It’s becoming increasing hard for people who have been permanently injured and unable to work to get disability benefits. The process can take up to two years for people to get benefits if their application is successful. Sometimes SSD lawyers such as the Phoenix law firm of Snow, Carpio & Weekley, PLC are necessary to get your claim approved. Some types of disability cases usually seem to be approved for benefits, including those listed below.
Cases Often Approved for Disability Benefits
While there are no guarantees for being approved for Social Security Disability Insurance, or SSDI, some types of cases are more likely to be approved. If someone has been injured in an accident or born with paralysis in their extremities, he or she may be more likely to be approved for disability benefits. Other conditions include:
- Mental Retardation, but approval is based on its severity.
- Statutory Blindness, which is also called legal blindness.
- Being Totally Deaf
- Terminal Illnesses like cancer or ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease)
- Severe Cardiovascular Diseases
- Renal Failure
- Severe Neurological Impairments
Other conditions like uncontrolled diabetes, PTSD or severe depression are often approved as well. The Social Security Administration has a list of impairments it refers to when reviewing applications for disability. Although it is possible, it is rare for people to be approved for SSDI on their initial application.
Approval Process
People often get frustrated because the process for approval can take a long time. Most people are turned down when they initially apply for disability. When they are turned down, they can appeal the decision by themselves or they can hire an attorney with experience handling disability cases. However, the first appeal is often rejected as well.
During the first appeal, or reconsideration, the initial denial is reviewed by examining the criteria for disability. If it is found the denial was correct, then the reconsideration will also be turned down. In most cases, and depending where you live, there is only a 12% to 14% chance of being approved on the first appeal.
Disability Hearing
If your appeal fails, and you haven’t hired a lawyer yet, you should contact a disability benefits lawyer to help with the next step, which is a disability hearing. If the applicant continues onto the hearing stage when seeking their benefits, the odds of approval are in their favor if their case is well prepared and presented well. This is where a good disability attorney can help you get approval for SSDI.
Most claimants have a 60% chance of getting their benefits approved by a federal administrative law judge, who will proceed over the disability hearing. Applicants with these conditions are more likely to get their benefits approved at a hearing:
- Lupus
- Degenerative disc or joint disease
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Non-terminal cancers
- Sickle Cell Anemia
- Bipolar disorder
- Autoimmune diseases
- ADD or ADHD
Social security doesn’t decide who gets benefits on the basis of a medical diagnosis, but on the claimant’s ability to work at a substantial gainful level. Hiring an attorney can help you cross over obstacles to get the disability benefits you deserve.
