CAN I GET SOCIAL SECURITY DISABIITY FOR....?

Having a plan or strategy is very important to winning your Social Security disability appeal. Judges have very limited time to spend on a case.  They are required to issue up to 700 decision a year, or over 50 per month.  One case may have thousands of pages of medical records and other documents to review.  Your attorney or representative can help the judge, and your chance of winning, by pointing out what the judge needs to know. Is this claimant insured for benefits? What kind of past work did the claimant do? Does he or she meet a Listing or grid rule? Are there any transferable skills? Does the medical record support the alleged onset date?  If so, where?  These are things the judge must know to decide the claim.  A good representative will read and analyze the medical records, which are the foundation of every case.  The important evidence will be pointed out to the judge.  Are there MRIs or imaging studies to prove the alleged ...

Having a doctor say that you are disabled may not qualify you for a Social Security disability benefit.  In fact, the very term "disabled" has very little to do with meeting the qualifications. What is more important to Social Security is what kind of work related activities you can still do.  How often can you do these activities?  And what is the underlying cause of your functional restrictions? Also, just having a serious disease or medical condition may not qualify for payments.  It's quite possible to have rheumatoid arthritis, epilepsy, or even cancer and still not qualify for an SSDI payment. However, if you can prove that you can't perform any of your past work OR any other job that exists in the nation's economy, you may be on track to get benefits.  So, you need to establish what the physical and mental demands of your past work were; and that you are no longer able to meet those demands. If your past work required you to stand for 6 hours per ...

Why can't you apply for Social Security disability benefits while you're still working? The logical thinking goes like this:  I am really not able to work but I'm forcing myself to work because it's the only way to feed my family.  I should be able to keep working while Social Security decides whether I meet their rules for a disability benefit.  Once I am approved, I will stop working. Why does Social Security shoot down that argument? Because of federal law. The very first determination that Social Security must make when they examine your claim is, "Is this claimant now working at substantial gainful activity ?"   If the answer is yes, the claim is denied at Step 1, regardless of how old or how sick the claimant may be.  Simply put, the law does not permit a person to apply for SSDI benefits while they are engaged in substantial work activity. DEFINITION OF "SUBSTANTIAL GAINFUL ACTIVITY (SGA)":  Work is substantial and gainful in 2018 if...