When I became a disability lawyer in 2006, it was common for clients to wait three or even four years for a Social Security hearing. Cases lingered on for many years. During that time, clients typically had no income and…
Can you apply for social security disability if you are getting unemployment? The answer to that question is yes. However, it depends on whether you are claiming benefits on your work record (Disability Insurance Benefits) or SSI (Supplemental Security Income-…
During the coronavirus pandemic the Social Security Administration has been offering claimants the option of (1) having a phone hearing, or (2) asking for a continuance until face to face hearings are again being offered (and nobody knows how long…
How is the coronavirus making it difficult to prove some disability cases? Any disability case depends upon medical evidence and medical opinions. Medical evidence and medical opinions are only obtainable if a disability claimant is going to his or her…
For Social Security disability clients over age 50, the way in which you fill out your work history report could be the difference in getting benefits at the initial level or having to wait for a disability hearing in front…
Step 2: Do you have a severe medical problem that affects your ability to work? Once it has been determined that an individual is not working at Step 1, SSA will proceed to Step 2. This step asks whether a…
Step 4: Are you able to do any of your past jobs? At the fourth step of the Sequential Evaluation, Social Security considers your residual functional capacity and your past relevant work. If Social Security determines that despite any physical…
Disability Lawyers, Disability Judges and Disability Clients are Doing Social Security Phone Hearings Presently, Northeast Ohio Social Security Hearing Offices are conducting Social Security phone hearings. It is expected that hearings will be conducted this way at least through the…
Step 3: Does your medical problem meet or equal one of Social Security’s listed impairments? At the third step of the Sequential Evaluation, Social Security will determine whether or not an individual’s impairment meets or equals one of the listed…
The Social Security Administration has released the following information at https://www.ssa.gov/news/press/releases/2020/#2-2020-1 "Social Security Commissioner Andrew Saul announced a new final rule today, modernizing an agency disability rule that was introduced in 1978 and has remained unchanged. The new regulation,…