By: John Positano, Esq., Staff Writer, PR4Lawyers

What is Social Security Disability and what can it do for me?

Federal law has long provided benefits for disabled people under laws enforced by the Social Security Administration (SSA). The laws provide coverage to help the disabled meet their health care needs and also provide money to pay everyday bills. Experienced attorneys can guide you in the complicated and often difficult process to obtain Social Security benefits.

This article seeks to provide you with an overview of disability benefits available through the Social Security Administration (including the types of disabilities that often qualify) the available programs, and the process to apply for benefits.

What is a Disability?

To get disability benefits from the Federal government, you must be totally disabled.  This means that you must be able to prove that you have a
severe physical or mental impairment which
prevents you from functioning in a regularly paying job for at least 12 months. It’s not whether or not you will be offered a job, but whether or not you can perform work while disabled, with the particular disability which you can prove that you have. The disability must be based on a list of SSA-approved disability conditions.

As you can see, the requirements of the law have nothing to do with the present job market, but with your present disability. The law does make allowances for your age, education and work
experience. Not all conditions are covered, but
representative conditions include: disability caused by cancer, autism, HIV, inflammatory arthritis, mental illnesses, cardiovascular (heart and circulation) diseases, spinal injuries (including pre-existing conditions) and speech problems.  That said, you should know that the Social Security system allows for two programs under which applicants can obtain
benefits.

Social Security Disability Programs

Social Security Disability

You may already have Social Security Disability protection if you have been contributing to a
Social Security account through payroll taxes for a sufficient amount of time, measured in quarters, and have been doing so in at least five of the last ten years. Younger people also have a chance to obtain this coverage with less contribution time. When you apply, SSA officials run a computer tally of all your quarters, which comes from the Internal Revenue Service. If you were self-employed, or not employed (or off the books), there might be a problem with the number of quarters accumulated and able to be proven by you.

Supplemental Security Income

Rather than being based on your Social Security contributions, this program is based on your need for Social Security Disability income and entails your review under a “needs” test. The needs test, and some of its parts, like measurement of your income and assets, is rigorously enforced by the SSA.

Applying for Benefits

The first step to apply for benefits from either of the two programs described above is to obtain the needed forms from the local SSA offices, submit your application and then interview with officials at the Social Security office.  Often, an experienced Social Security attorney will be able to help you thoroughly and clearly fill out the required forms to become a claimant for these benefits.

Once your application has been submitted to the local Social Security office, your application will be reviewed. Most reviews are completed quickly, but while some claims are successful, most claims are denied at this stage.  If you are approved at this stage, you should begin to receive benefits shortly.

If your claim has been denied, you have only thirty days to appeal the decision of the local SSA office. This thirty-day time period is strictly enforced. An experienced attorney can help you appeal the denial, otherwise known as a reconsideration, which will take place shortly after the SSA gets a notice of request for reconsideration from you and your attorneys. Now medical documentation will be obtained through your attorney and you will be prepared by the attorney for the appeal hearing.

At the appeal hearing, an Administrative Law Judge will hear evidence for and against your right to collect benefits, including medical evidence of your disability. It also involves offering evidence in the form of your sworn testimony. While not called a trial, the hearing has many features of a trial before a jury, though very few people are involved in the hearing. During the hearing, the Judge may also ask for a vocational expert to attend and give testimony as to what you can or cannot do in regards to working. You also have the option to hire your own expert. Your expert would ideally testify that you do qualify for this assistance. After the Judge sifts through all of this evidence, the Judge then renders a decision as to whether or not you can get the Social Security Disability relief you applied for. Usually, this takes four to six weeks after the hearing finishes. If approved, benefits will start coming for you fairly soon.

If your appeal is denied, you can appeal this decision within sixty days to an Appeals Council. In rare occasions, it can then be appealed to the local United States District Court.