The Social Security Disability appeal process begins with the initial determination. The SSA will review your application and supporting documents and make an initial decision about your eligibility for SSDI. If it denies your application, you will receive a denial notice that lists the reasons for the denial and gives a deadline of 60 days to appeal it. Don’t ignore this letter or give up. Review it carefully and contact an experienced disability lawyer at Ellis & Associates for help with gathering additional evidence to support your claim and file your initial appeal. This stage is called a request for reconsideration, as you’re asking the SSA to reconsider its decision.
Once the SSA reviews your reconsideration request, it will send a notice to you and your representative of its decision. If the agency denies your reconsideration request, the next step in the Social Security disability appeal process is to request a hearing.
Hearings are held outside of the Social Security Administration by administrative law judges (ALJs). These are independent administrative judges well-versed in the laws governing Social Security disability who will review your evidence and ask questions about your disability and how it affects you.
When you file a request for a hearing, your attorney will explain the further steps you should take to gather additional evidence to support your claim. You must continue seeing your doctors for your disabling condition. If you stop seeking medical care because of the cost or concerns that it won’t help you improve, the ALJ might think your condition is not severe enough to affect your ability to perform substantial gainful activity and return to work.
You might also need to complete lab tests and other exams that show how your condition affects you and impedes your ability to return to any type of work, including work that is less strenuous than what you did before. Your attorney might ask your doctor to write a letter detailing their opinion about the impact of your disability on your ability to perform the activities of daily living and how long your condition is expected to last. The SSA requires your condition to be expected to last for at least a year or result in death to qualify for SSDI.
Your attorney might also ask you to get a letter from your former employer and others who know you describing how your condition affects your ability to engage in everyday tasks and required work activities. This type of information can help the ALJ understand how your condition affects you and prevents you from working.
Your hearing will be held outside of court in a more informal setting, but it’s still important to prepare. Your attorney will talk to you and explain what to expect. They might role-play questions you might be asked and help you understand how to respond and present yourself. Your attorney will present evidence of your disability at the hearing. The ALJ will issue a decision once the hearing is finished and mail it to you and your lawyer.
If you disagree with the ALJ’s decision, you can appeal it to the Appeals Council. At this stage, you can’t submit new supporting evidence. The Appeals Council will review the hearing record to determine whether the ALJ made any prejudicial errors when making the decision and issue its decision.
The final stage of appeal in the Social Security disability appeal process is appealing the Appeal Council’s decision to the federal court. At this stage, it might not make financial sense to proceed. Your lawyer can advise you whether to go forward or if you should accept the Appeal Council’s decision.
While receiving a denial can feel overwhelming when you’re struggling to make ends meet, you have the right to appeal it. The appeals process is lengthy and complex, and you must meet tight deadlines to preserve your rights. Talk to the experienced disability lawyers at Ellis & Associates for help with your Social Security disability appeal by calling us at 800-MR-ELLIS or sending us a message online.
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