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Normally, when the Social Security Administration approves a disabled claimant’s application for Social Security Disability Insurance, called SSDI, the claimant must wait five months for monthly benefits to begin. This can be a hardship for a person without income because of disabling impairment as the bills have likely already started to pile up. The waiting period seems […]

Federal law specifically defines “disability” for purposes of eligibility for Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income, referred to as SSDI and SSI, respectively. As we have blogged about before, the Social Security Administration (SSA), uses a five-step process to determine whether a claimant meets the definition. Listing of impairments At the third step, SSA […]

Social Security laws have changed over the years in how they treat alcoholism and drug addiction when determining whether disability prevents working for purposes of eligibility for Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income, or SSDI and SSI, respectively. Substance use cannot be material part of disability Today, a claimant may not receive benefits […]

You may think your disability is obvious and there should be no problem getting your Social Security Disability or Supplemental Security Income – usually referred to as SSDI and SSI – approved. After all, your doctor may have ordered that you not work, or you may be unable to take care of your basic daily […]

A recent investigative journalism piece revealed that some doctors hired to review applications for Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income may be working too fast to achieve a high degree of accuracy. The Nashville Tennessean said in May that the federal government does not have data readily compiled about doctors in each state […]

When deciding if someone can work despite having severe physical or mental medical impairments, ordinarily the decision-maker should consider multiple sources of information, according to a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. Evidence from vocational testing, medical records and other sources may be necessary to adequately assess a person’s ability to sustain […]

We represent Social Security Disability Insurance claimants with many physical and mental impairments that prevent them from performing meaningful work. Hepatitis C is a serious liver disease that can cause severe disability for some of our clients. World Hepatitis Day It is a good time to revisit hepatitis C as World Hepatitis Day is coming up July 28. This […]

At our law firm, we fight for people whose headaches prevent them from working, either alone or in combination with other physical and mental impairments. Migraines and other headaches can cause excruciating pain and a variety of other difficult symptoms that may prevent productive work activity and can form the basis for an award of Social Security […]

When you apply to the Social Security Administration for Social Security Disability Insurance, it can seem mysterious what the agency is doing behind the curtain to decide if you are disabled and eligible for SSDI. Remember, disability for this purpose is different from disability for workers’ compensation or private disability insurance. SSDI is essentially public disability […]