Disability Hearings

[leslie82]

Jurisdiction

Nebraska

I'm just wondering about this. My dad told me that they filed for disability for my stepmom. She has always had migraines and stuff and I guess finally got diagnosed with fibromyalgia a year ago. She couldn't file for disability before that or at least they wouldn't grant it because she didn't have a diagnosed disability. I think he said it's almost a year now they still don't have a court date. I know it takes awhile to schedule things in court but should it take this long to file an initial hearing for disability? He said they have a lawyer on this and when my dad called this lawyer recently he or she (can't remember what gender) said "What do you want me to do about it?" I told him find a new lawyer. I don't think that should be the attitude they get if they're paying for legal assistance.

Does it typically take awhile to get a hearing on disability?

 

[army judge]

An initial filing for SS disability can take almost two years.
It depends in what part of the country for one ting, because some ALJ dockets are more crowded than others.
Statistically fewer than 20-30% of initial filings are successful.
However, upon appeal, almost 60-7-% of appellants are successful.
My takeaway has been the SS wishes to shoo you away, to see if you're serious.
Some diseases, illnesses, conditions are automatically approved, certain terminal cancers, AIDS, and a few others.

Some conditions simply don't qualify, unless you know the "magic words" which bumps the approval rate to about 90%+.

If your relative is unsatisfied with her lawyer, she can always hire another lawyer.
With 12 months invested, she might get her answer after the New Year.
The SS troops tend to slow down as we approach Thanksgiving until after the New Year.
However, as with all things legal, YMMV.

 

[Disabled Vet]

EVERY person is different..... it's unreal how the social security system works. Lets say a person had this statement put in his medical records.

Mr. ? has been totally incapacitated since his injury. Mr. ? is unable to perform even the essential functions of daily life. In the opinion of the nuerosurgery dept of the hospital this will be for the rest of his life.

It still took this person 3 years to get approved... So each case is different. Each rater is different... When applying for ssd it's a trap shoot. Good luck

 

[army judge]

EVERY person is different..... it's unreal how the social security system works. Lets say a person had this statement put in his medical records.

Mr. ? has been totally incapacitated since his injury. Mr. ? is unable to perform even the essential functions of daily life. In the opinion of the nuerosurgery dept of the hospital this will be for the rest of his life.

It still took this person 3 years to get approved... So each case is different. Each rater is different... When applying for ssd it's a trap shoot. Good luck

It's rigged, mate. As I said, the initial attempt to get SSD is usually denied, unless its one of their "approved" maladies.

 

[leslie82]

It would just be nice if she could at least get disability. She hasn't worked in like at least a couple years because every job she gets, she either has to quit or gets fired for missing so much work.

Now granted - if she would actually try to manage it she could probably work somewhere. I'm pretty sure her doctor said she needs to exercise more and I've read stress reduction techniques along with it work. I just feel bad for my father. He works his ass off and his health isn't the best all the time. He has bad knees. He's been at the same place for 30 years. She's trying to make some money by selling crocheted items. Oh well I guess.

 

[army judge]

It would just be nice if she could at least get disability. She hasn't worked in like at least a couple years because every job she gets, she either has to quit or gets fired for missing so much work.

Now granted - if she would actually try to manage it she could probably work somewhere. I'm pretty sure her doctor said she needs to exercise more and I've read stress reduction techniques along with it work. I just feel bad for my father. He works his ass off and his health isn't the best all the time. He has bad knees. He's been at the same place for 30 years. She's trying to make some money by selling crocheted items. Oh well I guess.

Your father is the kind of person who built this country.
I'm so happy that he's one of millions.
They're decent, hardworking people, pay their bills, obey the laws, pay taxes, and make this country better.
God bless him.

 

[leslie82]

Your father is the kind of person who built this country.
I'm so happy that he's one of millions.
They're decent, hardworking people, pay their bills, obey the laws, pay taxes, and make this country better.
God bless him.

Sad thing is he told me he got a raise - and makes $20 an hour now after 30 years at the same place...I'm like seriously? You should practically own that place. He also worked two jobs for a few years. I don't know too many people other than my grandparents who worked harder than him. A few of my friends parents. Most people aren't like that anymore.

 

[txls]

"Some conditions simply don't qualify, unless you know the "magic words" which bumps the approval rate to about 90%+."
Can you expand on this a little more army judge? My brother just got his initial denial. Also do you know if a person only gets one shot at an appeal?

 

[army judge]

"Some conditions simply don't qualify, unless you know the "magic words" which bumps the approval rate to about 90%+."
Can you expand on this a little more army judge? My brother just got his initial denial. Also do you know if a person only gets one shot at an appeal?

The "magic words" are far too complicated to reveal on an open forum.
They are words and phrases I have developed over the last 20 years, or so, as I began helping people get SS disability and VA disability.

Essentially you must stress what you can't do and why doing anything approaching work of any kind is impossible.

You must also have a medical evaluation by a DO or MD only.

The phrasing would go something like this:

I have trouble reading, and can only focus through my intense pain to read a couple paragraphs of a newspaper article.
My pain levels are so intense, that when i try to read technical details, I can only get through a couple sentences, because understanding such content requires one to focus more intently.

I can only stand for 3 to 5 minutes, before I become unsteady and must sit.
While sitting at a desk, I can only write a couple of words on a letter, or type a sentence or two before the pain begins to increase. As the pain invreases, I can't focus long enough to complete a thought.

I often drop cups or glasses, because of the intense pain.

I struggle to complete my morning personal hygiene. I often fall in the shower, or regularly slip. I drop the soap, my towel, and take 15-20 minutes to dry my body after showering. Why? The pain is so intense, I struggle to dry myself.

My hands often shake as I dress myself. I drop my socks, and must sit to put on my underwear, as well as rest while attempting to do so.

I struggle to get my undershirt or t-shirt over my head. The pain is intense, and numbs my mind.

These must be truths, not doctored fantasies.
You must tell the reviewer or the ALJ that there is no way you can ever work again.
Disability must so hamper you that it destroys your ability o ever hold down meaningful work for the rest of your life.

That is important because the system wants to rehabilitate or retrain you for other work.
This is especially true if you were a carpenter,a nd can no longer sustain the physical effort to undertake such work.

The appeal can be attempted more than once.
Normally, the ALJ is where most people obtain the judgment they are seeking.
Most initial clams are rejected, with a few diseases being accepted: breast cancer level 4 comes to mind, as do many level 4 cancers.

The best thing to do is seek a local lawyer who has successfully represented others.
You find that by seeking testimonials of former clients.

 

[txls]

Thank you very much.

 

[ElleMD]

My Dad got approved on the first try. It does happen. For something like migraines and fibromyalgia, it is going to be very difficult as those conditions are rarely totally incapacitating, and there are any number of ways to effectively control them. If the applicant is non-compliant with treatment and recommendations from the doctor, I would not count on ever getting approved.

Not every case even makes it to court. The agency has to rule first before anything happens. Then, there are appeals. Court is fairly uncommon and is not the same as an administrative hearing. There is not a lot any attorney can do if you are waiting for a decision from SSA.

 

[leslie82]

My Dad got approved on the first try. It does happen. For something like migraines and fibromyalgia, it is going to be very difficult as those conditions are rarely totally incapacitating, and there are any number of ways to effectively control them. If the applicant is non-compliant with treatment and recommendations from the doctor, I would not count on ever getting approved.

Not every case even makes it to court. The agency has to rule first before anything happens. Then, there are appeals. Court is fairly uncommon and is not the same as an administrative hearing. There is not a lot any attorney can do if you are waiting for a decision from SSA.

She hasn't even had a hearing yet. They've been waiting a year - and when my dad called the lawyer they've been using he or she was like "What do you want me to do about it?" I told him find a new lawyer if that's how that one talks to clients.

I'm not sure what her doctor told her. I wasn't at the appointments. I know what I have read about it and what she does. She has been trying to sell items she crochets to help which is better than nothing.

My brothers and I somewhat feel she is taking advantage of my dad a little. I guess he has talked to her about some things and made her give the debit card back to him. She's better than our mom was and she does love my dad but the fact she used to work when she was a single mom with three kids and was working before my dad and then hasn't in the last couple years knowing he will take care of it all...kind of irritating.

I think she should go stay with one of her sisters again and get back in shape. Her sister got her to lose 20 lbs over six weeks because she won't take excuses. But she got a stress fracture from pushing too hard and was on crutches and then went back to the way she was before.

I know people who have gotten it. My ex's best friend was on disability for a long time. I don't know if he still is. Probably 10 years ago or so he and his friend were out drunk racing on a gravel road. His friend went in the ditch - got thrown through the windshield about 15 feet. He was in a wheelchair for like six months. But he can walk again. He has a limp...I can see why he got it for those months in the wheelchair but he's just an alcoholic with no job and I think he used that for awhile. (He lived in his mom's house until recently. Not with her, just a house she owned and babysat her cats). They might have stopped it last I heard because he doesn't qualify anymore. He shouldn't get it anymore he's not disabled anymore.

 

[ElleMD]

How married couple supports themselves and how each contributes to the marriage is totally up to them. If your father has an issue with his wife's contributions, financial or otherwise, it is for him to address. It is not unusual for only one half of a couple to work outside the home. This is common even in marriages where both partners are perfectly healthy. What someone did in the past when they had no other option is totally irrelevant.

 

[leslie82]

How married couple supports themselves and how each contributes to the marriage is totally up to them. If your father has an issue with his wife's contributions, financial or otherwise, it is for him to address. It is not unusual for only one half of a couple to work outside the home. This is common even in marriages where both partners are perfectly healthy. What someone did in the past when they had no other option is totally irrelevant.

He has addressed it to her. We talked about it one day he vented and he has vented to my brother and sister in law thank you very much.

I'm sorry I don't even know what your comment has to do with this. I really don't. Yes I know there are couples where one person stays home because they agree to it AND can afford to do it but that's not this situation. At all. She stays home and uses her migraines as an excuse not to work. I'm not the only one who has said something to our dad and he has brought it up. She had no issues working through them when it was just her taking care of three kids by herself in between her marriages to her daughters' father and her second husband.

The point is I have seen my dad work himself nearly to death for my entire life and at one point he's had to work two jobs. My mom has had health issues but she still worked. But it never went to any of us or my dad. She was running around. It seems like he's being taken advantage of again.

Is it my problem? No. But he's my dad and I love him and I hate to see it happen. That's the point. I just wanted to find out how long it can take to just get a disability hearing since they've been waiting for a year. It very well may be denied - but she hasn't even had a hearing. Yes she's trying to find a way to help but add in the fact when she applied at the nursing home in the kitchen her own daughters flipped out that she was trying to get a job "oh that's too much stress on her." That pissed me off. What about the stress on my dad? So yeah I get a little touchy about this subject because it seems like people just expect my dad to take care of everything. It's not right or fair but yes it's his life.

 

[ElleMD]

Still, it is HIS life, and HIS marriage, so there is nothing at all you can do about it. HE either accepts it or HE ends the marriage, asks her to get a job, whatever. That is totally separate from her qualifying and getting SSDI. Frankly, if she has been out of the workforce for quite some time voluntarily, her chances of getting approved are even lower.

You don't automatically get a hearing. You get a determination from SSA on the application first. Did they get that? If not, did they hear anything at all, perhaps that additional medicals or information were needed? If they submitted everything required, and have gotten turned down, and filed the appeal within the proscribed amount of time, then a hearing is possible.

 

[leslie82]

Still, it is HIS life, and HIS marriage, so there is nothing at all you can do about it. HE either accepts it or HE ends the marriage, asks her to get a job, whatever. That is totally separate from her qualifying and getting SSDI. Frankly, if she has been out of the workforce for quite some time voluntarily, her chances of getting approved are even lower.

You don't automatically get a hearing. You get a determination from SSA on the application first. Did they get that? If not, did they hear anything at all, perhaps that additional medicals or information were needed? If they submitted everything required, and have gotten turned down, and filed the appeal within the proscribed amount of time, then a hearing is possible.

My dad said they have been waiting to get their hearing on the court calendar for a year. So apparently they did or he wouldn't be talking about waiting to get on the court calendar for the last several months. That's all he has said about it and that he called their lawyer they hired for this and the lawyer was, imo, rude and said "What do you want me to do about it?" I know he said she kept being told she had to have an actual medical diagnosis to even apply. So then she got one for the fibromyalgia. For what seems like almost a year now is he said they have been waiting to hear back on a court date to hear her case. My dad is the type of person who fills out all the paperwork and reads through things before submitting them and so on. So I'm pretty sure they did what they had to if they are at the point they are waiting on a court hearing to hear her case.

She has held some jobs in the last few years but she always gets fired or has to quit because she misses too much work. I don't think she has worked in a year because she knows she's going to miss work and likely get fired or have to quit.

Did you miss the part where I said I know it's not my problem and I can't do anything about it? Apparently not. You're too busy being a judgmental asshat about my additional comments. I simply stated it would be NICE if she COULD get it because then it would be SOME help to my dad. I never said I expected her to get it. Yeah it is up to him but he has vented to us kids about it so yeah. I don't really give two shits what you think about my opinion of my stepmother so you can just keep that commenting to yourself. No one asked you what you thought about my view on my stepmother. I never said that would be a determination on whether she gets disability. Did I? Did I? Nope I sure didn't. You don't like my additional comments that's fine. Ignore them. No one asked you to comment on that portion of it anyway.

 

[leslie82]

If there's an admin on here, just close this thread. I think I got all the advice I need. It's about to head to nowhere land pretty soon. Thanks for people who gave actual advice.

 

[ElleMD]

You asked, I answered. If you don't want it commented on, don't post it on a thread asking for advice. You know almost zip about this situation from the sound of it, other than some vague comments and very rough timelines. You don't know what was submitted, exactly when, when/if they got the decision letter, when/if they filed an appeal, what you want the attorney to do at this point if they are waiting on the court to schedule something (which is not the first appeal even, so either they are much further along than you know, your father is confused about the process, or you left out a lot).

 

[leslie82]

You asked, I answered. If you don't want it commented on, don't post it on a thread asking for advice. You know almost zip about this situation from the sound of it, other than some vague comments and very rough timelines. You don't know what was submitted, exactly when, when/if they got the decision letter, when/if they filed an appeal, what you want the attorney to do at this point if they are waiting on the court to schedule something (which is not the first appeal even, so either they are much further along than you know, your father is confused about the process, or you left out a lot).

I did not ask you or anyone for an opinion about that I felt it was unfair my father works so much. I didn't.

I told you what my dad has told me in the few conversations I had with him. The last thing he told me a couple weeks ago was "We are still waiting to get a court date." And that he called the lawyer to ask about it and the lawyer said it takes time to get on the schedule. My dad asked it's been several months. Lawyer said "What do you want me to do about it?"

No I don't know a lot about the case for disability except what my dad told me. Honestly I got a lot more information out of other people than I did from you. YOU just thought you should be a judgmental bitch about it. You didn't really give me any advice. Other people did even with my "vague" comments.

I asked about how long does it take to get a hearing because my dad has said for months now they've been waiting and I know it started at least Jan if not earlier than that. I didn't ask you or anyone else to tell me what you think about my opinion on the financial situation he has. I only put that in there because that's why I asked. To find out how it works and see how long it might take if she ever got a court hearing and then he'd get some help.

So if you don't have anything else to add about disability hearings I don't want to fucking hear your opinion at all. That's why I suggested an admin close the thread as it's pretty well run its course now.

 

[ElleMD]

If you want help, I suggest you stop using profanity and insulting those who have the answers you seek. All you are going to do is get yourself banned.