I just received my first disability denial letter

[Quackers]

I was hoping for an approval but knew the odds were against me. I contacted a law firm yesterday and they are taking the case. The bad part is they get 25% of any back pay. It just seems that the system is designed to make you give up. After looking around online last night, I found these statistics about social security applications. It makes me wonder what the real purpose is to have people in the lower levels decide anything. It seems they deny deny deny and finally a judge has to step in to make the real decision.

[AnnieBW]

1. Submit again

Apparently Social Security disapproves everyone the first time around. Possibly look into getting a lawyer, too.

[grilled onions]

2. They Want You To Fail

Nothing helped me more than my English class. I read and reread every question. Some questions were trick questions. I thought I had it right but they denied my first time around. I was upset,angry but more determined to win second time around.
Besides all the medical xrays, (this was before MRI's being standard testing),and other tests, I made sure I gave in great detail all my limitations to ward off the usual job substitutions. I was not trying to avoid work but just proving there was little that I could do in just about every job I would be qualified. I cannot even hold change so I made that simple limitation so they knew retail was out. Also walking,standing,climbing(steps to even get on a bus or work where the job may be on a second floor). It may seem simple tasks that you can't do but think of what is difficult and put it down. It all adds up. Pain never seems to get many points. They figure if you can get a certain pain pill,surgery etc you will be able to work(even if you know better.
Don't give up.

[friendly_iconoclast]

5. The 'eligiblility by ordeal' tactic is rather well known by now...

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. Mr D got approved first time around

He does have an obvious physical disability
and
we live in a sparsely populated area
both conditions I think were helpful in moving the paperwork along
but
in spite of that, it still took 18 months from application to first check.

since there was no income ( we had savings) during that time, they paid him from date of his last working day to the day he was officially on SSDI.
It was a nice lump sum, and tax free.

If your lawyer can get you accepted, the 25% of the first check is probably worth the rest of the income you will get every month, and the peace of mind.
Plus you will be eligible for a good insurance program. Be sure to get Part B, they will automatically give you Part A.

[Kaleva]

7. Mine was approved the 1st time in three months.

I have a long history of well documented medical problems and my doctor told me to apply for disability as attempting to continue to work was life threatening. But I was bull headed and did try to continue to work until finally in October of 2010 I told my wife I just couldn't do it anymore. I applied that month and received an approval letter three months later in January.

[Quackers]

20. I was fortunate in one regard.

They tagged it as I was a veteran and thanks to that, I had my decision within two months of applying. If I understand the lawyer fees correctly, they receive 25% of everything back to the first day of disability with maximum cap of $6,000.

[Cha]

4. I'm so sorry, Quackers! From what I hear from others in the past.. just keep plugging away.

And, Good Luck!

[Quackers]

22. Thank you

And I'll keep fighting!

[Chemisse]

6. Just look at how many people fail to appeal.

That's why they do it.

Just keep plugging away. My husband was finally approved. I think he was denied twice, then approved. We never got to the hearing, but close. We had a lawyer. It's hard to know if that helped or not, but I suspect it did.

[dflprincess]

8. My friend's claim was denied but she did win on appeal

But it took nearly a year. Hang in there.

I swear the only person I know whose claim was accepted immediately was my brother's. But he had stage 3b lung cancer, and the company that was paying his disability insurance did the paperwork and I'm sure they knew
all the ins and outs. (And his doctor wrote hie report so it sounded like brother wouldn't survive long enough to mail the application)

[doc03]

9. I am not saying you don't have a disability but do you know how many

people that get a disability that don't deserve one. They have to make it tough to prove to keep the
freeloaders off the rolls. I know a guy that claimed men in black suits were shooting his house with lasers,
put acid on the fittings on his propane tank and he walked around with a cane for two years. The month he got his first
check he was suddenly cured. No cane, no men in black. Since then he bought a new Harley and a ski boat.

[DesertFlower]

11. that's the thing. if i wanted to act like i had a mental

illness i probably would have been approved the first time. instead i told the truth and got denied 2x.

[doc03]

13. I know other people in your boat, it seems some get approved

right away and others have to go through hell to get it. Good luck.

[DesertFlower]

14. i did get it after hiring a lawyer. i was trying

to make a point that i could have "faked" it.

[doc03]

17. One of my friends took a couple years and ended up

filing bankruptcy before they finally approved him. He is still in financial trouble he sold an almost new truck when in the process
now drives an old beater and can't barrow any money.

[DesertFlower]

27. fortunately i was married but had always worked.

it took a year and a half. when i got it retroactively paid off some bills.

[helpmetohelpyou]

25. I don't know if it's true or not but this was told to me by a lawyer

It's mostly just luck of the draw a lot of times on who your first examiner is.

Two examiners can look at the same case .
One will deny it while the other will approve it.

I know someone that got it the first time around and I was amazed she was approved .
I thought for sure she was going to have to go the whole route all the way to a judge.

[Quackers]

23. I understand

I know you're not implying anything.

[DesertFlower]

10. i was turned down 2x even though 3 docs

said i couldn't work. hired a lawyer and went before and administrative law judge.

won my case. yes the lawyer got 25% but i still got a retroactive check for $12,000.

[NightWatcher]

12. I got mine the first time through but then again I have several of the qualifying diseases

Good luck getting yours. It aint much, but the insurance that comes two years later is nice.

[daredtowork]

15. The real crime: how do you survive for YEARS

A key part of your application is you are so disabled that you are unble to work. Yet you somehow have to hold out through YEARS of the SSI/SSDI appeals process. This is a devastating contradiction in the system that pushes disability applicants onto welfare - and welfare is inadequate since the GOP don't want people to be able to live on it and "avoid" work.

The situation is even worse for people who were poor before they attempted to apply for disability. They may have patchy medical records because of lack of insurance and doctors just assuming they are malingerers. If their medical records aren't a slam dunk, they may not get a lawyer to take their case.

My own case is even more frustrating. What do you do if the ACA improved your condition, but you are in debt to welfare for the time spent waiting to get to an SSI judge? In my case it's been over 2 years already. My current situation is in flux- I have no idea what will happen.

[DonCoquixote]

16. don't give up

get a lawyer because they can try to switch things from you local court to the federal lkevel, which is exactly what happened to m e. They are counting on trying to wear you out.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

18. Most of the hoops they set up were put up by Republicans.

[Ineeda]

19. Three additional things to remember to factor in:

Emotional instability. There are emotional ramifications of being disabled, especially if you work with the public in any way, or with other employees for that matter. And I'm not saying raving lunatic, just normal (and genuine) depression.
Fatigue.
Reliability. There are often not-so-bad days and bad days -- you need to be reliable to hold any job.

These are things applicants sometimes forget, but they're important.

[alp227]

21. you know what would eliminate the excess bureaucracy of disability programs? Basic minimum income.

Ironically, even those on the right who advocate for smaller govt would support it, since the money will come with lighter strings.

[alfredo]

24. It took me three years to get disability retirement, but when workman's comp rejected me,

I went with SSDI and got it on the first try. All the documentation I got from my workman's comp fight helped me easily win with SSDI. Keep good documentation, get good advice, be nice to the person on the other end of the phone line, be patient, and be in it for the long fight.

Research doctors. I had two neurosurgeons diagnose me. Both gave the same diagnosis. That was good, but even better, these neurosurgeons don't like or agree with each other. That was not lost on my case worker. Their rivalry was well known in our state.

I had the union and my family doctor advising me. My doctor was a former company doctor, he knows all the scams that are pulled on working people. The second opinion neurosurgeon was recommended by my doctor. The first neuro was young and handsome, the second was a sour old man.

Just keep your paperwork and keep your cool.

Good luck.

[Historic NY]

26. Try again it took me 5 yrs to settle...

The lawyers are entitled only to a set fee.

For Social Security disability lawyers, the fee is limited to 25% of the past-due benefits you are awarded, up to a maximum of $6,000. Note that the attorney will be paid only out of your past-due benefits, or "backpay."

[packman]

28. I got denied

After an early retirement due to health problems, I went to the local SS office and began the paperwork for disability. Several weeks later they informed me that they were denying my application - and I am not making this up - that I was too educated and they felt with my education I was employable regardless of my health.

[daleanime]

29. Just started....

[SheilaT]

30. It may seem as if they automatically deny everyone the first time,

but that simply not true. My brother was approved immediately, but he had gone blind, and that made it easy.

A lot of people don't quite understand the documentation needed, and even if they don't think they can work, the system thinks they can. Some times rightly, sometimes wrongly.

If a law firm that specializes in handling Social Security Disability appeals is taking your case, you will most likely get approved eventually. And the fee is well worth it. But if the law firm does not specialize in that area, you might want to find one that does.

And yes, the fee they'll get is well worth it.

Several years ago I worked part time for an attorney who did these things and it was very instructive. I got to sit in on the appeals process in front of the judge, and I also listened to her talk to potential clients. When she declined to take a particular one, she always told them to talk to at least one more, but from what I learned working for her, if she turned them down they just didn't stand much of a chance of ever succeeding at the appeal. At this point she'd been doing this for twenty years, and she understood the entire process very well.

There are also less than scrupulous law firms out there. Recently an acquaintance of mine told me she'd hired a law firm to process a disability claim, and I told her that I was quite frankly appalled, because she was in no way disabled to the point where she could not work. She could, and did work, but apparently this all came about because of a Worker's Comp claim she had. And she was turned down, as she should have been.

Sometimes the disability is glaringly obvious, such as my brother's blindness. Sometimes it is not. The amount of documentation needed is amazing. I spent much of my time photocopying medical files for my attorney's clients. They'd have files that were a foot thick.

I think the most important thing I learned was to be extremely grateful for my own good health.

[freshwest]

31. When this change? 'The bad part is they get 25% of any back pay.'

After two years of denials, the attorney was paid separately and it did NOT come out of the back pay for me. If you have a lawyer telling you that, the law must have changed or you're being scammed by the same.

Good luck and may the denial fall within that technical range. It's a miserable process, but from what I've seen at least the workers at the SS have been given some sensitivity training since those days. Or maybe the people in my current blue state are just nicer than the red one I was in before.

[DAMANgoldberg]

32. Mine took 3 tries and 2 1/2+ years...

But I finally was approved, on 9/11, no less in a suburban office through videolink. The 25% is a bummer, but does not affect ongoing pay. My only issue is that my "onset" date is such where I can't get Medicare for 5 more months and live in a state that refused to expand Medicaid (NC) even though they have a provision for the Disabled. So now the clock is ticking and I can't really solve the problems until the surgeons know that they will get paid, which led to the Disability to begin with. It's a serious racket but stay with it, it will happen.

[madokie]

33. When my doctor told me I might as well file for disability

Cause you're not going back to work he said. I called the first one that came up when I typed in SS in google, Alsup I think they were. Anyway they sent me forms to fill out, called me to confirm a few things and got my medical records from the VA and three months later I was getting a monthly disability check. They took 1/4 of the back pay which I was happy to give them for their service.
I had no idea where to start filing myself so I went this route and am happy I did. I've had two friends who have used the same general idea I used and they were getting their first check in three months like I did.

[newfie11]

34. I'm one of the few that got it the first time

My job involved being on my feet all day (radiographer).
I researched on line and found a website by a man that used to work for SSD.
He spelled out everything that you had to prove to get it. I had documentation from many doctors, reports from test, and so on. All were sent in with my application. I did this in my own, no lawyers.
I also think it depends on your job. If you have a sit down job it maybe harder depending on the disability.
Good luck to you.