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WHY IS IT SO HARD TO GET SOCIAL SECURITY DISABIITY?

Social Security disabilit keeps getting harder and harder to get. The approval rate at hearings has dropped from 62 percent in 2011 to 42 percent today.

Why so many denials?

The basic answer is that Social Security is strapped for cash.  Since 2003, there has been a 29 percent increase in applications from persons who have little or no work experience and who have not paid into the Social Security trust fund.

As a response, Social Security has tightened the rules.  More than changes the rules, Social Security has taken a fresh attitude.  "Prove beyond a doubt that you can't do any work that exists anywhere in the US economy."  This is includes the easiest, least exertional, lowest paid job in the nation.

In Alabama, Social Security has added a new step in the disability process.  It's called "Reconsideration."  When your application is denied (as most are) you can't go directly to a judge and get a hearing.  You have to ask for a "Reconsideration," which is a review by the same agency that denied your application.  Nationwide, there is only a 13 percent chance of success at "Reconsideration."  In Alabama, the approval rate at Recon is in the single digits (less than 10 percent).

So, Social Security is programmed to deny the vast majority of disability claims.  The few that win are the exceptions, the extreme cases that beat the system and proved their case.

Here are common characteristics of the few cases that actually win:

1.  They are represented by attorneys or disability advocates.

2.  They have a severe medical impairment (physical or mental).

3.  There is strong and recent medical evidence.

4.  The claimant has worked within the past 5 years, but is not now working due to disability.

Why is an attorney/advocate so important?  First, Social Security doesn't take the claim seriously if it is not represented.  Most claims require hearings before they will be approved.  A claimant without representation is totally lost at a hearing.  I use the analogy of pulling a non-pilot passenger from business class aboard a Boeing 747 and asking him or her to land the plane because the pilot just died.  There's almost no chance that passenger will be able to land that plane!  And there's very little chance a claimant can win his or her own disability hearing.  Get professional help so your appeal can be properly and forcefully prepared.


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