How to Appeal Your Disability Claim

Your Lawrence disability attorney will advise you that the denial letter you receive from the Social Security Administration (SSA) will contain instructions about how to appeal your claim. The initial appeal you may request is a “reconsideration;” if the initial reconsideration is denied you have 60 days within which to request your second appeal, which consists of a hearing before an administrative law judge.

You and Your Lawrence Disability Attorney Have Three Options when Appealing:

1. Place a telephone call to the SSA, thereby initiating an appeal that will take place by mail and phone.

2. Request an appeal in person at the SSA office. The Administration will want a photocopy of the letter of denial, and you will need to receive signed documentation that your appeal was received within the time limit.

3. Initiate an online appeal at https://secure.ssa.gov/apps6z/iAppeals/ap001.jsp. Print a copy of the appeal receipt to ensure that you and your Lawrence disability attorney have proof your appeal was received on time.

Missing the 60 Day Deadline

Appealing within the time limit is crucial. If your appeal is late you will be required to submit a new application with the result that some back benefits may be lost. Usually, reaching the administrative law judge hearing level quickly is beneficial, so your Lawrence disability lawyer will advise filing your appeals as soon as possible.

Understanding appeals and their associated time limits is important. A Lawrence disability lawyer has the experience and knowledge necessary to help you navigate the process successfully. Contact Gerard A. Palma by calling 888-295-4955 to schedule a free consultation.

Are Opinions Regarding Disability Subjective?

One of the challenges of a disability attorney in Lowell is how to use a doctor’s opinion of a claimant’s impairments effectively when the Social Security Administration knows that inherently a degree of subjectivity is always present.

Subjectivity of Medical Opinions

The Social Security Administration (SSA) recognizes that an individual claiming a disability is restricted by his symptoms and that these are difficult to objectively quantify.  The SSA says is not possible to use laboratory or clinical diagnostic techniques to objectively measure symptoms(SSR 96-7p).  However, a disability attorney in Lowell knows that the SSA accepts the opinion of a physician regarding the severity and nature of his or her patient’s symptoms, activities the patient can perform in spite of her or his impairments, and the mental or physical restrictions the patient possesses.  Two things are needed to establish what a patient is capable of:

• Professional opinion and judgment to determine if an individual’s symptoms may be attributed to a well-reasoned medical diagnosis, and
• Consistent correlation between the symptom-related limitations the individual claims, and the medical findings and signs.

Should Patients Be Compared?

A disability attorney in Lowell will advise you that, according to SSA regulations, the “average man” test is not relevant and should not be used.  The fact that some individuals are limited by their symptoms more than others is acknowledged by the SSA.  Individual differences must be taken into account due to some individual’s ability to deal with impairment better than others.

If you have questions concerning your disability case that would like to discuss with a competent and knowledgeable disability attorney in Lowell, please call Attorney Gerald A. Palma at 888-295-4955.

Explaining the Duration Requirement

Your Lawrence Social Security disability attorney will advise you that your impairment must meet a duration requirement to qualify for disability benefits.  Unless death is the expected result of your impairment, your impairment must have already lasted or be expected to lasta continuous twelve months.

Impairments that come and go or have short intervals of remission, but still have periods that are disabling enough to prevent sustained participation in substantial gainful activity, can still meet the duration requirement.  However, attempting to piece together unrelated serious impairments in order to meet the duration requirement is specifically prohibited by the regulations.

If a duration denial is made, it typically occurs because of two factors: the duration requirement was not met at the time the decision was made, and the impairment is one that more than likely will improve before twelve months has gone by.

In cases where an impairment may or may not improve during the twelve month duration, your Lawrence Social Security disability attorney may be able to persuade the decision maker to stall your case until it becomes clear whether your disabled state will persist for the full twelve months. However, due to the sluggish Social Security administrative process, the twelve months have usually already passed before your hearing is held.This typically allows an accurate duration assessment to be made at the time of the hearing.

If you have questions about your disability claim and would like to visit with a competent and experienced Lawrence Social Security disability attorney, please contact Gerard A. Palma by calling 888-295-4955.