Social Security Hearings Continue Despite COVID-19 Epidemic
The recent outbreak of COVID-19 has shut down just about the entire economy and government offices. To say things have been difficult, concerning resolving disability cases and issues with the Social Security Administration, is an understatement. However, the Social Administration is still moving forward with all hearings. Now, all hearings are being conducted via telephonically with the Administrative Law Judge, the attorney, and the claimant. What this means, is that claima
Social Security Disability Hearings During COVID-19
From March 16, 2020, and moving forward, the Social Security Administration has announced that there will be no in-person hearings until the COVID-19 scare has passed. If you have an attorney, the best thing you can do at this time is to contact his or her office and make arrangements for your upcoming hearing. For my own clients, most are now coming to my office and we are together conducting a hearing over the phone with the presiding judge. This accommodation to continue t
Getting Social Security Disability can be hard for some, but it's not impossible
There are certain impairments people have and some groups of people in which obtaining Social Security disability benefits can be harder than for others. Let's start with the simple: 1. Certain kinds of mental and physical impairments. The vast majority of claimants that are denied, fit within this category. If a person is only alleging mental impairments that keep him or her from working, this makes it more difficult to be approved. The primary reason is that you can't see d
Qualifying as a Worn Out Worker for Social Security Disability
There are two ways in which a claimant may qualify for Social Security disability with a long history for hard, arduous work. There are as follows: (1) a person with a marginal education and long work experience to arduous unskilled physical labor, and a person who is (2) advanced age, limited education and no work experience. Let's just concentrate on the first one for today. This kind of work and education background can become quite important for those under the age of 55,
Sometimes It's Okay to Cancel Your Social Security Disability Hearing
Sometimes, it really is okay to cancel your Social Security disability hearing before it's time to see the judge and explain your case. While this may seem like a setback, especially after you've waited so long to have your hearing in the first place, canceling may actually help your case in the future. The first, is if you have been denied at the hearing level in the past. All judges take one of two views on claimants that have attempted to win their disability benefits at t
Do you understand why your disability case was denied?
It's New Year's Eve, you've just opened your mail, and lo and behold, you received a denial on the application you submitted for disability benefits to the Social Security Administration. Those bastards! -You've worked since you were 18 years-old and you've paid into the system. Not to mention, you know lots of people on disability already and there's not a damn thing wrong with them. Maybe so, maybe no. But, do you know why your case was denied? Do you know if you actually h
Your Social Security disability case was denied -now what?
First of all, don't give up. What you do next, will be determined by what stage in the process you received your denial. Let's start with the easy ones: 1. You filed your initial application and then received a denial. Easy, file what is called a Reconsideration. You can file it either online or at the local field office. Either way, you'll need to explain to SSA why you believe they were wrong in denying your claim. At this stage, you'll want to make sure you update your med
If you're over 50 and you can't work, why you absolutely must file for Social Security disab
Some of us never plan on retiring. Given the current status of our investment accounts, especially those of us that lost just about everything through the 2008 recession, we wouldn't much care about the benefits of filing for Social Security disability. If you're like me, even after age 65, I'll (hopefully) still be getting up each morning early and heading into the office. I love being a Social Security disability attorney. I don't want to stop any time soon. However, there
Why Past Work is so important for your Social Security disability case
There are 5 steps one must go through in order to be found disabled. Step 4, requires a claimant to be found unable to return to any past job he or she performed (at a certain level) within the last 15 years. Step 5 requires that a claimant is unable to even perform any work within the national economy, given his or her impairments. This is a long time look-back period, one in which could destroy a claimant's chance of being found disabled. This is especially true if a perso
Are You Disabled Enough For Social Security Disability?
In order to be found disabled under Social Security's rules, one must meet a specific criteria. What happens over and over again, is that a person may believe he or she is disabled, but will be denied because he or she does not fit within the "rules." Let's start with the most basic concept to being found disabled. In order to be found disabled under Social Security disability rules, a person must have such a severe impairment or combination of impairments that he or she has
