DISABIILTY BENEFITS FOR SEIZURE DISORDERS

We frequently represent individuals with Epilepsy or seizures in the attempt to get Social Security disability benefits.

While a seizure disorder may certainly be disabling under Social Security's rules, this isn't always the case.  Social Security will evaluate the disorder based on it's nature (type of seizures), frequency and medical treatment.

Here is what you will need to be approved and paid:

• a diagnosis of epilepsy or other seizure disorder
• a detailed description of your typical seizure, including all pre- and post-seizure symptoms
• a statement from your doctor corroborating your account of the nature and frequency of your seizures
• a description of your seizures from a third-party witness
• a record indicating the frequency of your past seizures
• results of an EEG, and
• a detailed treatment history, including medications and other treatments that you’ve tried and your response to them. 

Social Security will want to see where the claimant has been taking anti-convulsant medications for at least 3 months.  A doctor should have reviewed the medication and adjusted the dosage in an attempt to control the seizures.  If the seizures continue to be frequent enough to interfere with sustaining regular, full-time work, benefits may be approved.

Besides medical care, the one thing that will help your case the most is a diary or written record of your seizure activity, kept by a third party who can document the type of seizures, what activity accompanies a seizure and how often they occur.  You can't just depend on doctors or emergency room records because by the time you get to the ER or doctor's office, the seizure has already long passed. Also, many people don't go to the doctor or ER every time they have a seizure.  Therefore, have a member of your family keep a detailed record of your seizures.


The Forsythe Firm
Social Security Disability Counselors
7027 Old Madison Pike - Suite 108
Huntsville, AL 35806
CALL (256) 799-0297

Free evaluations and consultations 

SOCIAL SECURITY JUSTICE - WEBSITE 

GOVERNMENT MAKES DISABILITY BENEFITS HARDER TO GET

For the past 20 years, the number of new Social Security disability applications has increased each year, causing the administration to warn that the trust fund which pays benefits will soon become insolvent.

Based on this fright, the government tightened the screws on Social Security disability benefits in several ways:

• making qualifying for Social Security disability insurance benefits more difficult
• making the application process more arduous and
• making the appeals process for rejected applications harder.
  
  The result has been dramatic.  Approval rates with judges fell from 62 percent to 42 percent.  Tens of thousands of appeals that once would have been approved are being denied.
  
  Very few applicants these days will even attempt a Social Security application, let alone an appeal, without legal representation.
  
  2018 saw some changes.  The number of new SSDI claims decreased for the first time in over twenty years.  It looks like new claims will fall again in 2019. This moves the insolvency crisis for the trust fund ahead by about ten years.
  
  Social Security benefits remain very difficult to get for most claimants.  Over two-thirds of applications will initially be denied.  These claimants must go through a rigorous appeal process, including an appearance before a US administrative law judge (ALJ) to have their applications reconsidered.  
  
  Social Security's definition of "disability" is very strict.  For most persons it means the inability to perform any kind of full-time work.  Claimants who retain the ability to work an unskilled, sedentary job (often at minimum wage) are found ineligible for disability benefits.  
  
  Claimants who are 50 or over may fare a little better, thanks to the "grid rules" or medical-vocational guidelines.  However, most of these older claimants will also be denied initially and will need to go through the appeal process before they can get benefits.
  
  _______________
  The Forsythe Firm
  Social Security Representatives
  7027 Old Madison Pike - Suite 108
  Huntsville, AL 35806
  CALL (256) 799-0297
  
  Free consultations 
  
  SOCIAL SECURITY JUSTICE - WEBSITE
  
   
  
   
  
   

DENIED DISABILITY BENEFITS? DON'T REAPPLY

Once the Social Security Administration has denied a disability claim, it's virtually useless to file a new application.  

The same people, in the same building, look at the new application and make the same decision again:  another denial.  What have you accomplished?  You wasted 5 more months.

What is the better option?  In most cases, the better option by far is to appeal the original denial.  It takes 30 minutes to file an appeal.

Why is the appeal a better option for you?

1.  It gets you out of the state agency (Disability Determination Service) which has a 75 percent denial rate.  An appeal moves you up the ladder to a federal administrative law judge (ALJ) who can give you a more thorough (and fair) hearing and render a totally new decision.

2.  The appeal preserves your rights, including back pay, under the original claim.  A new claim will nearly always lose some of your back pay along the way.

3.  Your odds of being approved are simply better at the appeal level--almost twice as high, in fact.

So don't spin your wheels by filing a new application.  Instead, file an appeal.

CAUTION:  You have 60 days by law to file an appeal on a denied claim.  No more.  That 60 days begins with the date on the denial letter.

SOCIAL SECURITY'S DEATH BENEFIT

When an insured worker dies, Social Security pays a one-time death benefit of $255.  That's all.

This is the same amount that was established in 1937 and it hasn't changed over the years.  It isn't expected to.

However, when an individual dies while receiving Social Security benefits, the surviving widow or widower may be eligible to get continuing survivor's benefits.  The general requirements are:  must have been married for at least 9 months prior to death, and the survivor must be at least 60 years old (50 if disabled).  Surviving children still in elementary or high school, and under age 19, may also get a benefit.

 

IS SOCIAL SECURITY ENOUGH WHEN THE WORST HAPPENS TO YOU?

Question:  Does Social Security pay enough when disability strikes and you can't work any more?

Answer:  No.

The average Social Security disability payment is $1,197 per month.  I don't need to tell you how hard it is to get by on that.  And, it may take months or years to get that benefit started.  Sad, but the simple truth!

So, what can you do now to protect yourself?  Here are some important things you should think about for your family:

1.  Buy or sign up for both short term and long term disability insurance at work.  Why?

• This insurance will pay you while you wait on Social Security.
• This insurance will pay you if Social Security denies your benefits.
• This insurance may pay you a higher benefit than Social Security.
• Short Term Disability (STD) may only pay a benefit for 3 to 6 months.  Be sure you have the Long Term Disability (STD), too.  Short term simply isn't enough protection.

2.  If your company doesn't offer disability insurance, get some on your own if you can.

But be careful what you buy.  There's a lot of junk products out there.  I don't recommend a disability plan that only covers accidents -- because most disability doesn't involve accidental causes.  Most disability cases are caused by disease, not accidents.  If you have an accidental insurance plan it excludes disability caused by cancer, heart attacks, migraine headaches, back trouble, surgery, etc.  It's cheap but often useless.

3.  Put away some savings if you can.  Resist the ever present temptation to spend the money for anything besides a true emergency. 

My firm specializes in help disabled workers get Social Security disability benefits.  You need to understand Social Security's limitations:  It's hard to get and it takes a really long time.  Be sure you have private disability insurance to fall back on.  If your employer offers it, sign up for it now!

Even if approved quickly, which is rare, Social Security does not pay the first 5 full months of disability.  So you are left on your own for 5 months.  In a really quick Social Security case that goes well, it will take 6 months to receive the first check.  Cover that with short-term and long-term disability at work.  It's a life saver!
_______
The Forsythe Firm
Representing Social Security Disability Clients
7027 Old Madison Pike, Suite 108
Huntsville, AL 35806
PHONE (256) 799-0297     

WHEN DOES SOCIAL SECURITY ELIGIBILITY END?

Like all other insurance programs, there is a date when your Social Security disability insurance expires.  You must prove to Social Security that your claim (disability) began before the insurance ended.

With SSDI, that expiration date is based on your work history.  This is called the Date Last Insured or DLI.  As a rule of thumb, you must have worked at least 5 out of the last 10 years to have a DLI that has not yet expired.  Since you can earn a maximum of 4 quarters of work coverage each year, 5 years of maximum work would earn 20 quarters of coverage.  The specific number of work credits required varies by age.  In short, you must have contributed to the Social Security trust fund through FICA payroll deductions to be covered.

A DLI in the past, known as a "remote DLI" can make your claim difficult to win.  This is because Social Security can only consider medical evidence prior to that date.  For example, if your DLI was 12/31/16, medical evidence after that date does not count.  If you are diagnosed with a new medical condition after your DLI, Social Security will not count it as evidence.

It is important to apply for SSDI benefits as soon as you feel you are unable to work a full-time job.  Delaying your application will only make the claim more difficult to win.  

While I'm here, let me state the basic rules to get SSDI benefits:

• Not currently working at substantial gainful activity.
• Have a severe medical impairment that has lasted, or is expected to last, for 12 straight months.
• Not able to work a full-time job now due to this impairment

Medical evidence is the key to being approved.  Social Security will require objective medical evidence of your impairment:  the nature of your impairment, when it began, its severity and how it limits your ability to do work-like activity.
_______________
Charles W. Forsythe
THE FORSYTHE FIRM
7027 Old Madison Pike - Suite 109
Huntsville, AL 35806

CALL (256) 799-0297

SOCIAL SECURITY JUSTICE - OUR WEBSITE 



 

"DON'T GIVE UP. APPLY AGAIN." THIS MAY BE REALLY BAD ADVICE!

Social Security denies up to 70 percent of disability applications.  Their denial letters are infamous.  

One of the remarks I hear and read when people discuss being denied benefits is this one:

"Don't give up.  Apply again."

In most situations, this is really, really bad advice.

Instead of applying again (and getting denied again), you probably need to file an appeal.

Here are 7 reasons that filing a new application after you have been denied is often a bad idea:

1).  Your new application goes back to the very same agency, in the very same building, that denied you the first time.

2)  The agency, called the Disability Determination Service or DDS, will use the same rules and the same evidence to consider your new application. 

3) Unless something is radically different about the new application, the same people look at the same evidence, apply the same faulty reasoning and make the same decision--another denial.  "We just denied this claim 30 days ago,what's it doing back on my desk?"

4)  The new application will probably waste an additional 3 to 5 months, while you are no closer to getting a benefit check that when you began.

5)  The new application will not protect the past due benefits you may be entitled to.  A new application literally starts over at the beginning and you lose all potential benefits under your original (first) application.  Bad idea for most folks.  (There are exceptions to all things).

6)  The 6th reason not to file a new claim is: You are stalled in a state bureaucratic system that has a dismal record of getting decisions right.  You need OUT of this state system and into the federal appeal system.  

(7) You are speeding toward your "date last insured" or DLI.  It's the date on which your coverage for Social Security disability expires.  Once it expires, it is gone.  New claims are difficult or impossible after this date.  Don't waste time. A proper appeal saves your original "protected filing date" and protects you even if your Date Last Insured occurs during the appeal.

So, what's the take away on this?

For most claimants, it's a waste of time to file a new claim.  Even if you could win the new claim, you have lost time and benefits that you won't recover.

It's much better in most cases to file an appeal and get your denied claim before an administrative law judge, where most Social Security disability claims get approved these days.

The appeal is usually better because:

A)  You may get back pay or retroactive benefits back to the original date of disability. 

B.  Someone will give you a fresh, new review of your claim without being prejudiced by the fact that you were once denied.

C.  You get to appear in person at your hearing and explain your situation and your case.  Best of all, you can bring along your attorney or legal advisor.

D.  The appeal gets you moving vertically up the ladder, not horizontally across the same tried and failed process.  Simply put, the appeal sends you off in a new, better direction, with a better chance.

Filing an appeal sounds like such a burdensome and complicated chore.  It isn't.  You can file it yourself by filling out a few forms available at the Social Security office.  (Winning the appeal is a lot more complicated than filing it).  You can get an attorney or disability advocate to fill out the appeal for you with no upfront charge.  This service will also come with a commitment to develop your case and help you with the appeal process and hearing.  

Talk to a professional before you listen to well meaning friends, neighbors or family members who tell you, "Don't give up.  Apply again."  

Here's the way I would say it.  

"Don't give up.  Appeal that denial."
________________
THE FORSYTHE FIRM
7027 Old Madison Pike - Suite 108
Huntsville, AL 35806
CALL (256) 799-0297

Free consultations

SOCIAL SECURITY JUSTICE - WEBSITE 

 



 

DISABILITY BENEFITS FOR EPILEPSY OR SEIZURES

We frequently represent individuals with Epilepsy or seizures in the attempt to get Social Security disability benefits.

While a seizure disorder may certainly be disabling under Social Security's rules, this isn't always the case.  Social Security will evaluate the disorder based on it's nature (type of seizures), frequency and medical treatment.

Here is what you will need to be approved and paid:

• a diagnosis of epilepsy or other seizure disorder
• a detailed description of your typical seizure, including all pre- and post-seizure symptoms
• a statement from your doctor corroborating your account of the nature and frequency of your seizures
• a description of your seizures from a third-party witness
• a record indicating the frequency of your past seizures
• results of an EEG, and
• a detailed treatment history, including medications and other treatments that you’ve tried and your response to them. 

Social Security will want to see where the claimant has been taking anti-convulsant medications for at least 3 months.  A doctor should have reviewed the medication and adjusted the dosage in an attempt to control the seizures.  If the seizures continue to be frequent enough to interfere with sustaining regular, full-time work, benefits may be approved.

Besides medical care, the one thing that will help your case the most is a diary or written record of your seizure activity, kept by a third party who can document the type of seizures, what activity accompanies a seizure and how often they occur.  You can't just depend on doctors or emergency room records because by the time you get to the ER or doctor's office, the seizure has already long passed. Also, many people don't go to the doctor or ER every time they have a seizure.



The Forsythe Firm
Social Security Disability Counselors
7027 Old Madison Pike - Suite 108
Huntsville, AL 35806
CALL (256) 799-0297

Free evaluations and consultations