For a long time now the Appeals Councils had remained a bit mysterious when it comes to the Social Security disability process.
The lucky people who go through the Social Security disability process never have to deal with the Appeals Council, which can be extremely frustrating, but many more do.
Previously we have talked at length about the Social Security disability process. Close to 75 percent of people who file an initial claim for disability are medically denied. Those who are initially denied can appeal their decision, which usually results in a close to 80 percent denial rate. After facing two medical denials, which is the norm for most people who file, the third step in the process is to file one more appeal and request a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). This information is just to outline the process, we are not going into timelines, but be aware once you are denied twice and have to request a hearing before an ALJ it is likely to take a year or longer before your hearing is actually scheduled.
A decent amount of applicants are approved at the hearing level, but many more are not. If a claimant receives an unfavorable decision as issued by the ALJ there is an opportunity for another appeal. Basically, if the claimant wishes to continue to apply for disability benefits, they can either appeal the ALJs decision to the Appeals Council or file a new claim.
No one wishes to have a claim at the Appeals Council. Besides the fact that it can take between 6 and 18 months for the Appeals Council to issue a decision the chances of a favorable outcome once the Appeals Council acts is quite low and continues to become less favorable every year.
Looking at recent Appeals Council data indicates that in 2009 just 73 percent of claims were denied compared to 83 percent in 2015. Although there remains a chance that you will still win your disability claim at the Appeals Council level the chances dramatically decrease at this level compared to any other time during the process.
To take a closer look at recent data from the Appeals Council click here.
