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.