If you applied for Social Security disability benefits and were told you are not eligible, we strongly urge you to contact us for help.
Denials are very common but can usually be overturned on appeal. When you file an appeal your case goes before a federal administrative law judge for a hearing. Most of the cases that are won today are won at this level.
Here is what one of our experienced Social Security advocates will do for you:
- Analyze your case and set a strategy
- Gather evidence from doctors
- Prepare you to testify at the hearing
- Question the expert witnesses
- Answer the judge's technical questions
- Explain your case in terms of Social Security's regulations
WHAT ARE OUR FEES?
We do all the work on your case with no money upfront. We never ask you for a fee. If your case is successful, Social Security will withhold our fee out of your back pay and pay us directly. If your case does not result in back pay, we will not charge you a fee--ever.
And you always keep 100 percent of your monthly benefits--forever.
A Social Security denial is not the end. It marks an opportunity to take your case in a new direction. Contact us and get the help you need to turn a denial into victory and a claim paid!
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Charles W. Forsythe
The Forsythe Firm
7027 Old Madison Pike
Suite 108
Huntsville, AL 35806
"Across from Bridge Street"
PHONE: (256) 799-0297
SOCIAL SECURITY JUSTICE WEBSITE
Let's face it. 7 out of 10 applications for disability will be denied for one reason or another. Very few people get approved with an application.
You must appeal the denial within 60 days. What does the appeal do for you?
First, the appeal keeps your claim alive. It protects your back pay, your disability onset date and other benefits under the original claim. If the appeal is eventually decided in your favor, benefits can go back to the original onset date of your disability. This can pay you tens of thousands of dollars in past due benefits or back pay.
Second, a timely appeal puts you on track to appear at a hearing before a US Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). It will take a long time to get there, however, the appeal is the same thing as a Request for a Hearing.
Third, the appeal gives you time to gather new or additional evidence. You should keep seeing your doctor(s) and submitting the new records to your file.
Finally, the appeal allows you to appear in person before a judge who will give you a new decision without being bound by the negative decision already made on your claim. The judge will review all the facts in your case, including new evidence, including your testimony, including your attoney's arguments. You are entitled to be represented at these hearings and you should be. It won't guarantee a victory but it will increase your chances of winning.
I come in contact with claimants who have been denied three, four or even five times. They keep filing new claims and getting denied over and over again. This is the worst way to approach an SSDI claim. A new application goes to the same people who denied it previously. The same people make the same decision again. Another denial. Spinning your wheels, getting nowhere.
The 3 must do rules for a denied claim are:
1. Appeal
2. Appeal
3. Appeal
A lot of people get into trouble with Social Security by taking benefits they are not entitled to. This can go on for several years before Social Security catches on. Then, the government demands that you pay the money back. Probably, the money has been spent. You just don't have it to pay back. This is a serious problem.
How do people get themselves into this fix? By taking money that they are not entitled to.
It usually happens this way. An individual gets approved for disability and receives an SSDI check each month. After a couple of years, he feels better and decides he can go back to work. He does so but doesn't notify Social Security that he is working. So, Social Security keeps sending the monthly disability checks, which the beneficiary is no longer entitled to. But the checks keep getting cashed, creating a huge over-payment.
This may go on for up to two or three years. It appears that everything is fine because nobody has screamed about it.
However, Social Security has multiple ways of knowing when people get checks they are not entitled to. Eventually, they will find out. They always do. Then, they will demand their money back.
Of course, the money has already been spent. That doesn't matter. Social Security wants their money back, no excuses.
I get five or six calls a month from individuals in this situation. "I've spent the money, I don't have it any more, and now they want it back. Can you get me out of this?"
The short answer is, "No, I can't." If you take money you are not entitled to, you will have to pay it back.
I do realize that earning a paycheck and getting a disability check too is tempting. But it is also illegal.
Here is my recommendation to anyone receiving a benefit from Social Security:
Realize your reporting responsibilities. If you go back to work, either full-time or part-time, immediately notify Social Security in writing. Telephone calls are nearly impossible to prove and never make a good record. If Social Security doesn't respond, don't just assume that cashing their checks is OK. Keep contacting them until you get the right information. Ultimately, cashing checks that you're not entitled to cash only gets you into trouble. There is never an acceptable excuse and there are no loopholes. When in doubt, don't cash the check!
Fighting fraud is Job 1 at Social Security these days. If outright dishonesty or misrepresentation is involved, you may be subject to arrest and criminal prosecution--in addition to paying back the money you took. It isn't worth it to put yourself in that position. If you go back to work, report it. If they send you a check anyway, return it.
There are a very limited number of situations where a person might be entitled to keep getting a check after returning to work. An example would be a person participating in the Ticket to Work program. But this is a formal program where a person works with the permission of Social Security and there are rules and limits.
TOP 10 SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY MISTAKES
Social
Security has its own rule book. To get benefits, you have to know
their rules and play by them. Other rules just don't work. Here are my
Top Ten Mistakes that can cause you problems with SSDI:
1.
Trying to file when you haven't worked enough. You must have worked
enough to accumulate the minimum Quarters of Coverage. Without the
required work history, your claim will automatically be denied. And
this type of denial can't be successfully appealed. Check this with the
Social Security office before you begin an SSDI claim. The question
you need to ask: "Do I have enough work credits to support a new Title 2
claim?"
2.
Filing a claim while you are still working. If you work enough to earn
substantial wages, you will be given a denial at the first step in the
process. In 2018, wages of at least $1,180 per month will get you
denied. You must stop working or reduce wages to below the maximum before filing.
3.
Alleging an onset date in the past but Social Security finds that you
were still working on that date. For example, you allege disability
began on 4/14/17 but you were still at working at substantial gainful activity (SGA) on that date. You should amend your alleged onset date to a later date after you stopped earning SGA wages.
4.
You have a serious condition but it isn't expected to last at least 12
consecutive months. Short term disabilities that won't last for at least
1 year are not covered unless they are expected to end in death.
5.
Failure to get your own doctor's support. Your doctor knows you better
than anyone. He or she can give you a form called a "medical source
statement" that can help you get approved. You have to seek out this
from your doctor; Social Security won't do it.
6.
Depending on Social Security's doctor to help you will always let you
down. They have consulting doctors that often do examinations for
persons who file claims but lack medical evidence from their own doctors. These exams seldom help get a favorable
decision and most often doom the case to a denial.
7.
Failing to get medical treatment is a big mistake. Social Security
bases its decision on what is in your medical file. It is crucial to
have consistent treatment from your doctor(s). Claiming to have a
disabling impairment without medical evidence for it is a waste of time. For many conditions, treatment by a medical specialist is a really good idea. By the way, nurse practitioners are not considered acceptable medical sources by Social Security. They want a doctor (MD or DO). Records from a nurse practitioner won't take you very far with Social Security.
8.
Waiting too long to file a claim can hurt you. Every worker's Social
Security disability coverage comes with a "Date Last Insured," which is
the time limit for filing a new claim. When you stop working, for any
reason, your Date Last Insured begins to creep up on you. Don't wait
too long to file an SSDI claim or you may find yourself uninsured at
Social Security.
9.
Failure to file an appeal in a timely manner. Up to 70 percent of SSDI
claims will be denied at the first stage. It's just expected. You
have 60 days to file an appeal. After 60o days passes and you do not
appeal, the claim is dismissed and can't be reinstated in most cases.
Don't let the 60 days pass. (Appeals are where most cases are won).
10. Failure to get legal representation. Social Security is one of those places where you may
represent yourself. However, this is a really bad idea. There are
complex books of regulations that govern Social Security disability.
You need someone who knows the system and understands how to get cases
approved. You only pay your representative if you win and if you
collect past due benefits. Social Security will deduct the amount of
the fee you have agreed on and pay the representative directly. There
are reasonable maximum fees set by Social Security and you will never
pay more than these amounts by law. You never have to pay anything up
front.
____________
THE FORSYTHE FIRM
Social Security Disability Representatives
7027 Old Madison Pike NW, Suite 108
Huntsville, AL 35806
PHONE (256) 799-0297
SOCIAL SECURITY JUSTICE: OUR WEBSITE
Social Security disability benefits are unique to the individual. The amount of your monthly benefit depends on your age, how long you have worked and how much you have earned.
The maximum SSDI benefit can be over $2,700 per month. That would be for an individual with many years of high earnings.
The average SSDI check in 2018 is around $1,170 per month.
SSDI benefits are not "means tested." Benefits are not reduced because you have other income, property, savings, etc.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a totally different program and its maximum benefit is $750 per month. That amount can be reduced based on household income, living arrangements and other factors because SSI is for low income individuals or families.
Social Security no longer mails estimates of benefits, as they once did. However, you can call your local Social Security office and ask about your estimated monthly benefit in case of disability.
Keep in mind that SSDI beneficiaries also get Medicare insurance, which is a valuable benefit. (SSI recipients get Medicaid).
A small percentage of claimants who have catastrophic or life-threatening illness may get Social Security disability benefits pretty easily. Most people, however, will be denied and will require legal assistance to be approved.
What Kind of Legal Help Will You Need?
1. THE APPLICATION. Most claimants apply on their own. But the denial rate on these applications is almost 80 percent. Again, unless you have a catastrophic or fatal disease, the odds are you will be denied, especially if you are under age 50. Using an experienced attorney-advocate to file the application doesn't guarantee approval but it will eliminate many of the common mistakes that bring about denials.
2. THE APPEAL. Most people who finally get approved for Social Security disability benefits will do so after they file an appeal. They will go to a hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ). These individuals need help in gathering evidence that meets the government's standards. They will also require assistance in presenting their case effectively to the judge. While representation is not required, it is your best chance at having a favorable resolution to your case. This hearing is to resolve a dispute with the US Government, who says that you are not disabled. The burden of proving that you are disabled rests upon you. You get a one-time chance at the hearing.
Specifically, here are some of the things that a good disability attorney-advocate will do for you:
- Gather and analyze medical records from doctors and other providers
- Analyze your past relevant work and how it impacts the claim
- Determine if you meet or equal one of the published Listings
- Determine whether a Grid argument can be made to get approval
- Develop another legal theory of the case to explain why you should be approved
- Solve flaws or problems in the case before it goes to hearing
- Petition for expedited processing, if appropriate, to get a decision faster
- Deal with pre-hearing motions from the judge
- Write a brief to explain why the case is sound legally and should be paid
- Prepare you, the claimant, for what will happen at the hearing ahead of time
- Appear at the hearing to present the case before the judge
- Object to testimony or rulings that are not in your best interest
- Cross examine Social Security's vocational expert at the hearing
- Make final arguments at the close of the hearing
- Monitor the payment process to be sure you collect the maximum benefits
- Decide whether any unfavorable decisions should be further appealed
- File any further appeals that are appropriate
- Answer your questions as the case progresses so you understand the process
All of this should cost you nothing until a favorable decision has been reached and you have been awarded past due benefits.
_______
The Forsythe Firm
7027 Old Madison Pike - Suite 108
Huntsville, AL 35806
PHONE (256) 799-0297
E-Mail me at forsythefirm@gmail.com
The goal of a Social Security disability claim is to convince the Government that you are not able to work. The obvious evidence you need is medical evidence: records from your doctor that show how severe your symptoms are.
But there is always non-medical evidence that enters into your claim, which may help you get approved or weaken your case and turn the direction toward denial.
Claimants often fail to see the advantages of non-medical evidence, or may see certain facts as harmful to their case. Here are a few examples.
You have changed jobs several times in recent years; therefore, you don't have a long history of just one job. This can be positive. If you had to change jobs because you couldn't perform the tasks of your old job, you are merely showing a commitment to keep working. Getting an easier job, or one with less demanding duties, demonstrates your need to work and your desire to keep working.
You were fired or "let go" from a your most recent job. This is usually considered negative. However, in a disability case, it may demonstrate that you were simply no longer able to dependably perform your job. If you were missing excessive days of work due to your health, it shows that your impairment is severe and interfered with your ability to work consistently. If your employer had to make accommodations to help you do your job, it shows how your health negatively affects your ability to keep working.
I recommend that claimants get a written statement from their former employer or supervisor, if possible. The statement should explain how long you worked for the company and that you were a good employee. It should go on to state observations your employer made about your work after you became sick. For example, you began to need extra time to complete job tasks; you had to miss work 3 or 4 days per month for illness; or, your job duties were changed in some way to help you continue working. The more specific the statement is, the more it will help you. For example, it is much better to say, "Mr. Employee was missing 3 or 4 days of work per month," than to say, "Mr. Employee sometimes missed work due to illness." The word "sometimes" is very vague and non-defined.
A good attorney or hearing representative will help you build non-medical evidence. Since I have stood before administrative law judges in hundreds of hearings, I know which evidence can help your claim. I can help you obtain this evidence prior to the hearing. Then, I can use the evidence during the hearing to help get a favorable decision in many cases.
The quest for Social Security disability benefits is difficult, with the average judge awarding (paying) about 42 percent of cases at hearings. The 42 percent (winners) are generally those who have the best evidence, presented in the best way, by the best representatives.
If you think you may have a Social Security disability claim, please call us for a free consultation. We will ask you some questions to help analyze your case. If we represent you, we will help you build a good case using both medical and non-medical evidence. You will never pay us a fee until your case is settled in your favor. At that time, the government will approve the fee we have agreed upon and pay us directly. You will receive 100 percent of your monthly benefits and your past due settlement will be reduced slightly to pay for our legal services. (The typical fee is 25 percent of past due benefits, not to exceed $6,000).
Example: Your past due settlement is $24,000. Our fee is $6,000. You keep $18,000 plus all your monthly checks.
Example: Your past due settlement is $80,000. Our fee is $6,000. You keep $74,000 and all your monthly checks.
Example: Your past due settlement is $12,000. Our fee is $3,000. You keep $8,000 and all of your monthly benefits.
----------------
The Forsythe Firm
Huntsville, AL
PHONE (256) 799-0297
