Social Security Appeal

Social Security is an assurance that your disability or advanced age will not be a hindrance for you to lead a normal life. It provides a regular income for those who are unable to work due to physical or mental disabilities or prevent them from working in regular paying jobs. Or, it can be given to senior citizens well beyond their working age as a retirement benefit or as a financial aid for the elderly without a job. It is also paid to the survivors if an insured person dies. The Social Security Administration, which administers the Social Security program in the U.S., decides the eligibility of a person to receive the benefits, and accordingly accepts or rejects a person’s claim to Social Security benefits. If the application is rejected, the person can file an appeal for reconsidering the claim.

Social Security Appeals basically involve four stages: Reconsideration, disability hearing, review by the Appeals Council, and Federal court review. During the initial stage, the applicant submits all evidences to the SSA for reconsideration, and after reviewing the new documents, the SSA may again reject the claim. Then, the next stage will be to appeal for a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. After the hearing process, the judge will make his decision. If the judge’s decision also is not favorable, the person can file for another review by the Social Security Appeals Council which either denies the request for review or considers the case for further review. If the Appeals Council rejects the request stating that the Administrative Law Judge’s decision was correct, or if the decision by the Council is against any benefits, the applicant can finally approach the Federal district court for filing a lawsuit.

The application process and the subsequent appeals and hearing are confusing and complex; hence, most people seek the assistance of Social Security lawyers to file Social Security Disability Appeals. The Social Security lawyers can provide valuable advice to the applicant as to what documents and evidences he/she may need to prove disability. However, they are more often approached for filing appeals once an application is rejected at the initial stage. An appeal lawyer typically requests the SSA to reconsider the claim; provide proof of disability at the hearing; files an appeal with the Appeals Council; and finally, if everything fails, he files a lawsuit against the SSA in the Federal court. In some rare cases, if the Federal District Court decides against any disability benefits for the applicant, the appeal lawyer can file a motion with the United States Supreme Court.