Applying for disability is never simple. If information technology were, there wouldn't be hundreds of web pages devoted to explaining it. If you are thinking well-nigh applying or have recently applied, yous should be aware that about claimants do not receive disability benefits the first time they apply.

The majority of disability allowances happen later on, in front end of a judge. But the hearings process is more complicated than ane paper application and a hearing in front of a judge. The disability hearing process has several steps and deadlines.

Important Facts About the Inability Hearing Process

  • Inability Legal Terms
  • Stages of the Hearing Process
  • What to Wait in the Inability Hearing Room
  • Your Right to a Disability Attorney
  • When and Where Is the Hearing?
  • Tips for a Speedy Disability Hearing

It is important to emphasize that 90% of Social Security Inability claimants will go a decision in the showtime three stages of the disability conclusion procedure: initial, reconsideration, or ALJ review. Very few individuals, whether past themselves or with the assistance of a inability attorney, will get to the level of Appeals Council (AC), and nonetheless fewer will get a decision from the courts.

A Cursory Review of Inability Terms: SSDI, SSI, and RFC

Before discussing the disability hearing procedure, nosotros should look at three abbreviations usually used in the world of disability benefits: SSDI, SSI, and RFC.

SSDI stands for "Social Security Disability Insurance." Whereas SSI means "Supplemental Security Income." SSI and SSDI are different types of claims (although some people qualify for both).

SSDI is also chosen Title ii or "entitlement benefits" because this type of disability benefit is based on earned income from a job. If you have worked, it ways you paid into the system – therefore SSDI is your correct. You've earned it.

SSI, on the other hand, is more of a traditional welfare program. For people who've had bad luck, been unable to work, or simply grew upwardly impoverished—SSI is there to help. Y'all do not need a piece of work history of whatever kind to receive SSI. Your eligibility for SSI is based on need. If you take little coin or few resource, yous may qualify under SSI.

For both SSDI and SSI you practice need to prove a physical or mental harm that keeps you from working, and it must exist considered severe plenty to last a full year.

An "RFC" stands for Residual Functional Chapters. Residual means "what you still have left." Functional means what you can do. Chapters refers to your power. An RFC is a class (filled out past doctors) that rates what you lot tin can still practise. It'southward used to decide if you can do past work or another type of work.

Equally an example, an RFC might rate y'all as capable of doing "low-cal" work. What is lite work? It means a task where you stand up on your anxiety for four-6 hours a day, and where you choice up objects weighing between x and 20 pounds. Examples of low-cal piece of work include teaching or being a hairdresser.

Your RFC – which you will see if you get a re-create of your file after the Initial and Recon levels – is a very important document. It can make up one's mind whether your claim is allowed.

When to Request a Hearing

Earlier you can begin collecting Social Security Disability (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) inability benefits, you must receive a favorable or partially favorable medical decision on your inability claim.

This means y'all accept to be found disabled under Social Security constabulary, that is y'all must exist "unable to engage in whatsoever substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable concrete or mental harm which can be expected to event in expiry or which has lasted or tin be expected to last, for a continuous period of non less than twelve months."

If your initial claim was denied and you either filed a reconsideration appeal and it was denied or you live in i of the few parts of the state that does not have a reconsideration entreatment level and you believe y'all are disabled according to Social Security police, your next step is to request a hearing on SSA-501 class. You must file your hearing asking within lx days of receiving the prior deprival, which is considered to exist threescore-five days from the appointment on the written denial notice. (An extra v days is allowed for the observe to achieve yous through the mail service.) This means that Social Security must receive your request within sixty-v days.

The Stages of Inability Hearings

  • Request for Reconsideration
  • Administrative Law Estimate (ALJ) hearing
  • After an ALJ Hearing
  • Appeals Quango
  • Federal Courts

Reconsideration

The starting time level of the Inability Hearing process is a uncomplicated 1 called Request for Reconsideration (commonly called Reconsideration, or Recon). When the first application is denied, the claimant (y'all) has 60 days to reapply for Reconsideration. This time period is the same whether you utilize by yourself or get help from a disability lawyer. Any reputable lawyer will exist well-aware of the 60-day deadline.

If y'all miss this deadline, a reasonable caption to the SSA part is usually accepted. Still, it is highly recommended to reapply equally soon as possible. Filing for Reconsideration is very like to what you lot did at the initial level: Fill out an application and submit information technology to Social Security Disability.

Submit data about all new medical sources, medications, or medical tests

Apply within threescore-days of receiving written notice of denial from SSA

Contact your new Disability Examiner immediately – Recon cases can be adjudicated more apace than initial ones

Your claim will exist routed to the Disability Conclusion Services (DDS) office where another doctor (or doc'southward) and another Inability Examiner (DE) will review it. Some of these cases are canonical, especially if your medical status is worse or if at that place is additional medical evidence to show that yous are not recovering as expected. Near disability claims at this level are denied.

Authoritative Constabulary Gauge

If SSA sends yous written observe that your Recon awarding has been denied, the next step is to seek an ALJ determination. This pace can be lengthy, over a year in some cases.

You lot must utilise for ALJ review within 60 days. Y'all, or your disability attorney, should too collect whatsoever updated medical records and a list of medical sources to submit to the ALJ office as soon as possible.

The ALJ reviews your entire claim and the estimate volition make the disability decision. He or she is assisted by other disability professionals, but the ALJ role does not use medical experts and does not schedule medical exams.

After y'all request an ALJ hearing, your local SSA office will forward your example file to the ALJ Hearing Office. Because of the ALJ travel schedule, COVID restrictions, and a large number of other claims, y'all may choose to encounter the judge via video teleconference. This is a adept choice since video appointments are faster to schedule and you won't need to travel. Delight annotation that currently ALL claims are past video and SSA has not announced if this volition change.

There are 169 Hearing Offices in the Us and close to half of all hearings are typically held in rural areas. In total, ALJs review over 650,000 claims each year. You will receive a written find, either online or mailed, at least 75 days before your hearing and it will outline when and where to become. You will need access to a computer for a teleconference.

If yous choose the in-person selection, it volition usually be held 75 miles from where you live. We recommend this selection as soon as information technology is available unless yous live somewhere very remote. Should problems arise, such as a flare of your damage that makes attending the hearing impossible, notify the SSA as soon every bit possible in writing.

The judge may hold the record open for you to submit boosted documentation either at your (or your attorney'due south) request or at the judge's request. Submission of boosted information, of course, extends the corporeality of fourth dimension before the decision is made. The letter writing phase can be prolonged if the office has a big volume of decisions backed upwards waiting for letters. In that case, your entreatment may sit in the writing department for a while before being assigned to a writer and having the letter written.

In a small percentage of appeals, the ALJ will make a bench decision to approve your claim, meaning that the guess says at the end of the hearing that he or she is approving your claim. Nonetheless, fifty-fifty with a demote decision, the judge has to prepare a detailed written conclusion to approve the merits and the letter has to be written and approved; and so a bench decision may non speed upward your receipt of a formal decision and payment action is non initiated until the formal conclusion alphabetic character has been sent. As well, annotation that in most appeals, the judge will not make a bench decision at the hearing.

The Appeals Quango (Air conditioning)

If yous are denied by the ALJ, the next step is the AC, or Appeals Council. The Air-conditioning level includes you and a Hearing Officer, sometimes also called an Appeals Officeholder. The Hearing Officer represents the SSA and the Inability Determination Services (DDS). At the AC level, many people decide to hire an attorney. The DDS will defend its decision – your denial – unless at that place is new evidence.

The AC consists of Authoritative Appeals Judges and Appeals Officers who consider appeals from ALJ denials. This office also performs quality review and court-related functions.

To become the AC procedure started you can use the SSA link and download a request for a Hearing Review. Yous (or your chaser) may also file by calling your local SSA office. You take 60 days from the time you received written detect that the ALJ denied your claim. The ALJ determination is also sometimes called the "bench determination."

If the Appeals Council deems the bench decision was correct, they may swiftly deny your appeal. Or, the AC may decide to review your case. Their last option is to render your instance to ALJ for a second look. The AC will consider the same bug that the Administrative Police force Judge considered, fifty-fifty those problems that were favorably decided in your instance.

You or your inability lawyer volition receive a written copy of the Appeals Quango'southward final action on your instance. You volition have lx days to file an appeal at the next level, in court.

Federal Courts

A very small percentage of disability applicants take their claims to a federal court. If the Appeals Council adjudicates against you, or if they send your merits back to the ALJ who denies it, you lot may file a civil suit. This is the last level of the inability hearing process.

You will file in the judicial district in which you live, or where you have your principal place of business. If you do not live within a judicial commune or have a business in one, however, you lot may file your civil action in the United States District Courtroom for the District of Columbia.

It's of import to ship any copies of the complaint you lot filed and of the summons issued past the courtroom to the SSA. This mail service must exist certified or registered and mailed to the Social Security Administration'southward Part of the Full general Counsel for your area.

At this stage, almost all claimants take a disability lawyer. Currently, the courts are seeing claimants and their attorneys via teleconference.

Between October 2018 and September 2019, the SSA took in just over 17,000 new court cases. And during that same time, they processed nearly the same number (about 16,500 claims).

What to Expect in the Disability Hearing Room

People oftentimes ask questions, such as: How long does a disability hearing concluding? What practise I say at a inability hearing?

Hearings tin can be brief, as little as 15 minutes. New medical evidence may take swayed a guess to approve or deny your merits. But if you do not have new show and have brought several witnesses, you could spend an hr in front of the gauge.

What should you lot say? It'due south best to read a written statement if you recall you'll be nervous. Avert going off-topic. Be fix to explain why you didn't encounter a doctor for years or have other gaps in your medical history. Virtually of all, be honest and don't try to exaggerate your symptoms or complaints.

Even if you decide not to hire a disability attorney, yous take several advantages when you finally sit down earlier the judge—even if it'due south by video. First, the ALJ will run across y'all. If you lot are having trouble sitting, standing, moving, speaking, or any other problems considering of your impairment, the estimate will observe it first-hand. Second, the ALJ process makes it easier for judges to corroborate rather than deny claims. They must write long explanations for a denial, whereas an approving requires far less paperwork.

You may bring witnesses to your hearing, including friends, family, and experts. A vocational expert, doc, or psychologist are considered "practiced witnesses" and they can make a big difference. Most disability lawyers will recommend bringing at least one expert witness.

Many claimants are approved at the ALJ level. By the time a claimant has made information technology this far, i out of three will be approved. Some claimants who are denied at this level decide to move frontwards.

Your Right to an Attorney

The SSA specifically notes that you have a right to an attorney at every level of appeal, including during the initial phase, Reconsideration, in forepart of an Administrative Law Judge, the Appeals Quango, or for subsequent court hearings. All are opportunities for yous to rent a disability lawyer.

Your correct to an attorney should not be taken lightly. Having a professional on your side will not merely bring peace of mind and assistance you organize evidence, but you are more likely to win benefits.

Inability police force is a growing field. The complexities of the SSA system and the hearing levels make it necessary for some legal professionals to spend whole careers mastering how the disability system works.

When and Where Is the Hearing?

Hearings can exist teleconferenced or in person. Currently, due to the COVID pandemic, all hearings are being held via teleconference. It is possible that due to the extended nature of this pandemic, all hereafter SSA hearings may be via teleconference.

As for timing, this can vary quite a chip. Some claimants will meet a guess within a few months, but many tin wait vi months or more. The book of cases is difficult to predict, but during periods of loftier unemployment (such as during 2020) many more people will apply for inability. This means it may take longer for SSA to adjudicate claims.

Tips for a Speedy Disability Hearing

  • Reapply every bit presently as y'all receive a written denial notice, which volition allow you the quickest hearing date possible.
  • Engage a lawyer or other representative equally early equally possible.
  • Submit all additional evidence at least five days in advance to the ALJ. This pace can brand an ALJ hearing completely unnecessary if the medical prove shows you cannot piece of work.
  • Do not reschedule at ALJ or AC level.
  • At the AC hearing, you and your representative should only asking copies of hearing recordings and exhibits from the ALJ hearing if you lot need them for your entreatment.
  • A videoconference (the only electric current) selection is always faster

Expect Times for a Social Security or SSI Hearing Appointment

Although the window for filing the hearing request is curt, the wait for being assigned a hearing date ranges from long to very long—typically twelve to eighteen months and in some areas every bit much as two years. The variation in wait times from ane Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR) (aka hearing office) to another is related to how many hearing requests are processed through a specific hearing office and the number of judges bachelor in each part.

Social Security publishes a list of statistics on boilerplate hearing date expect periods for all the hearing offices. The list, which is organized alphabetically by the city in which the ODAR part is situated can be plant at https://www.ssa.gov/appeals/DataSets/01_NetStat_Report.html.

Statistics show that each Administrative Law Judge clears ii or less hearing decisions a 24-hour interval. Average processing times from request for hearing to the issuance of a decision letter range from 144 to 855 days with most falling in the 400 to 680-day range (xiii months to a little less than two years).

Expect Times for a Decision after the Hearing

To determine how long it might take you to receive a decision letter after your hearing is held, you can look upward the average number of days from request to decision letter from your hearing office at https://www.ssa.gov/appeals/DataSets/05_Average_Processing_Time_Report.html.

From that total length of time, decrease the average wait for a hearing engagement in your ODAR. The difference between the ii times is an estimate of how long you might wait for your determination later on the hearing. This adding requires converting to days the boilerplate number of wait months for a hearing date.

Here'south an example: The Spokane, Washington ODAR averages 504 days from asking to decision letter beingness mailed. The office's average waiting period to the 24-hour interval of the hearing is 16 months. Because we are calculating estimates, we practice non accept to be exact, so we multiply xvi months times 30 days to arrive at an average hearing engagement waiting time of 480 days. If every claim were on average, you would be sent a conclusion from the Spokane ODAR inside 24 days of the hearing (504 – 480).

Of course, averages are made upwardly by extremes on both ends. The guideline for judges to complete hearing decisions is sixty days and many decisions are fabricated in that fourth dimension frame or less; a substantial number of others have ninety days or more.

If 60 days have passed since your hearing and you accept non received a decision, y'all can follow upwardly on your disability claim condition by calling your ODAR to inquire where your claim is in the post-hearing appeals process. Your ODAR's phone number can be found on the letter of the alphabet notifying you lot of your hearing engagement.

If you experience dire financial need while waiting for a hearing date or for a decision after the hearing, such every bit eviction or foreclosure proceedings, homelessness, or the inability to receive medical handling for a life-threatening illness, you tin submit a statement of dire need with a request for expedited handling. If you do and so, exist sure to adhere copies of documents to support your statement. If the dire need statement is accustomed as valid, your hearing request or decision volition be moved up in line but yet backside all the dire need requests submitted earlier yours.

While You Await for a Decision

Postal service-hearing processing consists of iii full general steps: the approximate makes the decision; the decision is communicated to the conclusion letter writing department where it is assigned to a writer; and in one case the letter is written, information technology is sent to the judge for review and signature before it is sent to you. If the judge finds an error in the letter, fourth and 5th steps are added: the letter is returned for editing (correcting) and then is sent back to the guess for second review and signature.

Understanding the Inability Hearing Procedure

If yous've been denied benefits, yous will desire to appeal the decision. Information technology makes sense to get help from a disability attorney, but it isn't 100% necessary in all cases. Any you decide to do, use this as a guide to how the hearing process works. Your best bet is to persevere because the extra effort volition usually result in winning disability benefits.