Demystifying

There are multiple ways to file an application for Social Security disability benefits. Here are a few options if you decide you want to get the disability process moving. When deciding to apply for disability it is important to know what needs to be submitted to the Social Security Administration for a medical determination to be made about your disabilities. If something is missed it can delay your application until all materials are received. Three documents are needed to complete an application. These documents include a disability report, benefit application, and authorization to disclose information to the Social Security Administration. All of these documents can be found online at the Social Security website. The disability report is the meat and potatoes of your disability claim. All of your medical providers’ contact information is needed as well as approximate dates of your first, last and any future appointments with these providers. The disability report also asks about your last 15 years worth of work history and any current medications you are taking related to your disabilities. In addition to the disability report you will need to complete a benefit application. This application requires more personal information about marriages, children and more details about the companies you have worked for. Once an applicant has completed the disability report and benefit application one more document is needed before Social Security can decide whether an applicant meets the medical requirements of being disabled. This document is the authorization to disclose information to the Social Security Administration. By printing and signing this document you are authorizing Social Security to collect your medical records so a medical determination can be made. Without all of these documents a valid Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) claim is not possible. If an applicant wishes to file a Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claim one more step is required. This involves calling Social Security to schedule an SSI phone interview. This is required to determine whether the applicant’s financial resources qualify them for this financial needs based program. The process to complete an initial application can be time consuming, but help is out there. Social Security legal representatives, such as Greeman Toomey PLLC, can handle the initial application for you and Social Security can also assist with the process.  

There are two portions to the Social Security Disability Initial Application. The first portion is called the Adult Disability Report (ADR) and the second portion is the Benefit Application. The ADR asks questions regarding your medical conditions, medical treatment, work background and education level. It is important to have a list prepared of all of your physical and mental health conditions that limit your ability to work. It is also helpful to prepare a list of the hospitals and clinics where you have been treated for these conditions. Social Security is most interested in your recent medical treatment. At Greeman Toomey, we ask our clients to prepare a list of places where they have received treatment in the past 12 months. We need the name and contact information of the facility, dates of treatment, and the name of the doctor that treated you. The ADR will also ask if you have had any medical tests performed at these facilities, and if you are being prescribed any medications. There may be other places that have additional medical records. These include public welfare offices, prisons or jails, other attorney’s offices, vocational rehabilitation centers, workers compensation, etc. If any of these sources are applicable to you, please collect the relevant contact information. The ADR asks for information regarding the applicant’s work background. The report asks about the jobs held in the past 15 years, or the five most recent jobs. Please prepare a list of your past employment. For each job, the reports asks for your job title, the type of business, start/end date, hours worked per week, and rate of pay. The ADR does not ask for much detail regarding each job, but you will later receive a Work History Report from the SSA Disability Determination Services office. The final questions on the ADR ask about your education history. Specifically, the highest level of schooling you’ve completed, along with any job or vocational training. Dates of completion for each level of education will also be requested. The ADR also asks if you have ever attended special education classes. The Benefit Application is typically the easier portion to complete and requires less advanced preparation. It goes into detail regarding your personal information. It asks what city and state you were born in, in addition to information about your children and spouses. The Benefit Application also asks about earnings in the current and previous year. This includes the names of employers and any self-employment income. Your case manager will be contacting you to complete the initial application either over the phone or in our office. To make the appointment go smoothly please prepare the required information. If you have any questions please do no hesitate to call our office at (612) 332-3252 or toll-free at (877) 332-3252.

In recent years, Social Security Administration has taken large steps towards recognizing the fact some types of medical conditions should qualify sufferers for disability benefits automatically, on account of the conditions being serious enough that those who have them fit the Social Security Administration definition of being disabled. Since 2008, the Compassionate Allowances program has allowed people with qualifying conditions to start receiving Social Security Disability benefits as early as three weeks after initially applying for disability. This is a considerable improvement over the months-long (and sometimes years-long) process of applying, re-applying and appealing which most people have to go through before being approved for Social Security Disability benefits. The Social Security Administration added early onset/younger-onset Alzheimer’s to the list of conditions under its Compassionate Allowance guidelines, giving those with the disease expedited access to Social Security Disability benefits. The Alzheimer’s Association, a longtime advocate for those with early onset Alzheimer’s, has played an integral role in this movement to reduce the length of disability decision process.  Alzheimer’s Disease is a complicated disability. Alzheimer’s is a brain disease that affects an individual’s memory, behavior, and thinking patterns. It is the most common form of dementia, accounting for about 50 to 70 percent of all dementia cases. The disease attacks the brain, and symptoms worsen progressively over time. When an individual suffers from Alzheimer’s Disease, certain types of nerve cells in different areas of the brain are destroyed. This results in a gradual decline in judgment, reasoning ability, verbal communication and cognitive skills. The exact symptoms and effects of Alzheimer’s Disease vary from individual to individual, but common symptoms include a loss of memory, disorientation, communication issues, reasoning problems, poor judgment, decision-making difficulties, and personality changes such as depression, mood swings, and distrust in others. Claimants applying for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits for Alzheimer’s are typically approved if symptoms are common to dementia episodes of decomposition in which there is an increase in signs and symptoms, accompanying a loss of functioning (this causes difficulties in performing everyday activities, inability to maintain social relationships, and inability to maintain concentration, persistence or pace when performing tasks); episodes requiring an increase in treatment or relocation to a less stressful situation and medical records proving a sudden significant increase in medication or the need for a more structured psychological support system. Episodes must be documented and there must be at least three episodes within one year (on average of one every four months, each lasting for at least two weeks. Each person’s situation is unique, so it is very important not to delay. When filing for Social Security Disability due to a diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s Disease, you need to include as much medical documentation as possible. Medical records, documents, and written statements from your doctors supporting your diagnosis will be crucial to the success of your Social Security Disability claim.

Earlier last week the Education Department proposed new rules to revamp its program for forgiving federal student loans of borrowers who become disabled. While the proposed reforms would not use Social Security disability findings as a basis for discharging loans – as many student borrowers’ advocates had hoped – they would streamline the application process and improve communication with borrowers. As of 2008, the standard for discharge of student loans is full disability for at least five years. Check out the full article here.  

An RFC is important at several stages of the 5 step sequential evaluation process, but let’s start with a definition. RFC stands for residual functional capacity, and is an individual’s maximum remaining ability to perform sustained work on a regular and continuing basis. In other words, what can the person do 8 hours a day, for 5 days a week? An RFC is assessed based on all the medical records in a case and is supposed to represent the most a claimant can do, both physically and mentally. A person’s RFC considers both exertional and non-exertional limitations. Exertional limitations have to do with physical strength and fall into one of seven categories: sitting, standing, walking, lifting, carrying, pushing, and pulling. Non-exertional limitations include any work-related limitation that is not covered by one of the exertional categories. Non-exertional limitations include: mental abilities, vision, hearing, speech, climbing, balancing, stooping, kneeling, crouching, crawling, reaching, handling, fingering, feeling, and environmental restrictions. If any exertional limitations are involved in a disability claim, then the RFC assessment must include an exertional classification of sedentary, light, medium, heavy, or very heavy work. As a person moves down the list of exertional classifications (for example, from heavy to medium) fewer jobs are available that fall within the person’s RFC. As a result, the lower the exertional classification, the better the claimant’s chances of being found disabled. Non-exertional limitations can also decrease the number of jobs that fall within a claimant’s RFC. For example, limitations in fingering and handling could exclude assembly jobs, while limitations in interacting with the public could exclude customer service jobs. In future blog posts we will look at RFCs in several different scenarios and examine how they might affect the outcome of case.