Welcome! This site is written for Social Security disability claimants, for their legal representatives, and for the network of people involved in the Social Security disability claim process. I hope you find it helpful.
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Every other Friday, I highlight recent articles of note regarding Social Security disability:

The Fall weather has definitely arrived in Maine and New Hampshire. For one look back at Summer, here is a picture of my daughter Bridget in her swimsuit and ribbon.

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In a Social Security disability claim, you want to be specific when describing your symptoms and resultant functional limitations. Remember these three words when developing evidence about symptoms: frequency, severity and duration.

Whether you are talking about physical pain/fatigue, or mental health symptoms, these are the 3 things you must describe with medical evidence and with the client's testimony: 

  • Frequency… how often do you have the symptoms?
  • Severity… how intense are the symptoms?
  • Duration… how long do the symptoms last?

These three words should be a mantra for any disability lawyer. Keep them in mind as you develop evidence for a Social Security disabilty claim, so that you can provide specific examples that demonstrate the frequency, severity and duration of symptoms.

Each month, I shine the spotlight on a previous post that discusses an issue regarding Social Security disability law that remains highly relevant today.

It is more important than ever to make your disability claim as strong as possible for your hearing. One aspect of developing the claim file that is often overlooked is a written statement from a person who knows you well, and can provide insight about your situation. It can be persuasive evidence.

The written statement should be submitted into the claim file ahead of the hearing, so that it is in the record when the administrative law judge first reviews the file. 

Please read: Statement from a Spouse, Parent or Friend

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Get help with your disability claim

If you are considering an application for Social Security disability benefits, or have already applied and want assistance with your claim, please contact Gordon Gates.

 

There is a new scholarly paper discussing Social Security disability and obesity: Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Stigma and Denial in Social Security Disability Hearings by Professor Chris Pashler (follow the link to read the abstract and/or download a free PDF copy of the paper).

Professor Pashler argues that the stigma attached to morbid obesity results in patients underreporting their symptoms to their doctors, which leads to an underdeveloped medical record. The stigma may also create a "negative halo for decisionmaking" by administrative law judges at Social Security disability hearings. These issues may skew results in disability claims, Professor Pashler says.

Certainly this is also true with claims involving other stigmatized medical conditions, such as mental illness. 

The issue of reporting symptoms to treating medical providers is one that I discuss with my clients. Patients must communicate with their medical providers, their lawyer, and eventually tell the judge about their specific symptoms and to have a reasonable expectation of an award of disability benefits.

Professor Pashler looks at solutions to this problem at the hearing level, and also argues against instituting an adversarial system at ODAR, as some have suggested, because it would not improve current decisionmaking.

It has been a little over a year since I published my e-book, entitled 10 Steps to Prepare for Your Social Security Disability Hearing. Those who are waiting for their Social Security disability hearings will find helpful information in the book, and can learn how to make their claims stronger. That is more important than ever this year, because allowance rates are down.

Although I wrote the book for my clients, it is available on my law firm website to anyone as a free PDF download. The book has been downloaded thousands of times.

There is no form to fill out; no name or email address is required to download the book. This link will take you to the page on my law firm website to download 10 Steps to Prepare for Your Social Security Disability Hearing. 

Here are the ten steps:

  1. Appeal within 60 days
  2. Prepare for the wait for a hearing
  3. Determine why your claim was denied
  4. Learn how Social Security evaluates disability claims
  5. Think about your functional limitations in a specific way
  6. Know your work history for the past 15 years
  7. Continue with your regular medical treatment
  8. Obtain a medical source statement
  9. Consider a statement from a spouse, parent, sibling or friend
  10. Get legal help

Again, you can download 10 Steps to Prepare for Your Social Security Disability Hearing for free, without providing any information about yourself to me.

I hope the book empowers you to make your claim stronger for your Social Security disability hearing. 

Here is the latest compilation of DDS Initial and Reconsideration Allowance Rates by Nation, Region and State (link opens 3-page PDF chart). The data is from FY 2011, and was published in the July 2012 Social Security Forum, a newsletter for NOSSCR members.

I am always intrigued by varying allowance rates among regions of the country and the several states. The allowance rate for initial disability and SSI claims nationally is 33.5%. But look that the variation among states! What explains the difference in allowance rates, other than different attitudes and cultures among the various state DDS agencies?

Looking at the numbers in the northeast, where I practice, Maine allows 32% of initial claims and 14% of claims at Reconsideration. Massachusetts leads the region with almost 43% of initial claims allowed, and then allows another 23% of the claims that are appealed to the Reconsideration level. Again, why such a dramatic difference in allowance rates between these two states within the Boston region? 

New Hampshire is a "prototype" state, so initial claims that are denied and appealed by the claimant go directly to a hearing by an administrative law judge. There is no intermediate Reconsideration step in New Hampshire. New Hampshire's allowance rate for initial claims is 49%.

Every other Friday I link to notable articles regarding Social Security disability. The first four articles address misinformation about the Social Security disability program:

The local Social Security hearing offices have had an uptick in requests for information regarding a person's Social Security information from attorneys before a disability claim has even been filed.

The correct form in these circumstances is the Consent to Release Information, form SSA-3288 (link opens a PDF of the form) rather than the usual Appointment of Representative form 1696, which is appropriate for representatives to submit to the SSA after a disability or SSI claim has been filed.

I have been told that the local offices are going to start insisting on receiving form 3288 before information is released. So, get your client (or prospective client) to complete one if a claim has not yet been filed. A copy of the signed form, rather than the original, is fine.

Most Social Security disability are decided on a medical-vocational basis. To be awarded disability benefits, you first must be unable to perform your past relevant work. Additionally, you must be unable to do other work that exists in substantial numbers in the national economy. This is step 5 of Social Security’s 5-step sequential evaluation.

I talk with prospective clients almost every day. And often, there is a misunderstanding regarding the requirement to be unable to perform “other work.”

For those under age 50, even an unskilled sedentary job must be beyond your current abilities. So if you were a construction worker, for example, and have no training for a desk-type job, it does not matter. You do not qualify for disability benefits if you have still the physical and mental ability to perform unskilled sedentary work. Thousands of disability claims are denied by Social Security on this basis.

For those age 55 or older, there are some helpful rules at step 5, because your age is a relevant vocational factor. But disability is by no means automatic for those over age 55.

Let me give you an example. I talked with an former commerical airline pilot recently. He can’t be a pilot anymore, which is obviously a very high performing job, due to moderate depression and insomnia. But even at age 58, that former pilot is quite able to other work. The medical-vocational guidelines do not automatically direct a finding of “disabled” for such a claim.

While the medical-vocational rules often assist those over 55, those rules alone do not make for a successful claim. That is why those age 55 or over may benefit the most from having a Social Security disability lawyer involved at the very beginning of the claim process.

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Get help from a lawyer with your disability claim

If you are considering an application for Social Security disability benefits, or have already applied and want assistance with your claim, please contact Gordon Gates for a free consultation.

 

I am old enough to remember Sargeant Phil Esterhaus' trademark phrase on Hill Street Blues: "Let's be careful out there." You should take it to heart.

There is a lot of information regarding Social Security disability available online. Some of it is wrong. Some of it is general in nature, like this site.

You have to be careful about applying law and regulations to the unique facts of your particular case. That's what lawyers do. That is what we learned to do in law school. It is not always apparent how certain facts affect a disability case (or any case). It takes experience and judgement. That is one reason why there is a disclaimer on this site.

Searching for information online can be beneficial to your claim. But please talk with a lawyer, too. There is no attorney fee unless your claim is granted (read more about attorney fees).