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.
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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
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