The Fundamentals of Social Security Disability

By Rainier Policarpio
The Federal government has initiated several programs that aim to cater to the needs of the disabled workers. These include the Social Security Disability benefits that provide financial and medical support to those qualified employees who have incurred disability. Such program is implemented by the Social Security Administration, which also has the authority to evaluate and approve the petitions of the claimants.

Eligibility Covered workers who have been paying their Social Security contributions and completed work period specified by the SSA (at least five to ten years) can avail of the Social Security Disability benefits. That is, if their disability prevents them from performing "substantial gainful activities" in a period of twelve months. Meaning, their ailment should be serious enough to impede them from working or earning adequate compensations.

Benefits Once the SSA approved a claimant’s petition, he will receive monthly checks. The amount will greatly depend on his average earnings during his employment career. In California, the disabled workers may also receive Medi-Cal benefits that are essential in obtaining medical treatment and rehabilitation while waiting for the SSA to approve their cases.

Claims Procedure 1. Initial Application – an application for the Social Security Disability benefits may be filed in three ways, through a phone call, via the internet, or personally at your local Social Security Office. However, there is a little chance that your claim will be approved at this stage. In fact, majority of claims initially filed to the SSA are rejected for some reasons such as technicalities and lack of documentary evidences. This will definitely compel you to try the next step in filing. 2. Request for Reconsideration – In this procedure, it is important that you hire an experienced Social Security lawyer coming from a reputable Disability Law Firm. An expert representative will help you in reassessing your case, gathering vital documents and filing an appeal to the SSA. You will then need to wait for at least two to three months before the SSA gives their decision on your request. 3. Hearing before the Administrative Law Judge – If your request for reconsideration was also denied, it is now the time to schedule a case hearing to the Administrative Law Judge. In this process, you will need to defend your eligibility and try to convince the judge to reverse the former decision. 4. Civil Litigation – if again your last petition to the SSA was denied, the law entitles you to result in civil litigation. This is where you may file charges against the SSA if you really believe that you are qualified of such benefits. If the court judge favors your claim, he will ask the SSA to bestow you your benefits.

You may see that the actual filing procedure in filing a Social Security Disability Claim is very much intricate for an individual who lacks the understanding about the basic principles of such SSA program. It is therefore vital to consult a law firm that is well known in handling Social Security cases before the initial application.

Our law firm is among the highly acclaimed in representing and advocating disability cases among other Disability Law Firms. We have widely experienced Disability Lawyersto help with your case.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleBiz.com