Social Security Disability

Welcome to part six in our series on musculoskeletal disorders. You can read our previous posts on the subject here. One question that a lot of people have about musculoskeletal disorders is how prosthetics or other assistive devices fit in, so below we’re going to cover what role they play in getting disability benefits. To break it down in a clear way, there will be three sections: one for prosthetic devices, one for orthotic devices, and one for hand-held assistive devices.

Welcome to part six in our series on musculoskeletal disorders. You can read our previous posts on the subject here.

Today we’re going to talk about treatment. If you’ve been following these posts, you already know why treatment is important if you are considering applying for social security disability benefits – it acts as a record showing the existence, duration, and severity of your impairment. Moreover, anything that has been officially entered into your medical record regarding your disability has to be considered by the SSA before they can make a ruling.

By now we’ve covered what musculoskeletal disorders are, defined “loss of function,” gone over tests and procedures, and discussed the spinal exam. Documentation has come up from time to time, but we haven’t really gotten into the nuts and bolts of why it’s needed or what happens if you aren’t receiving ongoing treatment.

Below you’ll find answers to those questions and more.

When you apply for disability from Social Security, one sure way to guarantee benefits is to meet their definition for a specific type of impairment. One of the most common groups of impairments they define is disorders of the musculoskeletal system.

The definition for these types of disorders is fairly broad and encompasses a large number of issues. Some of the most common include things like:

Recently I tried to break down the complicated way that military personnel earn their Social Security benefits through their service. But there’s one part of this equation that’s so confusing I thought I’d go into it in more depth – extra credit earnings.

Extra credit earnings are exactly what they sound like. They are types of work that military personnel can engage in that earn them more than the standard amount. Basically, because they’re deemed to be doing more or harder work, they’re getting a bonus.

If you served in the military, you probably know that you can receive Social Security benefits for the time that you spent there. Chances are good, though, that you probably don’t really understand which parts of your service actually qualify for benefits, how much you should be getting, or just how it all works in general.

Why? This is due to the fact that for some reason, the government has chosen to make the Social Security benefit earning system for military personnel one of the most complicated systems ever created. For example, while active duty has been covered since 1957, participation in weekend drills didn’t count towards your benefits until 1988. And even though it wasn’t “covered” and no military personnel paid Social Security taxes before 1957, “some” military service before this time will still count as “special credit” and earn you more benefits.

Politicians and TV news people love to shock the American public with statements and stories about how the disability program is out of control. That’s why there won’t be any money for disability insurance by 2016, they say, and it sounds pretty convincing. After all, our government leaders wouldn’t let us get so close to the edge of not having money as part of a plan, would they? This lack of funding has to be a surprise, right?

Actually, it is.

Disability insurance running out of money’s something that happens every once in a while, and lawmakers always find the funding somewhere. The last time this happened was in 1994. And how long did those lawmakers expect the money to last? You guessed it – until 2016. Running out of DI money was part of the plan.

Sometimes when claimants and their reps appeal a decision, they get their hands on additional evidence that might sway the appeals council’s (AC) decision and help them to win the claim. Unfortunately, just like every other part of the Social Security Disability appeals process, there’s a lot of bureaucracy and paperwork involved to get the information in the hands of the right people.
Steps to Submit Additional Evidence to the Appeals Council

The process of submitting additional evidence can be broken down into several steps.

A lot of claimants and even representatives going through Social Security Disability appeals are slightly terrified of vocational experts. There’s good reason to feel this way. After all, their testimony can torpedo a claim by making it seem like there are plenty of jobs available and no reason why work can’t be found.

Experienced disability lawyers, though, know that there are a number of ways to poke holes in VE testimony and make sure that they are the ones being put on the defensive.

When you go through the disability appeals process and prepare for your hearing in front of a judge, you’re going to need lots of evidence proving your impairment and have to go through a wide variety of tests and evaluations. You’ll deal with doctors, vocational experts, and more, all looking at you and poring over the evidence to decide if you’re really disabled enough to get benefits.

Not surprisingly, a lot of weight is given to the evaluations of physicians who perform what are called consultative examinations, or CEs. The reports from these examinations are used by ALJs to determine the extent of a person’s disability and whether or not they’re able to work and make a living, so you would think they’d be pretty thorough and exhaustive.

Unfortunately, that’s not always the case, and disparities between CE reports can mean that two claimants in extremely similar situations have entirely different outcomes, with one getting maximum benefits and the other one being denied.