Decisions on Social Security disability claims are made according to established guidelines and must conform to the rules and regulations of the Social Security Administration.
3 THINGS THAT CAN HELP GET YOU APPROVED FOR DISABILITY:
1. Support from your treating doctor. In addition to his/her complete medical records, the best thing your doctor can provide to Social Security is a a form called Residual Functional Capacity. Doctors do not have these forms (and they may not like to fill them out) but you can obtain a copy from your attorney or advocate. Caution: A letter from your doctor usually doesn't help because it will not be specific enough to meet Social Security regulations. Use a form that Social Security uses and recognizes.
2. Regular medical examinations and treatment. The path to Social Security disability runs straight through your doctor's office. If you have a severe medical or mental condition that keeps you from working, Social Security will expect regular and consistent medical treatment to include doctor's visits, compliance with medication, and diagnostic tests to show the severity of your condition(s).
3. Assistance from an experienced and well qualified Social Security disability advocate or lawyer. Decision makers at Social Security follow the rule book (i.e., the Federal Code, Part 404) and if your case doesn't conform to the regulations it is impossible to be approved for a benefit. Lawyers/Advocates understand these complex regulations and how to meet them. Claimants do not. The US Government found that claimants who are represented by an advocate/attorney are almost 3 times more likely to get their benefits!
SOME THINGS THAT WILL NOT BE EFFECTIVE IN HELPING YOU GET BENEFITS:
A) Telling Social Security how bad you need the benefits. You rent is past due, your car payment is behind, your kids are sick.... Social Security cannot consider these things and they will not advance your claim towards approval. They may, in fact, just bog down your case with unnecessary information.
B) Telling Social Security how bad you feel. While there is a place for your testimony during hearings, just saying how bad you feel and how much pain you have will not get you approved. If you have medical evidence from doctors explaining why you have pain, this will be useful.
C) Complaining about others who get disability benefits who are "not nearly as sick as I am." Decision makers hear this 3,000 times a week and it has become a standard joke in the SSA offices. "How many people did you have today who said they are worse than other people who are on disability?" Caution: Someone else's success with getting benefits has zero (0) relevance to your case or whether you can get benefits. Don't go there.
D) Explaining to Social Security why you couldn't accept "other work" that might be available. I couldn't live on those wages. I can't move away to take that job. I don't want that type of work. It pays less than the job I had. A much more productive approach: Let your lawyer demonstrate that you are not able to perform the "other work" based on your medical records.
E) Getting advice from relatives, neighbors, friends or former co-workers who don't know the Social Security rules and regulations. I hear so much totally wrong advice contributed by well meaning individuals who have no idea what it takes to get disability benefits. I recently had an individual call me who was in serious financial jeopardy because he listened to the advice of an insurance agent on a Social Security matter. I'm sure this person was an expert on insurance but he gave poor advice about Social Security. I cringe when I hear the words My uncle told me; A friend of mine got it by....; or "My neighbor told me I should...."
Social Security disability is not as easy as it looks (if anyone thinks it looks easy). Getting approved requires preparation of a case that uses objective medical evidence to show that the claimant is disabled "according to the rules and regulations of the Social Security Administration." And Social Security's rules are different than anybody else's.
Bottom Line Take Away: See your doctor regularly, follow medical advice and build a good medical record, Try to get your doctor to give you a Residual Functional Capacity form that explains, in the doctor's opinion, why your impairments restrict your ability to perform various work-like activities. And finally, get an experienced advocate or lawyer who is experienced in Social Security disability and knows how to navigate the system.
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Charles W. Forsythe is a founding partner of The Forsythe Firm in Huntsville, AL. He has decades of experience in Social Security disability cases, including appeals and hearings.
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