Building a Strong Application for Financial Relief
You’re staring down the Social Security Disability application, hoping to get help paying your bills and stabilizing yourself after serious health problems disrupted your life.
But it’s overwhelming. You have pages of forms to fill out, medical records to gather, work history to explain. How do you know if you’re doing it right?
We’re disability lawyers who’ve helped thousands of people with their benefits applications, and our first advice is don’t get discouraged and delay applying for disability.
Apply as soon as you know you can’t work because of your medical situation.
You may have heard about waiting periods and delays before you can get the monthly checks and Medicare or Medicaid health coverage that comes with Social Security Disability.
This doesn’t mean you should wait. The sooner you get your application in, the closer you are to life-changing benefits and a chance to breathe easier.
Give yourself a break by reaching out to the Arizona disability attorneys at Slepian Ellexson.
Unlike many law firms, our attorneys help people from the very beginning of their disability applications. We won’t say you have to apply on your own and get denied by Social Security before we step in.
And you don’t pay an attorney fee until you win benefits.
On this page, we’ll introduce how to apply for Social Security Disability. To get started on your own disability application in Phoenix, Tucson and across Arizona, get in touch with us.
Information You Need to Apply for Social Security Disability
When you’re applying for Social Security Disability benefits, you’re confronted with many forms to fill out. They ask for detailed information about your health problems and work background.
These are some of the forms you’ll see:
- Application for Disability Insurance Benefits (Form SSA-16)
- Adult Disability Report (Form SSA-3368-BK)
- Adult Function Report (Form SSA-3373
- Work Activity Report (Form SSA-821-BK)
- Work History Report (Form SSA-3369-BK)
Along with the forms, you’ll need to supply supporting documents on your health struggles and how they interfere with your ability to work, including:
- Medical records of your diagnosis
- Medical records describing your symptoms
- Test results, medical imaging and more
- Reports from your doctors
- A written record of the treatment you’ve been undergoing
- Your education and training background
- Descriptions of your most recent jobs and the tasks they required
- Testimony of people in your personal life about your health ordeal
It can be easier to apply for disability benefits if you gather the information you’ll need for your application before you sit down to fill it out.
It’s also easier if you work with Slepian Ellexson disability lawyers.
We’ll make sure your forms are filled out completely and correctly. We’ll put your information in the language that Social Security claims examiners look for.
When you start with us, we’ll ask for a list of doctors you see and medications you take. We’ll contact your doctors to get the technical medical details you need for your disability application.
We’ll listen to your story about when you first realized your medical impairments prevented you from working. We’ll ask about how your health limitations affect your everyday life.
We’ll ask questions you might not think of, so we can build a stronger case with Social Security.
Get started by having a conversation with us, for free, about your application for disability benefits.
Slepian Ellexson has been helping Arizonans for over 47 years.
Filing for Social Security Disability: What Are Your Options?
Social Security runs two disability benefits programs. Which one you apply for depends on your work and economic circumstances:
SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY INSURANCE (SSDI)
When you work and a little of your paycheck goes to Social Security, you gain disability benefits coverage in the event that health problems force you out of work. If you have a substantial recent work record, you’ll be filing an SSDI application. You earned these benefits.
SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME (SSI)
If you don’t have much recent work history, your income and financial resources are low, and you can’t work due to bad health, you’ll apply for SSI disability.
With either program, it’s easy to make mistakes on your disability application.
You need to give full, clear, accurate answers to every question. Don’t send conflicting information. Don’t exaggerate your health problems, but don’t downplay them, either.
Answer questions Social Security asks along the way, fill out forms they request, and meet their deadlines.
The disability benefits process can take a long time, but in Arizona your Slepian Ellexson disability attorney keeps you on track.
Having a lawyer means you have someone watching out for you personally, making sure your needs are respected in a difficult system. It’s reassuring to know that someone capable is handling your claim.
On the other side of this daunting disability benefits application could be a steadier, more peaceful, happier life.
