SSDI

You may be one of thousands of people who were denied Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits. Now you need help to win your claim. In your search for qualified help, you have probably run across all kinds of websites or TV commercials advertising Social Security disability “advocates” “experts” or “representatives.” What you may not …

Attorney Representation · Social Security Advocate As an attorney who is a Social Security Advocate, I am able to act as your highly qualified legal representative, fighting on your behalf for Social Security Disability benefits or Supplemental Security Income. I will help you throughout the entire process as needed, from the initial application right up …

Anyone applying for disability benefits from the SSA has two possible ways to prove that they qualify:

They can meet the requirements defined for individual conditions in the SSA’s Listings of Impairments.
They can prove that they are unable to work due to their impairment by using the SSA’s Five Step Sequential Evaluation Process.
Of the two options, meeting one of the listings is by far the preferred method because it’s much more straightforward. What are the Listings of Impairments? These are a list of medical criteria or standards that the SSA has come up with to define a particular condition. Anyone who proves they meet one of these definitions qualifies for disability benefits

If you are filing a claim for reconstructive surgery or arthrodesis of a major weight-bearing joint, you need to know what the SSA wants to see in order to approve the claim and get the benefits you deserve.

How can you qualify? The most straightforward way is to meet the definition the SSA has laid out in their Listings of Impairments for this specific issue. These listings are the medical standards or set of criteria that the organization has laid out for individual conditions. If someone can prove they meet these criteria, they automatically qualify to receive disability benefits.

Disorders of the spine are a specific kind of musculoskeletal impairment where the actual architecture of the spine can become distorted, impinging on and “pinching” nerve roots and even the spinal cord. As you might imagine, this is a disability that can cause people a great deal of pain, lead to loss of feeling or ability to move, or a combination of the two. If you believe that you or someone you love is suffering from a spinal disorder, have them speak with an experienced disability attorney as soon as possible so that they can be examined by a qualified physician.

There are a number of issues related to this impingement on nerve tissue:

In my previous post, I have talked about a number of tests and procedures you’ll need to undergo to prove to Social Security that you’re suffering from a musculoskeletal disorder, as well as defining “loss of function.” But if the impairment you’re dealing with involves your spine, there are a number of very specific things that you’re going to have to do in order to be accepted for disability by the SSA.

In my previous two posts, I have defined musculoskeletal disorders and described “loss of function,” but still haven’t delved into what you have to show to the SSA in order to get the benefits for your disability that you need to live as normally as possible.

As you might imagine, there are a number of steps involved to get a monthly disability check. The first one is to actually receive a clinical diagnosis for a covered musculoskeletal impairment. How do you go about doing this?

In my previous post, I discussed the Social Security Administration’s definitions of the elements of disabling musculoskeletal disorders. Now that you understand what musculoskeletal disorders are, it’s time to delve into what it’s going to take for you to qualify for disability benefits from Social Security. One of the most important Social Security questions to ask when it comes to this type of disability is: are you suffering from a “loss of function”?

Social Security Disability Benefits for Major Joint Dysfunction

There are essentially two ways to get disability through Social Security: you can work to prove that your health issue prevents you from working at any job you’re qualified for in the country using the SSA’s “Five Step Sequential Evaluation Process”, or you can show that your condition meets or equals one of their Listings of Impairments.

What are the SSA’s Listing of Impairments? It’s the set of standards or medical criteria that the SSA has defined for an individual condition that will automatically qualify someone for disability if they can show that they meet them.

Turn on the news any given day and you’re almost guaranteed to hear about how the government is dealing with some sort of crisis with the budget. Either there’s not enough money or we’re spending too much money or (far more likely in recent years) the two parties simply refuse to compromise to make anything happen. But what really bothers me is when they attack Social Security and Disability, saying that it needs to be completely overhauled or reformed or fear-mongering with tales of the program running out of money.

Want the truth? Well, as luck would have it the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities put together a list of the top ten facts about Social Security at the end of 2012 to clear up misinformation, and right now seems like a good time to bring them up again.