How We Review Your Disability Benefits
Reading Time: 2 MinutesLast Updated: April 14, 2016
When you receive disability benefits, Social Security will periodically conduct a review of your condition to make sure you still qualify for blind or disability benefits. With the right information, you can be prepared when this happens.
When your case comes up for review, we’ll send you a letter asking you to come to your local Social Security office. We’ll ask you about how your medical condition affects you and whether it’s improved. We’ll also ask you to bring information about your medical treatment and any work you have performed since Social Security decided you were disabled.
A disability examiner from your state’s Disability Determination Services will request reports from your medical providers, and will carefully review all the information in your case. If the medical evidence is not complete or current, we may ask you to have a medical exam at no cost to you.
Social Security conducts a disability review of your case approximately every three years depending on the nature and severity of your medical condition and whether it’s expected to improve. If we don’t expect improvement, we’ll review your case every seven years.
When we conduct a disability review, if we find that your medical condition hasn’t improved and is still preventing you from working, you’ll continue to receive benefits. Your benefits only stop if the evidence shows your medical condition has improved and you are able to work regularly.
If you disagree with our decision, you can appeal and ask us to look at your case again. When we notify you of our decision, we will explain how you can appeal that decision.
You can visit us online for more information, or read our publication What You Need to Know When You Get Social Security Disability Benefits.
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Tags: Disability
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Doug Walker, Deputy Commissioner, Communications
Deputy Commissioner, Office of Communications
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Ann C.
Sadly..this site/post explains NOTHING. AND THERE ISNT ANYONE THAT CAN RESPOND AS A HUMAN. THE QUESTIONS have been sent in and are ignored. So we realize that this was a waste of a site that deceived those looking for guidance and answer. I know..I will get a robot answer ..so I will ask you to not humor me with a lame response!!
paul a.
how much money do you get from ssi in california
A.C.
Hi, Paul. Thanks for your question. For basic information on the state supplement for Supplemental Security Income (SSI), please go to our Understanding Supplemental Security Income SSI Benefits web page. For specific amounts, you will need to visit the web page for the particular state. We hope this helps!
Ursula W.
I have been trying to get information on my overpayment. How much was the overpayment? When did the overpayment start? Can I get a decrease in the payment amount? What was SSDI payment from April 2016-June 2017? Can a copy of this information be mailed to me? Or sent through Email.
Thank you
A.C.
Hi, Ursula. For your security, we do not have access to private information in this venue. We ask members in our Blog community to work with their local Social Security office with specific questions about their case. You can also call us toll-free at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778), Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Generally, you will have a shorter wait time if you call later in the week. We hope this helps.
Michael.
Hello SSA. Thank you for the recent $20 monthly cost of living increase But, United healthcare right`away Added $33.30 plus an increase of $10 per copay so in effect: I received $20 for you @ the SSAmin and U.H.Care took That Away + another $50. What a messed up world. I’ve paid into this since 1969 and now I’m living on $17,000 “The Poverty Level”. As great as that $20 increase was now I also Lost my medicaid help also. Thank You all, Michael./EOM.~end of message~.
Angela
Where can I review or get copies of past years benefits? I have been on Worker’s Compensation since before receiving SSD. I would like copies of when any changes may have happened, other than the yearly change. I believe the first year or two may have been off because SSD was underpaying me. I cannot find anywhere online under my account to get that information.
Angela
If you fill out the questionnaire the SSA sends out every couple years to see if anything has changes in your health & or work situation, including Worker’s Compensation Benefits & you answer NO, & include the same amount of WC benefits being received (as you have been for years) how does the SSA decide to send a letter saying ” We will contact you if needed.” Then follow shortly after with a letter saying they over paid you by $5170, with basically no explanation. I immediately requested a reconsideration (which was a nightmare). 3 Supervisors never called me back & of course I have their names & dates of each time I contacted them. Each Customer Service Rep I spoke with, had a different story for me. I never heard back regarding “their so called over payment”. Next I get a letter,” since I stopped receiving WC pay back in 2011″. I had sent in all documentation from the WC board hearings with the original reconsideration request! The SSA then deposited over $11,000 in my account! AGAIN, I immediately contacted the attorney who helped me originally. He could not help me, UNLESS I paid him out of my own pocket! I filed an appeal on the FEDERAL level & then decided to just go to my local office to try & fix this. I was seen by a young man. I went over the entire story with him. Showed him EVERY piece of paper I originally submitted, including the certified receipt mail I sent for the first mistake (reconsideration $5170). I gave him a copy of my handwritten, dated notes of weeks worth of calls I made, trying to get through to somebody at his office. He clearly saw I never stopped receiving WC benefits, they never changed. He told me his computer only went back 4 years, he could not answer a single question I asked on how they come up with these calculations, how they randomly pick people out for review, how they do not respond to people in dire situations, no answer. What I found most interesting, he could not see beyond 4 years, where this supposed $5170 was from, but told me I DID IN FACT OWE IT. I showed him my yearly benefit notice, showing the amount was including the WC offset. He started playing with his calculator. Then told me to disregard that because I would & should be getting and additional $27 a month (approximately). I asked him if I could write a check to return the $, “No, you have to wait for a letter from the office.” that was last year! My Senator could not even help me. I contacted him.
Lori M.
The Administrtive Judge awarded my disability July 2018, and SSI sent me a award letter on 8/13/2018.
I was awarded 21 months of backpay. today is 12/24/2018, I have not recieved any backpay yet.
Why?
Christine
Do I have to wait for a hearing, if the DDS lied when reviewing my SSDI claim, in order to deny me disability benefits? My neurosych eval found moderate to severe impairment in multiple areas of memory, cognitive processing speed and verbal learning but the DDS state medical consultant lied, and stated “all cognitive ability is within normal limits.” Isn’t this fraud? Why don’t claimants have any recourse when a case is mishandled? It has been more than 2 years since my onset of disability and still no hearing.
V.V.
Thank you for contacting us, Christine. Unfortunately, and because of security reasons, we do not have access to personal records in this blog and cannot assist you.
To inquire about your disability claim, you will have to contact your local office or call our toll-free number at 1-800-772-1213. Representatives are available Monday through Friday, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
Kathleen R.
I am on ssd and need to know when my next review is scheduled…ssn…*** – ** – ***
R.F.
Hello Kathleen. Unfortunately, and because of security reasons we do not have access to personal records in this blog and cannot answer your question at this time. One of our representatives should be able to provide you with an explanation.
Please call our toll free number at 1-800-772-1213 for assistance. Representatives are available Monday through Friday, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
Generally, you will have a shorter wait time if you call later during the day or later in the week. Thanks!
Morton K.
I have been receiving Disability Benefits since 2014. Am I eligible for higher benefits if I have recently been diagnosed with legal Blindness? on top of my other medical diagnoses that led to disability with no improvement.
R.F.
Hello Morton, your benefit amount does not change. Your disability benefits are already established at the highest rate possible based on your wages/earnings prior to the time you became disabled. To add new medical evidence on your record, you can mail or take the information to your local Social Security office. Thanks!