If you’re starting a Social Security disability appeal, you probably have lots of Social Security questions. You might wonder what the process entails and what you need to do. If you’ve reached the point where you need to have a hearing, you will need to know where to go. For an overview, check out my free Social Security disability eBook
Unfortunately, your appeal probably became more difficult last year when Congress passed a budget for the SSA that was more than $1 billion less than they needed. Because of this budget shortfall, the SSA couldn’t hire more people to handle the disability backlog, new hearing offices had to be delayed, and money that was supposed to be put into IT projects to increase productivity was diverted. But the worst news for people making appeals is that around 160 remote temporary sites were closed.
Social Security Disability Appeal Mess: Closing Temporary Hearing Sites Causes Hardship
Temporary remote sites have been used for years to make it easier for people with disabilities to reach their hearings. This was an incredibly valuable service, because many of these people can’t reach the regular ODAR offices using public transportation, and their disabilities make it hard to travel by car if they even have that option.
Attorneys argued that their clients needed the temporary remote sites for those reasons, but the SSA basically said that they just didn’t have the money to keep them open.
The only positive news out of the whole debacle for people appealing disability denials process is that the SSA said they’ll still reimburse people for expenses if they travel more than 75 miles to get to a video hearing site or the office selected by the SSA.
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Social Security Disability Appeal: You Need an Ally
All of this illustrates exactly why it’s so important to have a professional on your side during this process. If you have Social Security questions that you need answered or want to increase your chances of success on a Social Security disability appeal, contact an experienced Social Security Disability attorney for a free consultation when you are ready to get all your questions answered.
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