Social Security Disability Insurance Requirements and an Attorney’s Worth

In the United States, any disabled person is eligible to apply for Social Security Disability Insurance or SSDI. This federal program aims to provide financial support to those workers who can no longer perform their jobs and sustain their daily necessities.

Requirements

In applying for disability insurance with the Social Security Administration, the applicants are required to bring the following documents to their initial interviews:

• Social Security Number

• Original copy of birth certificate or any valid document that will prove the applicant’s age

• Names, addresses and contact information of healthcare professionals, hospitals and clinics that rendered their medical services to the applicant, as well as the dates the treatment or rehabilitation took place

• List of jobs and companies done in the past

• Latest copy of the applicant’s W-2 form or federal tax returns if the applicant happen to be self-employed

Note: The SSA is willing to help the applicants to obtain these documents to complete the needed information

Aside form these documents, an applicant must have also met the required number of work credits to qualify for SSDI benefits. The required credits will depend on the age when he began working. Further information regarding this may be seen on the SSA’s website at www.ssa.gov.

How does the SSA Determines Disability

After the applicants submitted their SSDI applications, an evaluation team from the State’s Disability Determination Services (DDS) office will assess their cases. This group of individuals is consisted of a health care specialist and an expert disability evaluator.

The following conditions will be used in determining an applicant’s disability:

• A person’s disability must hinder him from exercising “substantial gainful activities.”

• Impairments included on the approved list of illnesses will be processed directly. Those that are not will still have to be determined based on its severity.

• The applicant’s disability must affect his capability to perform similar jobs that he or she had for the last fifteen years.

• An applicant who receives a monthly income of $500 or above is more likely be denied.

Problems in Applying for Benefits

More often than not, most applicants will receive case denial notice from the SSA on their initial filing. These troubles are usually caused by the applicants’ improper way of filing his petition or their failure to meet the terms set by the SSA. Thus, most of them were not able to convince the Social Security adjuster who decides on their applications.

To resolve these issues, all applicants who are not that sure about the proper filing are encouraged to appoint their Social Security Disability Insurance attorneys. These legal professionals have their capacity to handle any benefits applications until it gain approval from the SSA.

To add, experienced representatives can detach the disabled workers from further stress and burden in pursuing their claims.