How to Keep Your Shot at Financial Assistance from Social Security Disability Alive
When you get a denial letter from Social Security Disability, it’s easy to get discouraged. A lot of people give up at this point.
You shouldn’t. You need to know that getting denied for disability benefits is a normal part of the process. In recent years about 80% of people who applied for Social Security Disability got denied on their first attempt.
When people appeal disability denials—keeping their case going by sending new information and asking for a new decision—many more of them finally get approved.
This can still be you—getting monthly income support and Medicare or Medicaid health coverage for a more steady, secure, peaceful life when health problems have disrupted everything.
At this stage in the process, you’ll really want to work with a lawyer for Social Security Disability appeals.
Appealing a disability denial gets legalistic—submitting more evidence, making legal arguments for benefits and possibly even testifying in a hearing with a disability judge.
And when you go to a hearing, government studies have found your chances of approval are almost three times higher if you have a representative like an attorney supporting you.
In Phoenix and Tucson, talk to the highly experienced disability lawyers at Slepian Ellexson.
We’ve helped thousands of people get disability benefits over 47 years serving Arizona.
If you got that denial letter, call us right away.
FROM THE DAY YOU GET YOUR NOTICE OF DENIAL, YOU HAVE 60 DAYS TO START YOUR APPEAL.
No matter how long it takes to appeal your disability denial, there’s no attorney fee until you win benefits.
Signs You Will Be Denied for Disability
The first step in your appeal is understanding why you were denied. Then you can correct weaknesses in your disability application and get another chance.
You can sometimes tell what went wrong by what Social Security says in your denial letter. Sometimes you need to dig deeper and build a better case from the bottom up.
These are among the top reasons people get denied by Social Security Disability:
- Social Security thinks your medical conditions aren’t severe enough.
- You’re still working, and it’s enough that Social Security thinks you don’t need help.
- You don’t have a strong enough record of sticking with treatments from your doctors, so Social Security thinks you aren’t serious about managing your health.
- The information and forms you sent to Social Security weren’t complete enough.
- You didn’t have enough additional medical evidence to back up what you say about your health problems and inability to work.
- You had errors or contradictions on your disability application forms.
- Or it was Social Security that made a mistake, and you need to call it out.
It would be hard for you to spot, but a skilled disability lawyer who deals with this all the time can identify when Social Security did something wrong and present that to the government.
Your attorney from Slepian Ellexson also knows how to make your case for disability benefits stronger.
For every disability claim, the bottom line is you must prove you can’t work because of major health limitations.
Proving it is where all the work comes in.
You can call Slepian Ellexson to talk about your disability denial and what you can do about it. There’s no cost for an initial consultation.
Working with Our Lawyers for Social Security Disability Appeals
Your appeal can go through several steps, and your Social Security Disability appeals lawyer supports you along the way:
Step One: I Was Denied Social Security Disability.
Your first appeal is called a reconsideration. You send some updated information and ask Social Security to re-do their decision.
Step Two: I Was Denied Social Security Disability for the Second Time.
Most people are still denied after reconsideration. When you’re denied a second time, you can ask for a hearing with a disability judge. You can add new evidence and arguments for the judge to consider. This is a chance to explain your situation in person, and it’s a key chance to win benefits.
Step Three: The Hearing Judge Denied My Benefits.
If the judge still rejects your disability claim, your next step is to ask a group at Social Security called the Appeals Council to review the judge’s decision. This is a technical step, zeroing in on errors by the judge. Your disability lawyer puts this case together.
Step Four: The Appeals Council Still Denied Me.
If Social Security’s Appeals Council backs up the hearing judge’s denial, you can take your case outside Social Security by going to federal court. A federal judge will examine your file and can give new directions to Social Security about how to proceed. Your lawyer files the briefs you need in federal court.
At every step of your appeal, your disability attorney takes care of a tremendous amount of legwork. This includes:
- Analyzing your Social Security file to find the problems
- Gathering new evidence
- Filing the right forms for your appeal
- Gathering statements from friends, family and doctors about your situation
- Structuring your arguments for why you should get benefits
- Keeping you ahead of deadlines
- Preparing you to testify to a judge
- Cross-examining experts who testify at your disability hearing
Make it easier on yourself by working with Slepian Ellexson disability lawyers in Arizona.
We make sure you’re cared for as you go through this not-fun process. Having us on your claim means you can be confident you’re getting a fair chance at financial help to stabilize your life.
Denied disability benefits? Let’s talk.
