An application for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits requires completing several forms to provide a variety of personal and medical information.
It’s easy to leave something out or misunderstand what the forms are asking. An innocent mistake can lead to a rejected claim.
The Ginarte Law Firm can help if you are tackling the SSDI or SSI application process in the New York and New Jersey metro area. We can help you gather the information you need and make sure the SSA gets the information in the proper format. We can guide you through all steps necessary for completing and filing your application, giving you the best chance for approval.
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Requirements and Potential Problems in SSDI Applications
Social Security Disability programs have grown complex as regulators ensure they address all possible circumstances applicants may face. This has led to a demanding application and review process that leaves up to 70 percent of claims rejected after their initial submission.
To help complete the benefits application process online, the Social Security Administration provides a checklist of the information a claim requires. It includes:
- Birth and citizenship information, including Permanent Resident Card number if you are not a U.S. citizen.
- Name of your current spouse and any prior spouse(s) (if the marriage lasted more than 10 years or ended in death), including beginning and ending dates of marriage(s) and place of marriage(s).
- Names and birthdates of your children.
- U.S. military service, including type of duty and branch, and service start and end dates.
- Employer details for current year and prior two years, including start and end dates, and total earnings (wages, tips, etc.).
- Bank account type and number, and bank routing number.
- Information about doctors, healthcare professionals, hospitals and clinics where you’ve been treated, including dates of examinations and treatments.
- Names and dates of medical tests you have had and who sent you for them, names of medications (prescription and non-prescription), reason for medication and who prescribed it.
- Job history, including the date your medical condition began to affect your ability to work, the type of jobs (up to five) that you had in the 15 years before you became disabled and the type of duties you had on the job you held the longest.
- Highest school grade completed and date you completed it, the name of any special job training, trade school or vocational school you completed and the date completed, and the name of the school and its city and state.
In addition to the list above, the Social Security Administration adds, “We may contact you for additional information after you submit your application and report.”
The SSA will ask your doctors for records and reports regarding your disability. This information must demonstrate that you are unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity (paid work) by reason of a medically determinable physical or mental impairment that can be expected to result in your death or that has lasted or can be expected to last for at least 12 months.
You must present evidence that your medical condition significantly limits your ability to do basic work activities – such as walking, sitting, thinking and remembering. This is measured by administering a Physical Residual Functional Capacity Assessment and completing a form. If your doctor is not familiar with this test and form and it is not in your benefits application, you are likely to have a problem.
You may be able to do some work despite your disability, but you won’t qualify for benefits if you earn too much. The maximum allowed changes each year. In 2014 it was $1,070 per month or $1,800 for a blind applicant. If you are working and your work records indicate that you make too much money, your application will be denied.
Contact Us for Help with a Social Security Disability Claim in NY or NJ
Ginarte Gonzalez Winograd L.L.P., helps New Jersey and New York residents prepare and submit Social Security Disability Insurance claims. We know what’s required and the potential mistakes to be avoided as you tackle the application process. We can help you gather the correct information and present it the way claim examiners want to see it.
If you are disabled and deserve SSDI benefits, don’t risk a claim denial because of a technical reason. Call the Ginarte Law Firm now or fill out our online form to talk to an experienced disability benefits attorney today. The consultation is free.
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- SSA – Checklist for Online Adult Disability Application