Help

1. Do not wait to file your Application. You can lose benefits if you wait too long to file. It also takes a long time to process your application so you might as well get started.

2. Go to the doctor. You cannot win your Social Security Disability case if you do not have medical treatment. You should go to the doctor as much as you need to. Social Security Judges look seriously at what your medical records contain.

3. Tell the doctor all your problems and limitations. It makes more of an impact when Social Security sees your limitations reported in the medical records. The doctor cannot read your mind so explain how your conditions affect your activities of daily living. Such as, I need to spend most of the day with my legs propped up because they swell all the time.

4. Do not give up. It does not do any good to file your application for disability, and then not appeal it when you are denied. This also causes you to lose benefits. You also must start over if you do not appeal. This is a waste time. You only have 60 days to file your appeal.

5. Know what to expect. Do not go into your disability hearing without understanding what questions the Judge will ask and why the Vocational Expert is very important to your case.

If you need a cane, make sure your doctor prescribes it for you.

Social Security Judges will often give the use of the cane more importance if your doctor prescribes it for you.

The reason that it is important is that the use of a cane supports limitations on walking and standing.

Certain cases can be won and you will be found disabled if you are limited to walking and standing less than 6 hours a day.

A prescribed cane shows that your doctor thinks you need assistance with walking and standing, and shows that you will have trouble working jobs that involve a majority of standing and walking.

A prescription also helps make more credible your complaints of pain.

The combination of limits on standing and walking along with limits on reaching and handling and fingering may be enough to keep younger people out of the work force also.

Young people have a rough time proving disability since many judges and vocational experts think they can find some type of job for them.

However, there are not many types of jobs available when you are limited to sit down work and you cannot use your hands and fingers much.

My main experience is with Central Illinois.

However, other areas in Illinois seem to be taking around the same amount of time.

Social Security prefers you file your application online. This gets you into the system right away.

Medical records are ordered and sent to Springfield, Illinois for review and an initial decision.

This takes approximately 3 months.

If you are denied, more medical records are ordered and you are sent to see Social Security Doctors.

Another unit in Springfield, Illinois reviews your file again and this takes another 3 months.

If you are denied again, then you need to request a hearing.

Your disability file is sent to the region’s hearing office to schedule a hearing.

This takes approximately 9 months to schedule your hearing before an Administrative Law Judge.

You can see that from time of filing until hearing you may have to wait over 15 months.

There are usually 5,000 to 6,000 people waiting for a hearing at a time.

Not a very good system.

Yet it is faster than it has been in the past.

Sometimes Social Security will move a hearing up if you can show hardship such as eviction, foreclosure, or other dire circumstances.

Nothing is guaranteed of course.