How I Navigated the Social Security Disability Process
Reading Time: 2 MinutesLast Updated: October 19, 2015
I’m on Social Security disability insurance (SSDI). Okay I said it, and, I’m also very thankful for it. I might sound somewhat perplexed, because it’s all new to me and isn’t what I had expected to deal with in life. Yet, I am realistic and understand that “things happen” to all people.
You hear about the horrifying, multi-year process involved when applying for SSDI benefits. These stories are in the media and everywhere, but I didn’t have to pay close attention, because I never expected I’d need SSDI.
I’ve always strategically planned for the unexpected. I’m a former corporate vice president of operations and international business leader of more than 30 years’ experience. My husband and I, together, had a significant income, owned a home in a country club, guard-gated community in Southern California, and were extensive travelers, etc. Then, the season changed – unexpectedly.
In 2012, I started to show medical symptoms from an old auto accident that had caused a brain injury. I had difficulty walking, memory loss, etc. My neurosurgeon explained what was occurring, and that major brain surgery was required for me to continue living. My first brain surgery was performed in July 2012; my second brain surgery in September 2012; and between 2012 and 2014, I underwent five brain/skull surgeries. My husband became my full-time caregiver, and our financial safety net was all compromised due to my health.
With that said, it was time to apply for SSDI. Friends recommended that I hire an attorney, but I went directly to www.ssa.gov and read the disability application requirements, and felt strongly that I could do it on my own via the website. I wasn’t in the best mental state to tackle an extensive application (I was in between brain shunt implant surgeries), but, was determined to apply for SSDI to help exercise my brain. When I got to the site, I found the SSA disability determination website amazingly user-friendly! I was able to, independently, apply online with the easy step-by-step instructions. When my mind needed to rest, I was able to save my information and, the next day, continue from where I left off. I did everything online — not once having to step foot in a field office to complete my application; and I received my disability benefits in four months!
What a decision to make! I always said that if I could work through the disability determination process successfully on my own, I’d publicly share my story to assist others. I continue to fulfill that promise every day, and as it turns out, I’m not an anomaly. The risk of disability is larger than we think: A 20-year-old worker has a 1-in-4 chance of needing disability benefits before reaching full retirement age! So, after 30 years in the workforce and contributing to the Federal Insurance Compensation Act (FICA), I sure am glad my disability insurance was there for me in my time of need.
Honestly, I get tired of hearing the negative stories about SSDI. It’s time for everyone to hear a good truthful story about the Social Security disability determination process and how it works in favor of claimants and truly serves the public.
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Tags: Disability, online services, social security, SSA
See CommentsAbout the Author
Jarita (J.D.) Davis, Social Security Disability Insurance Beneficiary and published author and blogger
Jarita (J.D.) Davis, Social Security Disability Insurance Beneficiary and published author and blogger
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R S.
It seems like I’m constantly hearing about more ways that we are polluting our atmosphere. It saddens me to read about all of the damage we’re causing – especially to our air. I’ve been doing plenty of reading over the last two years or so, and I was probably most surprised to find out that the EPA has released a statement saying that the air inside of the typical home in the United States is actually two to five times dirtier than the air outside. Combined with the fact that many adults can exchange up to 70,000 liters of air each day, it seems like a legitimate for concern regarding the ongoing pollution of our environment. How are we expected to stay free of illness – regardless of how well we try to live and eat – if we are continuously breathing in chemical pollution and contaminants?
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Susan
I live in Texas, and worked in the corporate finance area for my entire career. I started having severe memory problems in early 2013. I would leave a planning meeting with my notes of “to do” items, but when I looked at the notes later they meant nothing to me. I KNEW something was wrong and quit immediately because I could no longer do my job satisfactorily. I went to doctor after doctor and they found nothing wrong. I still applied for SSDI as they attorneys said I had documented depression for 25+ years and that would qualify me for disability. I refused to apply using depression as my disability because it did not keep me from working. I got a new lawyer and started going to neurologists, they found nothing wrong. FINALLY I got into a Memory Disorder Clinic and they diagnosed me with mild cognitive impairment, potentially a precursor to dementia. With that new diagnosis (that fit my symptoms to a “T”, I either reapplied to SS or “resurfaced” my application – I don’t remember that part. Here we are in January 2017, yes 4 years later, and I had my court hearing last week. I was immediately granted disability, back dated to my application date. It was a long, depressing road, but I am finally there. It will be months before I see any money, though. Hope this info helps someone.
R S.
It seems like I’m constantly hearing about another way in which we are harming our environment. It depresses me to hear about all of the damage we’re doing – especially to our air. I’ve been doing a lot of studying over the past 12 months or so, and I was probably most surprised to discover that the EPA has publically stated that the air inside of the typical home in the US is even two to five times worse than the air outside. If you combine this with the reality that healthy adults can take in up to 70,000 liters of air each day, it seems like a pretty serious) (cause for concern about the non-stop pollution of our environment. How are we expected to stay free of illness – regardless of how well we try to live and eat – if we are continuously breathing in chemical pollution and contaminants?
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Gerry D.
6/11/2019 I’m pleased with the way that blog.ssa.gov covers this type of topic. Generally to the point, often controversial, consistently well-written as well as thought-provoking.
http://swish.st/86311
Gloria
I was diagnosed with Lupus back in 2000 after the birth of my last child in 1997. I worked several years after that as an inside sales rep for a publishing company ;i.e. sit on my a$$ all day while typing like a fool and holding a phone to my ear for hours. After a few years, I couldn’t take the daily pain any longer and applied for SSDI on my own. I did a lot of reading in forums and research before I started the process since Lupus is near impossible to get approved on because most symptoms are not supported with testing! One of the things that I read in a forum is that if you can get a public official such as a Representative or Congress member to send SSDI a letter, stating that they’ll be following your application, it increases your chances, as long as you have a legit illness and claim. Before I even submitted the final bunch of stuff online, I went to the office of my Representative and just told the lady out from that I was applying for SSDI and that Lupus seems to be near impossible to get approved for and wanted to see if their office would be willing to follow by application. Two days later, I was at their office, giving my permission for my Representative to have full access to my application. Although I did wind up seeing one of Social Security’s Doctors, six months later, I received a call from my Reps office letting me know that I was approved!!!!! They let me know before SSDI did. I certainly recommend this.
Now, years later, I had my second review back in January and they deemed that I was all healed and could go back to my previous line of work, even though they couldn’t determine what it was that I used to do!!!!! Their letter literally said that. I’ve been just about under the bus for the past 6 months while fighting this on my own. A friend has been paying for a policy on the Healthcare Marketplace for me as well as loaning me money in the form of a weekly wage through his company and giving me a place to sleep in his basement. I’ve been praying that it works out and I’m able to repay my debt and get back on SSDI and Medicare. I got a letter last week saying I’m disabled again and to wait for a follow up letter. I believe they’ll owe me 6 months of back pay, which is a blessing. I wish they’d repay the money spent on a health insurance policy but I’m pretty sure that won’t happen.
Keep applying and fighting!!!!!
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James
Over two years and I’m still waiting. It’s been two months since my hearing.
Sara
Were you in your mid 50s or older when you first applied? It’s easier to be approved for social security disabilty if you were.
Queen M.
I have applied for SSDI myself, and was approved in 5 weeks. I have applied for a relative, and she was approved in 6 weeks. I have just helped a friend apply, and he was approved in 13 days. How did we manage this?
You must prepare, prepare, prepare in advance. Gather ALL relevant medical records, scan them as searchable PDFs if they are not already in digital format, and search them for names of doctors, clinics and hospitals, dates of appointments and visits, purpose of each visit and treatment performed at each visit and dates of upcoming appointments, tests ordered by each doctor and the dates of the tests and where done, names of medications prescribed and who prescribed them and what for. Don’t leave a single one out.
You must get the full medical terminology for each condition relating to your disability. You must have detailed information about your current job and salary, and previous job and salary, and any sick leave or vacation pay you have received since you became disabled. You can’t guess, you have to check pay stubs and be accurate with figures and dates. Gather all personal information for yourself and your spouse, if you have one, including deceased spouses.
Write up a detailed job description that details all the things you did at work which it is obvious you can not do now that you are disabled. Stress those job duties. You can add emphasis to those duties, but do not lie.
It can take a month or more to gather the medical records if you do not live in the town where the treatment was performed. It took me 1 week to gather the records for my friend, because he lives in the town where he had treatment. It took me 4 months to gather my own records, because they went back 20 years and involved multiple medical professionals in 6 different towns in 2 different states. My relative had already gathered her own records.
Once I had all the records in searchable PDF form, I did a copy-and-paste of all the above-mentioned information to a Word document. Then I organized the information in the Word Document by category – Doctors, Hospitals and Clinics, Tests, and Medications. Then I started the SSDI Application and was able to cut-and-paste from the Word document to the online application. This method avoids making any mistakes or typos.
At the end of the application they suggest that you gather all the medical records and supporting documents together and mail them, or hand-deliver them, to the nearest SS office. I delivered them the very day after I submitted each application, in person, to my local SS office. I gave them ALL the medical records, including DVDs of radiology images, and a copy of the person’s job description, and any official information related to the disability, such as an accident report or Worker’s Compensation report.
If you have prepared thoroughly and use the correct terminology and don’t leave out a single doctor or or hospital or test or medication, and get all the dates and diagnoses correct, and provide SS with all the supporting documentation immediately, then you should be approved in less than 2 months. It may be slower in some cities because they have a larger case load, but you have no control over this.
If you wait for SS to request the medical records themselves, you can wait months for approval, because it takes time for SS to request and then receive and process those records.
My experience with the online application is that the average person CAN NOT do it successfully because they have not done the prep work. It is a long application, occasionally confusing, and most people do not have their medical records available or know how to review them. Many people do not have good computer skills and get confused by the online application.
It took me a total of 32 hours or document review to prepare in advance for my friend’s application, and 4 hours over 2 days to fill in the online application, review it and submit it. And 13 days later he was approved.
You can, of course, hire a lawyer to do this. They could not do it any faster than I did it, and if they charge $200 an hour, then they would have to charge $8000 to do what I did for free.
I have come to the conclusion that the reason why so many people are initially denied is because the online application is so complicated and lengthy and asks for so much medical and personal detail that people do not know and might not understand. They are not prepared. They are overwhelmed. They may be sick and on medications that cause fatigue and confusion. They may not be highly literate. They may be computer illiterate. The online application is almost designed to get the average person denied.
Brenda
I did all this and was denied. On the front page of the denial, it shows what they used to determine the case. There were only three things used. My hospital stay (for a fusion back in 2006), the CE report and a report from a doctor that did follow-ups in 2007/2008. None of my current information (that I hand carried to the office) was noted. They didn’t even mention the report they had my doctor FAX to them.
I appealed and uploaded all the information AGAIN. Maybe this next person will actually review CURRENT medical information.
Erica
An excellent excellent perspective here with 100% merit! Particularly from the “conclusion on down”. Everyone should keep this is mind. Thank you immensely for this very intricate and valuable information.
I’ve listed a response also below stating my case; (haven’t worked for 6 years now, living off my savings which are almost gone, post surgical having received treatment upon treatment by numerous doctors for multiple deteriorative conditions which are all listed as a plausible disability : stenosis, spondyolelosis, equating to chronic pain, sciatica, migraines, inability to sit or stand etc, hoping to get better only to conclude years later that this is gradually deteriorating and never being told by any one of my doctors (neurologist, pain specialist, orthopedic, etc..) that I should go on disability. (I have been in food stamps but because I can barely afford anything anymore. My life savings which I have lived off of from my inability to work are depleted! Which leads me to ask when how and at what point will a doctor mention to apply for disability and why haven’t they? I am 39 years old now and at a loss!
Corine N.
Appreciate the site– extremely easy to navigate and lots to think about!
http://swish.st/86311
Brenda
Checked on my status today. As of 12/9/16…A medical decision has been made and we are working to process your benefit application. A Social Security Representative may contact you directly if we need any additional documents or information.
What does this mean? Everyone who posted this (blogs I have read) was told they were approved (by the so-called expert/owner of the blog). Each one of them posted another response stating that they had been denied. Does this statement mean denied…or approved?
rob
I got a fully favorable from an alj judge and if I go to the ssa website it says the same thing so I called my lawer and she says that means that it is at the payment processing center being processed for payment
Brenda
Mine was denied
Brenda
Here we are, nearly 3 years after my last post. I finally got my hearing in July. I won Fully Favorable with MINE CDR.
Downside, they messed everything up and counted a lot of things that weren’t true resulting in Zero’s all the way around As of today, they still haven’t corrected it.
Already got my Medicare A and B going along with Part D. Just waiting for the fix so payments and back pay begin.
CM
According to the judge who denied my case, you would be able to work just by doing this blog. Glad it worked out for you while my children now starve to death after all my years of work and college. Its a great system when a judge can just state they dont believe the doctors reports and deny you.