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.

How does the Social Security Administration assess disability using medical-vocational rules?

The Social Security Administration(SSA) first evaluates which work-based activities a claimant is still capable of doing in light of their impairments, which SSA refers to as a residual functional capacity (RFC) assessment. SSA utilizes the RFC assessment to determine whether the claimant is able to complete any substantial job the claimant has performed in the last 15 years.

If the claimant cannot do such work, then SSA converts the RFC into a degree of work outlined in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles: sedentary, light or medium work.

A decision maker then considers the claimant’s combination of RFC, age, education and work experience, determiningwhetherthe claimant’sunique combination of factors makes them disabled or not diabled.

What methods does the SSA use to determine if drug addiction or alcoholism is “material”?

If the claimant hypothetically stopped abusing drugs or alcohol, would their capacity to work be reinstated? If so, then the claimant’s substance abuse will be deemed “material” and disqualify the claimant for disability benefits. For example, if alcohol led to a disabling liver disease and ceasing to drink would repair the claimant’s ability to work, SSA would find that the alcoholism is material, making the claimant ineligible for benefits.

However, if cutting out drinking would not cause the claimant to be capable of working again, SSA would determine that alcoholism is not material, despite alcoholism causing the initial damage. In this case, the claimant would qualify for benefitseven if continuing to drink.

For more information regarding SSA’s medical-vocational rules, contactLawrence Social Security disability attorneyGerard A. Palma at 888-295-4955.

Individuals Who Will Be Present at Your SSD Hearing

Your Lawrence Social Security disability lawyer understands that some claimants are uncomfortable about the prospect of having many people in the room during their hearing. It may reassure you to know that your hearing will be private, and that only those individuals necessary to the proceedings must be present.

Who You Can Expect to Be in the Room

It is useful to consider from the outset that an SSD hearing is not a trial. Should you have a problem with observers being present, you have a right to deny their admittance. The Administrative Law Judge also has the right to exclude observers.

Your Lawrence Social Security disability lawyer will explain who must be present at the hearing, but generally only the ALJ, the judge’s assistance, the claimant, his/her attorney, and witnesses will be in the courtroom. ALJs differ on how they include witnesses. Some allow the witnesses to be present for the entire proceeding; others ask them to wait outside after opening statements until it is time for their testimony. The logic behind the latter is that a witness who has not heard other testimony is more believable, for his recollection has not been influenced by that of others.

If you do not wish for a particular witness to be present for the entire proceeding, the ALJ will not have a problem with obliging. Indeed, the ALJ may not even want you to be present for witness testimony, especially if you have suffered a mental impairment.

Call for Assistance

If you have been denied on an SSD claim, don’t give up. A Lawrence Social Security disability lawyer may be able to help win your case on appeal, especially at the ALJ hearing level and beyond. Call Gerard A. Palma at 888-295-4955 to arrange a consultation.

Age and Social Security Disability

The most basic requirement for receiving SSD is that your impairment is severe enough that you are not able to work for at least 12 months. However, being unable to work is not, in itself, enough for you to qualify for benefits. Your age factors in as well. If your claim is denied initially, you may consider speaking with a Lawrence Social Security disability attorney about filing an appeal.

Age as a Factor

The basic rule of thumb is, the older you are, the better your chances for being deemed eligible for SSD. The following is a breakdown of how age factors into the equation:

• Age 60 or older: Provided you truly cannot work and your impairment meets the five points outlined by SSA, you have a good chance of being found eligible.
• Age 55: Most applicants age 55 will be eligible.
• Age 50: You have a fair chance of receiving SSD benefits if you cannot work at any job you have held in the past 15 years, or any job that exists in sufficient numbers.
• Age 45: At this age, eligibility is possible, especially if the claimant cannot read English.
• Below age 45: It will be more difficult to get benefits if you are younger than age 45. If you are truly disabled, however, a Lawrence Social Security disability attorney may be able to assist with an appeal.

If you are concerned that age may be an issue, keep in mind that you lose nothing by applying. It may be worth your while, furthermore, to appeal each time you are denied at least until your case is heard before an administrative law judge.

For More Information

If you need information or assistance with an SSD claim, Lawrence Social Security disability attorney Gerard A. Palma will be happy to speak with you. Call today at (888) 295-4955.

What You Can Do about Late Appeals

How long does it take to get disability benefits? A seasoned, skillful Massachusetts Social Security lawyer says late appeal filings from disability denials make the time take longer but are not necessarily fatal to a claim because the claimant may be able to show good cause for an untimely filing, especially if assisted and represented by competent counsel.

Examples of Good Cause

What can Social Security claimants do after missing appeal filing deadlines? Most start again and file new claims for disability benefits; however, in some cases, Social Security may accept appeals even though filed late.

Good Cause for Missing Appeal Deadlines

Social Security decides whether there was good cause for an untimely appeal filing by considering

• whether any circumstances prevented a timely filing,
• whether Social Security or the Centers for Medicare or Medicaid Services (CMS) did anything that confused or misled the claimant and caused the missed the deadline,
• whether the claimant understood what was needed, or
• whether the claimant had a physical, mental, educational, or language limitation preventing a timely appeal filing.

Social Security has published examples of circumstances where disability claimants had good and excusable causes for late appeals. The list is not exhaustive. If the reason for a missed deadline is not on it, Social Security still can find good cause. The examples just show how serious the circumstances must be for the finding. Social Security may find good cause in any of the following circumstances:

• The claimant was very sick when the appeal was due and could not contact Social Security directly or through anyone else. Claimants need to show serious sickness, or Social Security will find that they could have filed the appeal on time or asked someone to do it for them.
• There was a death or serious sickness in the claimant’s immediate family.
• Fire or another mishap close in time to the appeal deadline destroyed records necessary for the appeal and important to meeting the deadline. For example, if the claimant’s house burned down the week before the deadline with the denial notice inside, there would be a strong argument for good cause for missing the deadline.
• The claimant actively looked for additional evidence to support the claim but failed to request an extension of time before the deadline passed.
• The claimant asked Social Security for more information about the denial before the appeal deadline passed. Then there would be 60 days after Social Security provided the requested additional information to file for reconsideration or for an appeal.
• Social Security or CMS provided incorrect or confusing misinformation about appealing the claim denial.
• The claimant did not understand the requirement to file an appeal by the deadline or was unable to appeal on time because of a physical or mental problem.
• The claimant did not receive notice of a denial. Proof of non-receipt is necessary. For example, if Social Security sends the notice to the wrong address after the claimant provides the correct address, there may be good cause for a late appeal.
• The claimant misunderstands the need to send the appeal filing to Social Security, sends it to another government agency within the time limit, and the recipient agency does not forward it before the deadline.
• Any other unusual or unavoidable circumstances that make unreasonable any expectation for the claimant to meet the deadline.

Usually, the later the appeal, the harder for the claimant to show good cause. For instance, if the claimant has a heart attack and is hospitalized for two weeks around the time of the appeal deadline, there will be no good cause for an appeal filing a year late.

How to Request Acceptance of a Late Appeal

Requests to accept late appeals must be in writing. Usually, claimants submit their appeal forms and then explain why there is good cause on the forms or on separate submissions at the same time.

Social Security must accept the appeal no matter how late. Social Security then has an obligation to consider the explanation to see whether it amounts to a good reason for filing late. The agency may contact the claimant for more information.

Even if Social Security finds no good cause for a late appeal, it sometimes deems the date of submission of the written request to accept late appeal filing as a protective filing date for the claimant’s next application for benefits.

Consult a Massachusetts Social Security Lawyer

The claim examination process can be slow and arduous. Most claimants find the regulations and procedures complex and confusing. Fortunately, we can offer expert assistance and representation in Social Security disability claims for benefits to individuals with long-term disabilities.

How long does it take to get disability? Usually too long but the most important advice a Social Security lawyer can give is not to quit after denial of a claim. Unfortunately, many worthy claimants make this mistake. Instead, they need to appeal until they get a hearing before an administrative law judge. Recent statistics show that only 22 percent of claimants for back injuries obtained benefits on their initial applications, but 70 percent of those who appealed ultimately prevailed on their claims.

Social Security disability evaluators tend to emphasize the importance of medical records, which are not always fully informative about the severity of a claimant’s symptoms. At a hearing with assistance and representation of a Massachusetts Social Security lawyer, the claimant has the best opportunity to explain to the administrative law judge all the ways the disability denies opportunity to work.

Potential clients are often concerned about legal fees. At the Palma Law Offices, fees are contingent on winning the claim. No fee is ever due unless and until clients succeed in recovering retroactive benefits. The usual fee is 25 percent of the past-due benefits awarded on the claim. No fee comes out of the regular monthly payments. A better investment is hard to imagine. Call (978) 970-2211 or (888) 295-4955 today to schedule a free consultation.