CAN YOU GET SOCIAL SECURITY AT AGE 50?

If you are age 50 or over, you may qualify for Social Security benefits for any physical or mental condition which prevents you from full-time work.

Yes, younger individuals may also qualify.  However, Social Security uses Medical-Vocational Guidelines which relax the requirements somewhat for persons age 50 and over.

In addition to your age, other factors include your past work experience and education.  But being age 50 or more is the greatest single advantage a claimant has in being approved for Social Security benefits.

The Forsythe Firm will provide you with a free case evaluation and local consultation.  If we represent you, you will never pay a fee until you get benefits with back payments.  If you do not win benefits you will never pay us a fee for any service we perform.

Contact us at (256) 799-0297.  We're located across from Bridge Street.

GET A MEDICAL SOURCE STATEMENT FROM YOUR DOCTOR

Your doctor cannot approve you or sign you up for Social Security disability.  However, your doctor can and should play an important role in providing evidence for a full and fair evaluation of your disability claim.

You should ask your doctor to provide a Medical Source Statement for you, such as form HA-1151 for physical impairments or HA-1152 for mental impairments.  Why is this form so important to a successful Social Security disability claim.

It's important because it goes to the heart of what Social Security needs to approve your claim.  That is, your limitations in the ability to perform work related activity.  Your medical records alone do not show these limitations.  In short, a Medical Source Statement gives your doctor's opinion as to how much you can lift and carry, how long you can sit, walk and stand; and may evaluate your ability to concentrate or react appropriately to other people.

Let's say Sara goes to her doctor with a complaint of chronic back pain.  The doctor examines her and prescribes a muscle relaxer and a light duty pain pill with instructions to return in 30 days if the pain is not a lot better.  Here is what the doctor's medical record will probably say:

Ms. Jones is a pleasant 51 year-old female who presents today for some pain in her lower back, which she has experienced for about 3 months.  She is a well nourished lady in no apparent distress.  Respiration is clear.  Reflexes in all lower extremities (LE) are normal.  I am going to prescribe some Flexeril and Naproxen to try.  She will return in 4 weeks if not improved.

The above notation is virtually useless in a Social Security disability claim.  It presents no severity of symptoms, no limits for lifting, standing, walking, sitting, bending, etc.  In short, it gives Social Security no reason to believe that the patient cannot work every day in just about any capacity.  It says that she has some back pain.  That's all.  And that is not nearly enough.

Ask your doctor to provide you with a Medical Source Statement that gives the specifics of your functional limitations.  Not all doctors will do so, but this form can make the difference between an award an a denial of your claim.   

Note that Social Security will NOT ask your doctor for a Medical Source Statement.  They will only ask for records and, as explained, the records are woefully inadequate.  It is up to the claimant or her representative to obtain the Medical Source Statement (form).

VETERANS MAY GET FAST TRACK TO SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY

Veterans with disabilities may not qualify for a "fast track" for Social Security disability benefits.

Gone are the days of waiting months, even years, to get approved for Social Security disability benefits.  If you are a veteran with a 100 percent VA disability rating, you may literally be approved within 25 days!

The Forsythe Firm participates in a "Fast Track" program with Social Security which allows almost immediate approval for disabled veterans.  I have actually had cases approved within 7 days!

There is no consultation fee or upfront cost for our work.  We cannot charge you a fee unless you receive retroactive or past due Social Security benefits.  To find out how to get the most benefit in the shortest time, please contact our Huntsville office at (256) 799-0297 or (256) 431-1599.

SOCIAL SECURITY: THE REAL FRAUD

All the media are doing stories about Social Security, how it's going broke, it's fraud ridden, it's the "new welfare," and unemployed people are using it as a last recourse.  B-A-L-O-N-E-Y.  The media reporting on Social Security is the real fraud.  

If 60 Minutes had done 30 Minutes worth of research, their story on Social Security disability would have been far different.

Consider:

• It isn't broke.  SSDI can pay full benefits until 2036, and 76% of benefits until 2080, without any tax increase or any congressional action.
• Alcoholism and Drug Addiction were excluded by Congress in 1996 and do not qualify for SSDI or SSI benefits (Public Laq 104-121).
• Social Security was established as a self-financing program paid for by FICA taxes (now 12.4%) deducted from each worker's pay and matched by the employers.
• If Congress had not "borrowed" from the Social Security Trust Fund, there would now be $2.6 Trillion in the fund, and no crisis. (That's Trillion with a T, folks).
•  The "insolvency crisis" now is caused by the fact that Congress stole (I'm sorry, "borrowed") the $2.6 trillion from the Social Security trust fund and now has to find a way to put it back.  (Hand in the cookie jar)!
• The disability trust fund has become "insolvent" before.  It was fixed almost a dozen times in the past by a rather minor reapportionment of incoming taxes between the disability trust fund and the retirement trust fund. 
• The US Government does NOT (NOT) pay attorneys' fees when they represent Social Security claimants.  The fees are paid for by the claimants.  If Social Security deducts the fee from the claimant's money and sends it to the attorney as a "direct payment of fees," SSA charges the attorney a service fee of 6.3 percent; thus, the government earns income from this practice.  It costs the government nothing, nada, zero, not one red cent!
• Doctors cannot approve anyone for disability benefits.  
• Finally, no matter how bad the economy gets, people cannot get SSDI simply because they can't find jobs.  As a disability representative who has appeared in hundreds of disability hearings, I say that Social Security has not yet awarded one single dollar in SSDI benefits because the claimant couldn't find work.  You gotta be disabled and you gotta have hard, objective medical evidence to prove it.  Even then, there is a 75 percent chance you will be denied at the initial application level and about a 58 percent chance you will be denied again at the appeal level.

We once depended on the media to keep the politicians from lying to us.  Who can protect us from the media?

FILING FOR DISABIILTY? WHAT TO EXPECT

My firm represents claimants who file for Social Security disability benefits in Huntsville, Athens, Decatur, Cullman -- all over North Alabama.  I want to give you a brief outline of what to expect when you file a Social Security disability claim in Alabama.

Filing.  There are several ways you can file a Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) claim.  Online, by phone, or at the local Social Security office.  Beware that offices have cut their operating hours.  They are now open M,T, Th. and F from 9 AM to 3 PM, and on Wednesdays from 9 AM to noon.  If you don't want to handle the claim yourself, you can also get an attorney or representative, such as myself, to file the claim for you and deal with the government for you.  There is no fee for this service unless you become eligible for back pay and collect back pay.

Beginning Process.  The local Social Security office will gather your forms and information, even if you file on the internet.  After a few weeks, they will forward your application to a state agency called the Disability Determination Service (DDS) in Birmingham. 

DDS Process.   DDS is a state agency under contract to Social Security.  DDS will obtain your medical records and review your medical condition, past work, education, training and skills.  They will make the initial decision on whether you meet Social Security's definition of disabled.  The local SSA office will then send you a letter telling you the decision. Usually, about 4 months have passed since you filed your application.  In Alabama, just over 70 percent of decisions are denials at this stage.  If you get a denial letter, remember the affair is not over.  You have 60 days to file an appeal and potentially still win your claim.

Appeal.  Most successful SSDI claims must go to appeal.  You must file a separate document for an appeal.  I believe it is especially important at this stage to hire professional help from someone who knows Social Security law, rules of evidence, and proceedings.  In the absence of unusual circumstances, it takes about 12 months to get a hearing scheduled.  Then, you and your representative will appear before a judge who has the power to make a new decision on your case.  The following factors will be considered carefully during the appeal hearing (which lasts about 1 hour):

• How do your medical condition(s) limit your ability to perform work activities?
• What was the nature and classification of your past relevant work?
• Your age and education play an important part in this decision.
• Whether you are limited to unskilled work is a vital consideration.
• Can you still perform any of your past relevant work?
• Is there any other work in the local, regional or national economy that you can perform?
• Do you meet one of the Social Security Listings?  (An automatic approval)
• Do one of the Medical-Vocational Guidelines direct a finding of disabled?

There are 2 professionals in the typical hearing that will have great input into the decision about whether or not you are disabled.  One is the administrative law judge, who has a law degree and several years of experience as a judge.  The other is a "vocational expert," usually a vocational rehabilitation counselor, who will provide testimony about jobs you may still be able to perform in the national, regional or local economy.  The vocational expert will usually have a masters or doctoral degree and years of experience as a vocational rehabilitation counselor.

PART TWO:

As those things are quickly unfolding around you, can you imagine sitting there quite alone and wondering what these 2 professional people are going to do with your case?  Well, you should not be alone.  There needs to be a third professional person in that court.  That third person should be your your legal representative.  That representative should be there to look out for your interests.  (S)he should be there to ask the tough questions of the vocational expert.  

For example, here are just a few of the questions I would ask on behalf of my client at such a hearing, as the need arose:

• Did the previous job qualify as past relevant work?  (There are qualifications that must be met; just because someone worked does not mean it was 'past relevant work').
•  Was past relevant work, as actually performed, really skilled (or semi-skilled) work?
• If the claimant can only perform unskilled, sedentary work, doesn't that limit the ability to work?
• What exactly are the requirements for sedentary level work?
• Does the inability to sit for ___ minutes prevent sedentary level work?
• Does not Medical-Vocational Rule ______ direct a finding of disabled here?
• If my client must be absent more than 3 days per month due to medical reasons, what impact will that have on the occupational base for the job(s) proposed by the vocational expert?

There are dozens of other questions that a trained representative may need to ask during a hearing.  The claimant cannot be expected to know all of this information, for that is not his job. 80 percent of claimants who go into a Social Security hearing are represented.  It is my feeling that the other 20 percent should be. 

Finally, let me say that I or one of our trained professionals at the Forsythe Firm are always available to answer your questions about Social Security disability (SSDI) or SSI claims.  If you are not represented by another attorney or advocate, we will be happy to talk to you at no cost or obligation.  (If you are already represented, please speak to your own counsel about your claim).

DENIED TWICE? WHAT'S NEXT?

Once denied by Social Security, the person seeking disability benefits appeals and requests a hearing before an administrative law judge.  If the ALJ also denies the benefits, the claimant asks for a review by the Appeals Council.

The Appeals Council is a group of judges headquartered in Falls Church, VA, with offices also in Baltimore and Washington, DC.  The average waiting time for the Council's decision is about 14 months.

Here are the 3 possible actions that the Appeals Council may take:

Refusal to Reconsider - 75 percent.  The Council refuses to reconsider your case, effectively denying your appeal.  (The case may now be taken to US District Court for further appeal).

Remand - 22 percent.  The Council sends your case back for further action by the administrative law judge - usually another hearing.

Direct Award - 3 percent.  In a very small percent of cases, the Council reverses the administrative law judge's denial and makes a direct award of benefits to the claimant.  This is, obviously, the most favorable decision the Council can make.

Unfortunately, most people give up on their case long before it reaches the Appeal Council stage.  Therefore, many individuals who should receive Social Security disability benefits do not.  Keep in mind that favorable action by the Appeals Council (remand or direct award) potentially awards your benefits back to the date you first became disabled.  Therefore, a large payment of back pay may be due.

APPEALS COUNCIL WILL CONSIDER NEW EVIDENCE IN SSDI CASE

If a claimant gets an unfavorable decision with the administrative law judge (hearing level), he or she may appeal the case to the Appeals Council.  The Appeals Council will only consider "new evidence" if it meets the following criteria:

1. The evidence was not part of the claims evidence at the date of the hearing.
2. It is relevant, i.e., directly related to issues adjudicated by the ALJ.
3. The evidence relates to the period on or before the date of the ALJ decision.

There are instances where evidence dated after the ALJ decision is pertinent to the period prior to the date of the hearing decision.
If you are trying to untangle the knots of a Social Security disability case, you may want to consider professional help.  Our firm will look at your case for free.  No charge will be made for our services unless we agree to represent you AND you win your case and collect past due benefits.  You pay no fees upfront and never a fee unless you win.  We handle cases in Alabama and Tennessee only.  Here are our contact numbers:
ALABAMA                                                              TENNESSEE
(256) 799-0297                                                        (615) 732-7159