Part of being eligible for Social Security Disability is a person must have an impairment that has lasted or is expected to last for at least 12 months, or can be expected to result in death. Unfortunately, as a Social Security Disability attorney, I have had clients pass away while waiting for a hearing. As […]
When talking to someone about working with them on their Social Security Disability case, one of the first questions I have is whether they are seeing doctors. If not, they need to try to start. Some people say they do not have insurance or enough money to see a doctor. I still say try and […]
When explaining all the many concepts that go into Social Security Disability, one that often confuses people is the idea of a Date Last Insured or “DLI”. The long details can be found here on the Social Security website and I encourage you to read more about it for your individual Disability case, but below […]
As I have written about previously, the Social Security Administration follows a 5 step process in determining whether an individual is disabled. The third step of this process is deciding whether the claimant meets or medically equals a “listing”. Well put somewhat simply, a listing is a specific definition of an impairment that qualifies an […]
For some Social Security Disability hearings, a Medical Expert (ME) is scheduled to testify. This is very normal, but certainly not a frequent occurrence. In my own practice, I would estimate that I have had an ME in roughly 5% of my cases. These Medical Experts are similar to Vocational Experts in that they are […]
The answer to this question is essentially “kind of”. Social Security will not determine that you are disabled simply because you are addicted to a substance. However, if long term addiction to a substance has resulted in long term physical or mental symptoms that meet that qualifications for Disability, that may be a separate issue. […]
Social Security has a seemingly endless list of disabilities that they recognize to be considered disabled by their standard. An easy way to take a look at the various disabilities Social Security recognizes is to look at the listings at Social Security’s website. As discussed in the past, these listings do not necessarily represent every […]
We all hear the stories on the news about the fraud in Social Security Disability and how many people are getting benefits when they aren’t actually disabled. Because of this, I’ve had so many people ask me if it is truly that easy to be on Disability. The answer of course is no. If you […]
Social Security Disability applicants are always wondering how long the process is going to take. Unfortunately, due to the massive amount of applicants, the process often takes quite a bit of time. Here is a general outline of the process applicants go through when they file for Social Security Disability: Initial Application: Once an applicant […]
Musculoskeletal disorders are generally pain or injuries to the bones, joints, muscles, and tendons of a claimant. In my practice, musculoskeletal disorders are likely the most common reason people are trying to get Social Security Disability. Musculoskeletal disorders cover everything from back and neck disorders like degenerative disc disease and spinal stenosis to major dysfunction […]