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How Do I Prove My Disability?
Vallejo SSDI Lawyer
It can be difficult and stressful to deal with a disability that impedes your ability to work. That’s where Social Security disability insurance, or SSDI, comes in handy. It can be a life-changing benefit for those who are forced to sit on the sidelines due to their medical condition or disability. When you pay into Social Security over the course of your working life, you become eligible for SSDI benefits that a SSDI attorney can help you better understand.
How Can a Vallejo SSDI Attorney Help You?
Pursuing any kind of legal changes in your life can be complex. It is important that you retain the services of an experienced law firm who knows the kind of legal counsel you will need and can help you through the process of obtaining SSDI benefits. It is unwise to go into this process without any prior knowledge or plan. An experienced Vallejo SSDI attorney can help you develop a plan and explain the process in greater detail.
Applying for these benefits is no easy feat, and many initial applications are denied for the simple reason that they are incorrectly filled out. An experienced SSDI attorney can help you in many different ways, including making sure your forms are properly filled out. Many applicants are dealing with life-altering medical situations already, as well as potential mobility issues that can be difficult to adapt to. The last thing you need is more stress from trying to apply yourself alone.
Here are some of the significant ways that an SSDI attorney can assist you in developing your claim for SSDI benefits:
Sharing Knowledge: If you are applying for Social Security disability insurance, you are likely unfamiliar with the process, as well as how the Social Security Administration (SSA) operates. It is important to understand the entities behind these benefits and how they decide who to approve and who to turn down. A lack of relevant knowledge can be a significant roadblock in your application process. You may be unaware of any costly mistakes until it is too late.
By reaching out to an experienced SSDI attorney, you can be provided with a wealth of knowledge about the inner workings of the SSA. Our legal team is remarkably thorough in their approach. We can ensure that you fill out the proper paperwork by the appropriate deadlines and provide you with a decent amount of background information so you can pursue your claim with more know-how. We want your claim to be as strong as possible.
Assistance with Your Application: Applying for SSDI benefits is a time-consuming process that can result in a firm denial if filled out incorrectly. Our legal team at Gade & Parekh, LLP is more than willing to handle this part of the benefits process on your behalf. After all, the application can be complex. Having someone by your side who understands those complexities can only help you in the long run.
By handing off the application to your attorney, it allows you to have some momentary peace of mind and take some of the weight off your own shoulders. You can refocus on your recovery and devote more time to adapting to your new lifestyle. We can handle researching your medical history, gathering your personal records, and drafting paperwork.
Our firm handles this kind of work on a daily basis. We are very aware of what the SSA looks for in these applications, and we can tailor them to ensure your application is as effective as possible. If any problems arise during the review process, your attorney can resolve them quickly and continue on.
The Hearing Process: The majority of applicants will be required to go through a formal hearing to determine the accuracy of their application. During this hearing, you will stand before a judge who will comb through your application and ask you to explain to the court why you are unable to work. Your SSDI lawyer will be by your side throughout the entire hearing process and will be sure to prepare you for it in the weeks leading up to it.
The hearing will likely look and feel like a trial. Your lawyer will answer any questions you may have about the process, prepare arguments before the judge on your behalf, and even cross-examine any witnesses that the SSA may have brought to testify against you. While an SSDI lawyer can thoroughly help with your application, one of their additional duties is preparing you for your hearing and representing your interests throughout it.
Reviewing Your Application: It goes without saying that the only way your SSDI attorney can effectively represent your interests in the hearing is to become as familiar as possible with your situation. When you first meet your lawyer and begin consulting with them, you will need to be as transparent as possible about your medical history, your expectations, and any previous attempts at applying for benefits.
If you have already received a denial letter in the past, we can review it with you and figure out the specific reasons why your claim was denied. Then, we can start preparing your appeal. The application process does not always end with the initial denial. Sometimes, that is only a roadblock in your application journey.
Theory Development: Once your SSDI lawyer has reviewed your case and figured out the optimum way to help you pursue your SSDI benefits, they can start developing a theory that they can use to fight on your behalf during the hearing. Each of these theories is a completely valid and legal reason that explains why you would be pursuing SSDI benefits in the first place. Your lawyer will determine which one fits your case.
These theories may include:
- You meet the accurate criteria for a Social Security disability listing.
- You fit one of the grid rules provided by the SSA.
- Your disability absolutely prevents you from doing any kind of work, even basic sedentary work.
The Social Security Disability Listings
The Social Security Administration (SSA) provides the public with a detailed list of specific impairments. Within each impairment on the list is a detailed series of criteria that applicants must meet if they have been medically diagnosed with that condition. The SSA will use this list to match the condition in your application to the criteria on their impairment list and determine whether or not you qualify for benefits under the condition that you listed.
Additionally, your SSDI lawyer can also try to match the condition on your application to the criteria on the impairment list and determine whether or not your condition counts as one of the SSA’s listed impairments. It may be wise to see a doctor so you can have a valid medical record of your diagnosed condition. You may want to be retested for your condition to see if your condition has advanced or slowed down.
Sedentary Work Can Affect Your Application
One of the theories that your lawyer may pursue in trying to help you get your SSDI benefits is that your disability prevents you from doing any kind of work, including sedentary work. Sedentary work is basic work that requires you to be seated for the majority of the day and exert a limited amount of physical energy in order to perform it.
If you claim that you are unable to perform sedentary work, at the very least, your lawyer will need to gather the necessary evidence to prove that statement. This evidence can come from a variety of reliable sources, including your own sworn testimony, the opinions of expert witnesses, the testimony of your primary care physician, or your own personal medical records.
If you are able to argue your inability to perform even sedentary work successfully and are unable to exert yourself in any physical way, there is a good chance that the SSA will approve your SSDI benefits, as you will have proven the existence of your disability.
The Grid System
If, for whatever reason, your specific condition is not on the Social Security disability listings page, the SSA has another way to determine whether your condition qualifies for SSDI benefits. They will use a grid system to figure out if you are disabled through alternative means.
The grid will take into consideration your age, your education level, your existing job skills, any previous work experience, and your residential functional capacity (RFC) level. Your RFC will be the maximum amount of physical exertion you can perform in your current condition.
Your SSDI attorney may be able to use the grid system to prove your inability to exert any level of physical activity without hurting yourself or affecting your overall health. The grid system is typically used for advanced-age applicants who are already struggling to perform any kind of work. The grid rules may not apply to you if your disability is not a physical one.
SSDI Benefits vs. SSI Benefits
There are many different kinds of government benefits that people with disabilities in Vallejo can apply for, and it is important to know the major differences before applying to one that you may not qualify for. SSDI benefits are connected to the Social Security Administration, but they are not quite the same as Social Security benefits or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. You may not be able to make an informed decision about what you want if you don’t know the difference.
Primarily, the difference between SSDI and SSI benefits is who is able to benefit from them. SSI benefits are based almost entirely on age, while SSDI benefits are available to people of all ages who can no longer work because of a disability, among other criteria.
SSDI benefits are provided by the federal government and are available to those who have paid into Social Security over their career, have worked in the past, and now possess a disability that hinders their job performance. The two most vital criteria that you must meet to qualify for SSDI benefits are:
You have to be insured. You must have worked long enough to qualify for SSDI benefit coverage. When you apply for SSDI, you will be given two tests regarding your work history. If you pass the tests, you are insured. If you fail, you aren’t insured and won’t qualify, regardless of your disability. Those tests are:
- Have you worked recently?
How long have you worked?
You have a disability that meets the SSA’s established standards. Here, there are five tests that will determine your disability. You might not pass all of them, but if you pass enough of them, you may be considered for SSDI coverage. Those tests include:
Are you currently working at a level of substantial gainful activity? If you have been holding down a steady job and your monthly untaxed earnings exceed the Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) level, you do not have a disability by the SSA’s standards. As of 2024, the current SGA level is $1,550.
Is your condition severe? The more severe your disability is, the better the chances of qualifying for SSDI benefits. The SSA requires that your condition limit your job performance to a substantial degree, making it difficult or impossible for you to perform basic workplace tasks for at least a year or resulting in your eventual death. Otherwise, you will not qualify.
Is your condition on the list? If your condition appears on the SSA’s impairment list, you are assumed to have a qualifying disability. At this point, you can skip the next two tests. If it’s not on the list, the SSA will determine if your condition is at least as severe as another condition that is on the list.
Can you perform the same work you were doing? If your disability does not stop you from doing your same job, you won’t qualify.
Can you perform other work? If your condition does not stop you from performing other work, you won’t qualify.
Reach Out to an Experienced SSDI Lawyer Today
The legal team at Gade & Parekh, LLP understands how to help you and can provide you with experienced legal counsel throughout this process. Contact us to speak with a valued team member and schedule a consultation to find out more about what we can offer you.
