Social Security Disability (SSD) is a Federal government benefit program that provides a monthly benefit to people who are unable to continue working because they suffer from fatal or serious medical conditions (lasting at least a year). Once you apply for SSD benefits, the Social Security Administration determines if you have worked long enough to be eligible for SSD and if you are disabled as defined by the Social Security Administration.
If your SSD claim is approved, that’s great. You start receiving your monthly benefits. However more than half of all claims are rejected. If your claim is denied, you have 60 days to appeal the decision. A New Jersey Social Security Disability attorney can help you with the SSD appeals process, which has several levels:
- Reconsideration: This is the initial appeal to the Social Security Administration. A different person reviews your file than the person who made the initial decision to reject your application.
- Hearing: If the reconsideration decision is to reject your application, you can appeal that decision by requesting a hearing before an administrative law judge. The hearing can be in person or by video conference.
- Appeals Council: If the administrative law judge denies all or part of your application, you can request a review by the Appeals Council of the Social Security Administration. The Appeals Council does not have to agree to review the decision. However, if they do agree to review your file, they can also decide to grant your application or send it back to an administrative law judge for further review.
- Federal Court: Should all appeals with the Social Security Administration fail, your attorney can file a lawsuit in a federal district court.
An SSD denial can be on eligibility grounds, or on disability grounds. Many appeals are successful. In fact, our firm’s qualified social security disability lawyers have won more than 90 percent of our SSD appeals.
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