The Disability Application Process - The Five Stages

What Happens at Disability Hearings?

Disability hearings help identify how disabling your condition is. The Social Security Administration (SSA) uses an SSD hearing to establish if your condition is too disabling to work.

Although most Social Security hearings are similar, there can be slight variations depending on the judge’s preference. The first thing to know is that your disability hearing will be nothing like the trials you might have seen on television dramas. Disability hearings are held in small conference rooms, and most ALJs don’t wear judge’s robes.

It is important to hire a disability attorney for your disability hearing because an SSD attorney will be able to speak to the experts to get them to understand why you deserve disability benefits.

An attorney for SSD benefits is also knowledgeable about the ALJ and the process necessary for winning your case for disability benefits. This is absolutely essential if you wish to win your appeal and get your disability benefits entitlements.

If you believe you qualify for disability benefits, you should file your application as soon as your disability keeps you from going to work. This shows that you are suffering financial hardship due to your disability. Delaying a claim alerts the Social Security Administration that you may not be so disabled that you are unable to work, or that you are earning over the threshold for substantial gainful activity.

Are you unable to work due to an illness or injury that causes you significant mental or physical impairment? If so, you should consider filing for Social Security disability. But, you may wonder, what’s the first step you need to take to apply for disability? We have the answers.

First Things First

If you feel you likely qualify medically for disability benefits, then you’ll want to apply for benefits. But, applying for benefits really involves more than just the application process.

Many medical conditions can prevent you from working and earning a substantial income. The conditions can be incapacitating and range from mental to physical disabilities.

There’s a very good chance that the condition that causes your disability can help you qualify for Social Security disability benefits. Applying for benefits can give you the financial help you need. If your disability prevents you from applying yourself, a caregiver can help you with the application process.

If you’re disabled due to an injury or illness, chances are your financial stability has suffered. Medical expenses combined with the cost of living can be devastating, particularly if you’re unable to work.

The Social Security Administration has disability programs in place to help you if you qualify. These programs can offer financial support when you really need it. You’ll need to complete the necessary forms and documentation when applying for disability.

What work can you do (the less you can do the higher your approval odds) how does your illness affect your working ability (if you can't do the work you've done before or have experience in, you could qualify), are you receiving any treatments (should focus on how treatments haven't helped when asked this).

Social Security Disability applications take time to be processed and must pass through various screening processes before a decision on the disability claim is made. Checking your Social Security application status is an easy way to stay on top of your Social Security application to make sure there is no missing information slowing down your Social Security disability application.

Every review stage of the Social Security Disability (SSD) application and appeals process has different guidelines for checking the status of a claim. Each step is governed by a different entity as well, which can make it difficult to know just what to do. The following steps help you understand the process and whom you should contact for updates.

Step One – Initial Application

An On-the-Record (OTR) decision is a favorable ruling that is made by an administrative law judge prior to an actual disability hearing.

The decision is made by the administrative law judge based only on the written medical information. Skipping the wait for an appeal hearing may speed up the process. You must, however, have substantial medical evidence proving the extent of your disability for this approach to be successful.