DISABILITY HEARINGS: THINGS YOU MUST PROVE

Disability hearings are fact finding missions:  an administrative law judge (ALJ) attempts to establish facts to determine whether a claimant meets the requirements for a Social Security disability benefit.

In order to get the most benefits you are entitled to receive, there are certain facts that must be proven, using objective evidence, at this hearing.  Here are a few of them:

1)  You must prove your alleged onset date or AOD.  This is the date you first became unable to work according to the regulations.  This is a large factor in how much back pay you can receive.

2)  You must prove the severity of your symptoms.  Having a certain diagnosis is not enough.  You need to prove that your illness or condition is so severe that it prevents your ability to work. 

3)  You must prove the frequency of your disabling symptoms.  How often do your symptoms render you unable to work?  For example, migraine headaches which occur several times per month may be disabling.  However, migraines which occur once every 2 or 3 months probably are not disabling.

4) You must prove your "residual functional capacity" (RFC).  This simply means the maximum amount of physical exertion you can still do, in spite of all your medical impairments.  The judge will determine if you are able to perform at any of the following exertional levels:

• Very heavy work (the hardest level)
• Heavy work
• Medium work
• Light work
• Sedentary work (easiest level)

The judge will base your RFC on your testimony at the hearing and, more importantly, on the medical evidence you or your representative submit.

5)  You must prove any non-exertional limitations.  These may include limitations based on postural restrictions (inability to stoop, crouch, crawl, climb, reach, etc.).  Or they may include limitations based on psychological or emotional limitations (difficulty with memory, concentration, reacting with people, etc.).

I think many claimants have the wrong view of what happens at a hearing.  Many believe you simply go before a judge and gain his sympathy.  If the judge believes your story, benefits will be awarded.  That is not the case.  Federal regulations require that you prove your case using objective evidence.  You must be disabled according to Social Security's rules.  The burden of proof to meet those rules rests upon the claimant.

As a colleague once said:  "There is the truth, and there is the truth you can prove."  Not always the same things.
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Charles W. Forsythe
THE FORSYTHE FIRM
7027 Old Madison Pike - Suite 108
Huntsville, AL 35806
PH (256) 799-0297

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