What Is Social Security's Blue Book and How Does It Impact Your Disability Claim?

“So how long is this going to take?” is a question we hear every day.

INTRODUCTION TO SSA’S SEQUENTIAL EVALUATION PROCESS

Work credits are based on your total wages for the year. If you work and pay Social Security taxes, for every $1,730 (in 2024) you make each quarter while working, you earn 1 work credit. You can earn up to 4 work credits for every year that you work. The amount that you need to earn each year usually increases a little bit each year to adjust for inflation. These work credits are required in order to receive Social Security Disability Insurance benefits. As a general rule, you remain "insured" for SSDI benefits for about five years after you stop working. This means that if are trying to get SSDI benefits you must show that you became disabled before your insured status expired. This is called your Date Last Insured or DLI. Once you are on SSDI the date last insured is extended automatically. How Are Work Credits Earned? Workers can receive a maximum of four work credits each year. The exact amount of work credits you earn each year will depend on your employment activity and the amount of your earnings. In 2024 a worker must earn $1,730 to earn one work credit. In order to qualify for Social Security Disability benefits, you will generally need to have earned a total of 20 work credits, although there are age exceptions to this rule. Once you earn work credits, they stay on your record, so if you become unemployed or change jobs you do not lose the work credits that have earned. How Many Social Security Credits You Need to Qualify for SSDI You generally need 40 work credits to qualify for SSDI. 20 of the 40 work credits need to be earned in the last 10 years ending with the year your disability begins. However, the younger you are when you become disabled, the fewer work credits you will need. The rules can get complicated. Reach out to us for more information, we are here for you.

You’re disabled and can’t work. You’ve applied for Social Security Disability (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits and got denied. Unfortunately, the Social Security Administration (SSA) denies almost all initial applications for benefits. But you should not become discouraged. Nor should you just reapply. Instead, what you need to do is appeal that decision but there are strict deadlines to do so. UNDERSTANDING THE SOCIAL SECURITY APPEALS PROCESS Request for Reconsideration The step in the appeals process is called a Request for Reconsideration. When your application for benefits is denied, you’ll have only 60 days to initiate the appeals process by filing a request for reconsideration. To file a request for reconsideration, you can submit an online form or mail completed form SSA-561-U2 to the Social Security Administration (SSA). Examiners and consultants who were not involved in your initial request will review your application along with any new information that’s available and make a new decision. Unfortunately, only about 10 percent to 15 percent of those who file a request for reconsideration have their denials reversed. Hearing by an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) If your request for reconsideration is denied, again you’ll have only 60 days to request a hearing with an Administrative Law Judge. It is the job of the ALJ to review decisions made by the SSA to terminate or deny claims for Social Security benefits and make a new determination. Generally about half of all unfavorable rulings heard by Administrative Law Judges are overturned, however a good lawyer can significantly improve those odds. The hearing before the ALJ is your best opportunity to have your claim approved and get the benefits you need. You should never go in front of an ALJ – or any Judge – without a good lawyer by your side. However, If your claim is denied by an Administrative Law Judge, you still have the opportunity to appeal the decision. Appeals Council Review If an ALJ denies your request for Social Security disability benefits, you can ask the Social Security Administration Appeals Council to review your case. Again, you only have 60 days to file the appeal. To continue the appeals process, you can request an Appeals Council review onlin e or print and mail completed Form HA-520 to the Social Security Administration. The Appeals Council will look at every request that’s submitted but will “remand” (send back for a new hearing) only a small percentage or overturn an even smaller percentage. That’s why the hearing with the ALJ is the best chance for success. The Appeals Council looks at an ALJ decision to see if the ALJ made an error of law or violated some procedures. However, the Appeals Council generally gives a lot of respect to the decisions of the ALJ. Petition to U.S. District Court The final stage of the Social Security disability appeals process involves filing a civil lawsuit in the Federal Court nearest where you live. There’s no jury involved when a disability benefits appeal is heard in Federal Court. Instead, the district court Judge reviews the arguments of your attorney and the attorney for the SSA and decides whether or not to send the case back to the Administrative Law Judge for a new hearing. As a practical matter, your odds of success before a US District Court Judge are near zero without an experienced attorney on the case. Generally, the federal judge reviews the case to see if there were any mistakes of law, meaning that the law wasn’t interpreted or applied properly. The judge will also consider whether any procedural mistakes were made or that your rights were violated. Judges are human and may also take the facts of your case into consideration during a review, though this is not the standard. AN EXPERIENCED ATTORNEY CAN MAKE A huge DIFFERENCE IN WINNING SSD / SSI BENEFITS The SSA system is complicated but you can make your life easier by hiring a good Social Security Disability lawyer. Getting a lawyer involved as early as possible in the process will increase your odds of success and often allow claims to proceed faster. Qualifying for disability benefits isn’t easy, even when you clearly meet all of the requirements. Contact the experienced lawyers at Gordon & Pont for assistance with your SSD / SSI benefits claim for more information.

A recent Washington Post article revealed how frequently the SSA loses when Claimants appeal their denials in Federal Court. Remands back to the ALJ are at a record high. "In the last two fiscal years, federal judges considering appeals for denied benefits found fault with almost 6 in every 10 cases and sent them back to administrative law judges at Social Security for new hearings - the highest rate of rejections in years, agency statistics show." Why is this Happening? "Federal judges have complained of legal errors, inaccurate assessments of whether claimants can work, failures to consider medical evidence, and factual mistakes, according to court rulings and Social Security’s own data." The SSA is making more mistakes and wrongfully denying more claims. “The system has become one of ‘how do we deny this claim’ rather than ‘what is the right answer in this person’s case?’” ... “And the Federal Courts agree: ‘You have to do a better job.’” Success Stories: "At his hearing in March, a new Social Security judge considered the rulings by three federal judges who found that the agency failed to properly consider the severity of his headaches, nerve damage, and other impairments by ignoring treatment notes from his doctors. An outside doctor Social Security hired to examine him also described severe “pain and anxiety” from his injuries. He prepared to wait for months for another rejection. Instead, the written decision came just two weeks later: Sheldon had been awarded the monthly benefits — along with $205,000 in back pay. His first check landed in his bank account this month." This is why we do what we do. To read the full Washington Post article: Click here - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/25/social-security-disability-denials-court-remands/

Social Security's Blue Book. What is the Blue Book? How does it impact your claim? Read on to learn more.

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