Your "onset date" is the date your medical disability began. It is also the date from which Social Security will pay benefits.
There are 2 possible onset dates to be aware of:
ALLEGED ONSET DATE (AOD) - is the date that you, the claimant, believe you became unable to work or disabled.
ESTABLISHED ONSET DATE (EOD) - is the date that Social Security decides that you became disabled. This is the date they from which they will pay benefits. This date may be different from your alleged onset date.
The effect of moving your onset date forward is twofold:
a) It reduces your back pay, or in some cases it eliminates all back pay.
b) It makes you wait longer to get Medicare health coverage, since Medicare begins 29 months from the established onset date (EOD). The later the onset date, the later you become eligible for Medicare.
In some cases, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will disagree with the date that applicants claim their disabling condition began (the AOD). If SSA can find evidence that your disability began later, it can establish its own date, called the established onset date (EOD), and only pay benefits from that date forward.
It is my personal opinion that Social Security decision makers sometimes arbitrarily change the onset date just to eliminate back pay. There have been a few times I have caught them red handed.
Your attorney or advocate should examine the Established Onset Date (EOD) carefully. Did Social Security have a good reason to change the onset date? If not, the entire decision may be appealed. However, you cannot appeal only the date of onset.
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Charles W. Forsythe is a founding partner of The Forsythe Firm in Huntsville, Alabama. He spends each day helping disabled clients get their rightful Social Security Disability benefits. For a free consultation, call (256) 799-0297 or (256) 503-8151.
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