Social Security Disability cases take a long time to get to hearing so if you lose it is very disappointing.
However, there is still hope.
You have the option to appeal the case to the Appeals Council. The Council acts as an appellate court to review the Administrative Law Judge’s decision.
Beyond the Appeals Council you can appeal to Federal Court. Not many cases go this far because it is difficult to win at the Federal level, but depending on the facts of your case it may be possible.
The other option is to reapply.
The surprising thing is that once you reapply it seems as if a new set of eyes at Social Security looks at the case and there are a number of cases that are approved.
The bottom line is that you should not give up.
Keep trying because you never know what will happen.
The only other option is to try to return to work and see what you can do.
I have had clients who have returned to work and worked as long as they could and then reapplied.
The advantage to this approach is that it builds up your benefit payments, and once you can no longer work it shows a good faith attempt to Social Security.
Questions about your disability case? Feel free to contact Illinois Social Security Disability Attorney Dirk May at 309-827-4371.