Appeals Council form letter denial
I was talking to a woman who was upset with her attorney. Her Social Security case had been denied at the hearing level. The Administrative Law Judge did not think she was disabled. With her attorney’s help, she appealed to the Social Security Appeals Council.
After months and months, her appeal was denied. Even more than being denied, she was upset that her lawyer could not tell her why she had been denied.
We discussed that there is no way the attorney could know. When the Appeals Council denies an appeal, all you get is a form letter that says in part:
We found no reason under …
Can I win my disability case at the Social Security Appeals Council?
You have been denied disability benefits by an Administrative Law Judge at your Social Security hearing. You filed an appeal with the Social Security Appeals Council. If they approve the appeal, you can get your disability benefits? Right?
Probably not.
The Social Security Appeals Council generally looks at three things:
Was there an error of law? Did the Judge apply the wrong standard, or misapply a standard?
Were the Judge’s actions, findings and conclusions supported by substantial evidence?
Is there as broad policy or procedural issue which may affect the general and public interest?
Of these three, the Appeals Council (AC) mostly deals with legal error.
Why am I …
Is a long wait after the Social Security hearing a bad sign?
While many Social Security disability hearings in Colorado have decisions issued in 45 to 90 days, some cases wait for four, five, even six months without a decision.
I was recently asked if a long wait after a hearing is a bad sign?
I previously wrote about my experience with how long it takes to get a decision after a Social Security hearing. Many lawyers who have been doing Social Security cases for a while can’t help but notice that the longer it takes to get a decision, the greater the chances that the case will be denied. However, that is not the whole story. Here is my take on this issue.
SPEEDING UP Social Security disability benefit processing after a win
Congratulations! You have won your Social Security disability case and have been approved for SSI! You have read my article about when you should get paid. But, weeks have gone by and you still have not heard anything from your local Social Security office about your benefits.
Is anyone working on my case?
Is there anyone there?
Hello?
While some SSI cases get very fast processing (sometimes an appointment is scheduled at the Social Security office before the hearing decision is even delivered), other cases wait for more than a month with seemingly no activity from Social Security.
Here is a tip: you can actually …
How long do I have to appeal my Social Security disability denial?
If your Social Security disability case has been denied. You need to know how long you have to file your appeal. You only have so much time before your deadline. If you miss that window of opportunity, you may be back to square one.
Check your denial
The best tip I can offer if your case is denied is to check the paperwork. While there are several common deadlines, if you do not definitely know how long Social Security gives you to appeal, you may be using the wrong deadline.
The paperwork you are looking for is typically a denial. However, it may also be called a “decision,” “notice of disapproved claim,” “notice of proposed action,” or something else. The thing to keep in mind is that whenever Social Security decides something on your case, they will also tell you the following:
The appeal options. What you can do if you disagree with the action or decision.
The appeal process. What forms you need to fill out, where to get them, where to turn them in, or the website to go to appeal.
How long you have to file the appeal.
If you have lost your Social Security denial?
If you no longer have your Social Security paperwork, give your local Social Security office a call. You can also call the toll-free Social Security number at 1-800-772-1213.
Social Security should always be able to tell you the most recent decision (or action on your case) and any applicable deadlines.
Lets get down to brass tacks. Here are the most common Social Security deadlines:
Super fast Social Security disability benefits
One of my readers asked:
I had my hearing 2 weeks ago in Denver. The judge made an immediate favorable decision. My lawyer told me that most people get their benefits before they even receive the decision. I’m waiting patiently.
Congratulations on the win!
I have written about how long it takes after a hearing to get a decision, as well as my experience with how long it takes to actually get the benefits.
Personally, I have never seen benefits paid before the receiving a decision.
However, I have started to see some cases where a client receives a letter from the local Social Security office scheduling an appointment …
Social Security told me not to bother appealing my disability case
It always shocks me when I hear that Social Security has discouraged someone from filing an appeal. However, several times a year someone tells me something like this:
When I asked for the forms to appeal I was told, ‘if you appeal, you are just going to be denied.’
This is improper for a number of reasons:
It is not Social Security’s job to encourage or discourage people from pursuing cases. You have a right to appeal!
If you are requesting a hearing, the person telling you not to appeal will not be the person making the decision. So he or she has not idea what the outcome will be.
Telling you not …
You can’t get Social Security disabilty benefits if you do not apply
To quote an old lottery slogan, “you can’t win, if you don’t play.” It may seem obvious, but you cannot receive Social Security disability benefits if you do not apply.
If fact, many Social Security regulations about Social Security eligibility start with this simple requirement:
Step 1: You apply.
As I have written about before, Social Security uses the protected filing date (PFD) to decide how …
Reviewing your Social Security exhibit file – Part 1: Medical Records
How do you begin to review your Social Security exhibit file? Here is a quick guide to finding the really important parts.
Start with the “F” section to review the medical records.
If you do not review anything else in the file, you need to know what medical records are there (and what records are missing).
Here is what I look for:
Are all the doctors and hospitals listed? If the doctor or hospital is not listed, …
What is in a Social Security file?
Just before your Social Security hearing, you will be given a cd and pointed at a computer. If you ask, someone may help you load up the disk and get you to a screen that looks like this:
Ok, now what?
What is all this stuff and what do I do with it?
Social Security uses electronic case files. The image above is the “Exhibit List Index” which may automatically come up when you insert the disk into the computer (if it does not, you may have to browse to your cd and double click “index.html” If in doubt, just ask your kids.
The Exhibit List Index is a “table of contents” for the documents in the file.
In the above image, you can see there are 4 exhibits in the “B” part of the file. The first one, 1B is a request for hearing and that document is 5 pages long. By clicking on any link (blue underlined text) you will be taken to that exhibit.
I know how to move around in the exhibit file, but I don’t know what I am looking at!
Ok. The file is divided into different sections, labeled A through F. Here is what you can find inside each section.
The Social Security disability hearing decision says my case will be reviewed in 12 months
In some disability decisions, the judge ask Social Security to review the case, sometimes as short as six months, sometimes the judge asks for a review in a couple of years.
I thought you said that most Social Security disability cases were for “open” disability — where there is no foreseeable end to the disability.
Compared to a “closed period of disability” case, that is true. In a closed period case, either you, or the judge, picks a date when your disability ended, and it is always a date in the past.
Here, …
Questions the Judge may ask in epilepsy or seizure case
Disability cases based on seizure disorders are a very special kind of disability case.
If your case goes in front of an Administrative Law Judge, you can expect to be asked these questions:
How often do you have seizures?
What happens during a seizure?
How do you feel after a seizure?
What do you have to do after a seizure (lie down, sleep etc)? And for how long?
Are you treating with a doctor?
Are you taking your medications as prescribed? How long have you been taking your medications?
While seizure disorders (epilepsy, partial complex seizures, etc.) are often disabling, simply having a seizure disorder is not enough to be found disabled. In many cases, …
15 pages decides your Social Security disability case?
San Francisco disability attorney Geri Kahn wrote about her experiences with providing records to Social Security:
Before filing a new initial claim I always order the records and then submit them directly to the Social Security field office immediately after I have filed the claim electronically. I recently was at an interview in one of the field offices in San Francisco and the claims representative told me that he could not accept the records I was submitting because he was only permitted to fax 15 pages to the state agency disability examiner.
Since you need to prove that you are unable to …
Don’t go to your Social Security disability hearing with out-of-date medical records!
It surprises my clients to learn that, most of the time, Social Security does not update medical records after the initial denial.
With wait times of a year or more, this can mean that by the time your case gets in front of a judge, the records in your file may be a year (or more) old, and your recent treatment may not be in the file at all.
This is not the way the system is supposed to work.
How long after a consultative examination does it take to get a decision?
I was recently asked how long after Social Security sends you to a doctor for a consultative examination will it take to get a decision.
I previously wrote about how long it takes to receive an initial decision after you apply for Social Security disability benefits and how long it takes to get a Social Security hearing.
Unfortunately, there are no hard and fast rules for how long it will take to …
