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Nationwide SSD Attorney
Perhaps you are thinking of applying for Social Security disability benefits. Since SSD is a nationwide program, having a nationwide disability lawyer from Carmichael Law Group can be the very best step you take toward getting the disability benefits you need. While your medical condition is certainly the most important component in getting your disability benefits, you will need to meet the basic requirements (sufficient work credits and income and resource limits).
The SSA requires that you have a medical condition that meets their definition of a disability and that you cannot work for a year or more because of your disability. Social Security does not pay for partial disability or short-term disability. The SSA may consider you disabled if:
- You are unable to do the work you did prior to your current disability.
- You are unable to adjust to other types of work as a result of your medical condition, age, work history, and education.
- Your disability has already lasted for at least one year or is expected to last for at least a year or result in death.
While meeting the impairment guide’s listing for your mental or physical impairment is important, SSDI will also look at how your condition has impacted your life and your ability to work. Because of this, the manner in which your story is told is crucial. Along with correct storytelling, SSDI will consider the five-step review process for disability benefits.
Social Security does not pay for partial disability or short-term disability—only total disability. SSA determines whether you are disabled by asking the following five questions:
- Are you currently working? If you are working, and you are consistently making more than $1,310 per month, you will probably not be considered disabled.
- Does your disability prevent you from performing basic work-related activities (walking, standing, sitting, remembering)? In short, is your condition considered “severe?”
- Does your disabling medical condition meet or equal the severity of a listing found in the Blue Book list of medical conditions?
- Are you able to do the work you did prior to your disability?
- Can you make an adjustment to do any other type of work?
Despite the fact that this is not always the case, the SSA assumes families have access to other resources to provide support during periods of short-term disabilities. SSD benefits can take up to two years to receive, placing a significant burden on most families. Disability is something most of us—especially younger people—believe only affects others. Tragically, young people can be seriously injured in an accident or develop a debilitating disease. Many serious medical conditions affect not only the elderly but younger adults as well. Disability benefits can provide a critical source of financial support to those who need it most.
Hiring a nationwide disability lawyer from Carmichael Law Group can help ensure your application is complete and professionally submitted, and that your appeals are filed in a timely manner. Your chances of having your initial application, your reconsideration, or one of your three subsequent appeals decided in your favor is significantly higher for those who have a nationwide disability attorney in their corner. Below are the answers to some of the most frequently asked SSD questions.
How to Complete Forms and Reports for Your SSD Case
What is the Listing of Impairments Used by Social Security Disability?
Everyone that applies for disability benefits from the SSA will use the listing of impairments to find their specific medical condition. Impairments that are considered severe enough to prevent a person from working are listed. Under your medical impairment will be a description of the medical criteria used to determine whether you are eligible to receive disability benefits.
The symptoms associated with your disability and the test results that confirm your medical condition are listed under the specific impairment. Your injury or illness must prevent you from participating in substantial gainful activity for at least 12 months. While having your medical condition closely match an impairment listing is important, it does not automatically qualify you to receive disability benefits.
Why are Disability Benefits Most Often Denied?
Only about a third of all initial SSD applications are approved. These denials are often for lack of required information, especially medical evidence. You must have been seeing a doctor regularly for your condition, with records of all your treatments and medications. The SSA may send you for a consultative medical exam, which is an exam with a doctor of their choice, but the burden of your medical evidence will come from your own doctors.
Even if you have a significant amount of medical documentation, if the SSA does not believe your disability is severe enough to prevent you from working or that your disability will not last more than 12 months, they may deny your application. If your disabling condition is based on a drug or alcohol addiction and you fail to follow through with prescribed therapies, you could be denied benefits. This is true of virtually any medical condition—you must consistently follow through with your doctor’s recommended treatments and medications.
On the non-medical front, work history will play an important role in your application for disability benefits. SSA will confirm you pay into SSDI through your payroll taxes and that you have paid into SSDI for a total of 40 quarters of coverage (you can earn up to four quarters of coverage each year). Your work history must document whether your disability prevents you from doing past work. The disability examiner will look at the work you did in the past to see if you can do this—or any other type of work—given your current disability.
Other reasons for a denial of your disability benefits include making more than $1,500 per month, refusal to cooperate with SSA requests, refusal to communicate with the SSA, a criminal conviction (in some cases), or committing fraud. If you believe you were wrongly denied disability benefits, your nationwide disability lawyer from Carmichael Law Group can help you with the appeals process, giving you the very best chance of success.
Consultative Examinations Process for Disability Claims
Why Do I Need a Nationwide Disability Lawyer?
Because Social Security Disability is a federal program, Carmichael Law Group can help you no matter where you live. A nationwide disability lawyer from our firm is ready to help you obtain the benefits you need and deserve. Carmichael Law Group, LLC has offices in Alabama and Georgia, but we can help anyone in the United States with a SSD claim. At our law firm, we do everything possible to ensure our clients receive a positive outcome for their disability claims.
Perhaps you have already received a denial of your initial application. If so, we are ready to help you through the reconsideration and appeals stages. If you have not yet applied for SSD benefits, we can help you present your disability in the best light possible, ensuring you fully meet all criteria for your disability claim. Do not wait! Contact a nationwide disability lawyer from Carmichael Law Group for all your Social Security Disability benefits needs.
