If you are taking the time to try and get disability benefits than you probably feel strongly that you can't work.  If you feel this way keep fighting.  The good news is the Social Security process has many appeals.  At each step of the way don't get discouraged if you lose, figure out why and do what you can to improve your case.  If you get denied and you don't do anything to improve your file it is hard to imagine a different result.  The best thing you can do to help yourself win is be knowledgeable, get the evidence you need and keep appealing. 

I have been hard at work updating the site recently.  I have added more state specific pages.  I have also included more statistics on how long it takes at the hearing stage and provided the denial rates at application and reconsideration for every state.  I have also tried to post more often.  I will be attending two conferences this month one on Social Security Disability and one on Veterans disability.  I will report back any information I think may be of interest to you so make sure to check back.  The subject I will be most interested in at the conference is how SSA is implementing changes to speed up the claims process. 

I am frequently asked by people if they would be eligible for SSI.  The first thing you should know is that SSI eligibility is based on financial need and is only available to those with little or no income.  This is a different program than SSDI (Social Security Disability) which eligibility is based on whether you worked and paid into the system enough work quarters.  Both programs also require you to be disabled.  Figuring out whether you qualify for SSI can be very complex I recommend you read my page called SSI which can be found in the navigation bar.  At the bottom of this page is an SSI eligibility tool from the SSA website.  It is a questionnaire that will help you determine if you are eligible.  I hope you find the tool useful.