DISABILITY SURVIVAL GUIDE: NORTH ALABAMA EDITION

  By Charles W. Forsythe The Forsythe Firm Huntsville, AL The hardest disabilities to get approved (for Social Security) are fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and mental health disorders like severe depression or anxiety. These conditions are difficult to get approved through government agencies like the Social Security Administration (SSA) because they rely heavily on self-reported patient symptoms rather than hard, objective laboratory tests.  Why Invisible and Subjective Conditions Face Denials Lack of Objective Markers:  Conditions like fibromyalgia or mental health issues do not show up on standard blood tests, X-rays, or imaging scans.  Inconsistent Treatment Records: Claims are frequently denied if applicants miss doctor appointments, skip therapy, or fail to follow prescribed treatment plans over a long period.  Proving Functional Limits:  ,A diagnosis alone is not enough; applicants must prove through detailed medical files and doc...

                                           TIPS FOR SOCIAL SECURITY'S CONSULTATIVE EXAM                                     By Charles W. Forsythe     The Forsythe Firm     Huntsville, AL In the process of a disability application, Social Security may send the claimant for a "Consultative Exam" (CE).  This is an examination performed by a doctor who does exams for Social Security for a fee.  The fee is paid by Social Security. You might be asked to have a physical CE or a "mental status exam."  In this article, I want to discuss the Physical CE. SHOULD Y...

  I just came across a new term (to me).  It's Annoyance Economy .  I looked up the meaning of the term.  Annoyance economy refers to business practices that intentionally waste time and money to benefit a company:  robocalls, difficulty cancelling subscriptions, unnecessary or excessive paperwork, massive delays, etc. For example,  you call your insurance company about a nixed claim, get routed through a phone tree, wait on hold 40 minutes, explain your problem to a chatbot that can't help, then start over with a human agent who asks for the same information again. By the time you hang up, you've burned an hour on what should've been a two-minute fix—and you might have to call again. The Annoyance Economy wastes $165 billion per year. And that's just counting costs in the private business sector.  If you add government annoyance, the cost is incalculable. I work with the Social Security Administration every day as a claimant's representative.  M...

WHY THE 60 DAY RULE IN SSDI IS SO IMPORTANT  By Charles W. Forsythe at The Forsythe Firm Let's face it, very few Social Security disability claims get approved without an appeal  (Fewer than 3 out of 10). Any unfavorable Social Security decision has a very limited time for appeal.  If you wait more than 65 days, your appeal won't be accepted and you must start over by filing a new claim.  The results of this include: a longer than necessary delay (up to 18 more months) a reduction of potential past due pay a longer wait for Medicare insurance eligibility Loss of some benefits you may never be able to recover It is almost never wise to file a new SSDI claim vs. appealing an unfavorable decision.   Some points you must know about a Social Security appeal : An appeal is not starting over; it continues your claim on a new level. An appeal protects your rights, including all your back pay, from the original claim. An appeal is your BEST chance to get approved an...

  By Charles W. Forsythe - The Forsythe Firm in Huntsville An Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) has made a decision on your Social Security disability appeal hearing. The decision must now be sent to to a process called "Decision Writing" - where an attorney or paralegal will draft the formal binding decision, explaining the judge's legal rationale for the decision and explaining the mandatory 5-Step decision making process. The decision writing process translates a judge's ruling into a formal, legally binding document. It is a vital but time-consuming phase that ensures all medical evidence and vocational factors align with the law. A typical written decision will be 10 to 20 pages, thus very detailed.  It takes time to write one. There are many decisions ahead of yours and usually they are written in the order received. The step-by-step process breaks down as follows: The Judge’s Ruling & Instructions:  Following your hearing, the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) r...

  You often hear the negative about Social Security disability:  how hard it is to get, the long application process, the complicated rules, etc. There is a positive aspect of SSDI, however, that we may loose sight of: Over 50 percent of all claimants will receive benefits IF they follow all appeals to the end. While almost 75 percent of initial claims are denied and 90 percent of "reconsideration" appeals get denied, cases that go before an Administrative Law Judge have a much better success rate. If you persist and take your SSDI claim before a judge, you have between 50 - 58 percent chance of winning and being paid.  Most claimants will also collect substantial past due benefits or "back pay." Unfortunately, thousands of claimants give up after the first denial.  They receive a letter that says, "You are not disabled under our rules," and they quit.  this is a mistake. You must understand from the beginning that receiving Social Security disability bene...