After you have your hearing, the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) will issue their decision. Claimants typically wait one to three months for the decision to be issued. The ALJ has three possible choices. The options are a fully favorable decision, partially favorable decision or unfavorable decision.
A fully favorable decision means the ALJ finds you disabled and agrees that you became disabled on the same date you alleged on your application. There are two types of partially favorable decisions. A partially favorable decision may be issued if the ALJ agrees you are disabled but that you did not become disabled as early as you alleged. The other type of partially favorable decision is what is called a closed period of disability. In a closed period an ALJ would find you disabled for at least a 12 month period of time, but not eligible for ongoing payments.
If you receive either a fully favorable or partially favorable decision your claim will be forwarded to one of the payment centers to begin the processing of your benefits. The payment center will issue what is called the Notice of Award. The Notice of Award will outline how much your back payment is and how much your monthly benefits will be (if you are eligible for monthly payments). The Notice of Award will also list any deductions that may be taken out, for example an attorney’s fee.
If you receive an unfavorable decision from the ALJ you would have the option to file an appeal. The appeal is submitted to the Social Security Administration Appeals Council. The Appeals Council makes a final review to determine whether or not the ALJ made the correct decision at the time of the hearing. Their review of claims take on average at least one year to process. The Appeals Council frequently determines that the original decision made by the ALJ is correct.
For some claimants who receive an unfavorable decision it is better to forgo the appeal with the Appeal Councils and file a whole new application. Depending on the specifics of your claim it may be more likely that your new application will be approved than the appeal. However, if you don’t appeal the ALJ’s decision that decision will be made final for the time period covered by that claim.
For more information on the hearing process, please review the SSA’s website page titled Social Security’s Hearing Process.
