According to the Annual Statistical Report published by the Social Security Administration in 2020, a shocking 67 percent of applications for Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) were rejected on average during the preceding 10-year period. An even higher percentage of initial petitions were rejected on either medical or technical grounds—but importantly, a good chunk of those petitions were later approved once the applicant appealed their initial denial.
Understanding your right to contest the SSA’s decision regarding your SSDI application is often just as important as submitting the strongest possible petition in the first place, as is having help from a seasoned SSDI attorney in both regards. If you want to continue fighting for the benefits you need after having a claim rejected, you should make contacting a Summerlin SSDI appeals lawyer one of your top priorities.
How to Start an SSDI Appeal
From the moment someone receives written notice in the mail from the SSA that their application for SSDI benefits has been denied, they have 60 calendar days to request reconsideration either online or through the mail to the Disability Determination Services (DDS) department within the SSA. Once DDS receives a valid request for reconsideration, they will have examiners other than the one(s) who reviewed the applicant’s original petition take another look at it and consider whether it should be accepted.
If this internal review does not result in the claim being accepted, the claimant can progress to the next stage of the appeals process by requesting a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) within 60 days. As a Summerlin SSDI appeals attorney could further explain, ALJs work within the Office of Hearings Operations within the SSA and have the authority to review new evidence and documentation presented by an applicant in support of their claim. Then, based on that evidence, they determine whether the applicant qualifies for SSDI benefits.
Continuing an Appeal Beyond the ALJ
If the ALJ rules against the applicant, the next step in the appeals process for an SSDI claim is requesting a review from the SSA’s Appeals Council. The Appeals Council only reviews a small portion of the cases sent to them and generally only looks for major legal or procedural errors in the ALJ’s decision. If they find such an error, they can remand the application back to the ALJ for further review or even make a decision about it themselves.
If the Appeals Council agrees with the ALJ, the applicant’s fourth and final appeal option is to file a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the SSA. This is a fairly rare and expensive course of action, though, and it is essential to have support from a skilled SSDI appeals lawyer in Summerlin, Rhodes Ranch, Sovana, or Sun City to pursue it.
Seek Help from a Summerlin SSDI Appeals Attorney Today
While the prospect of disagreeing with a government agency as big as the SSA can be intimidating, effectively constructed and filed SSDI appeals have a fairly promising success rate. That said, this is a high-stakes and legally complex proceeding under the best of circumstances, and that is not the kind of thing you want to try handling entirely on your own.
Instead, you should consider reaching out to a Summerlin SSDI appeals lawyer who knows through experience exactly how to handle this kind of situation. Call Shook & Stone today to discuss your options.
