Sometimes people are just too ill – physically or mentally – to work.
Serious ailments and unexpected medical hardships that may make it impossible for you to work may include multiple sclerosis, chronic asthma, arthritis, back pain, heart failure, chronic immune diseases, and mental health illnesses.
Critical to file for SSDI
This is when it’s important to file for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). Since it’s a long and arduous process, you really need to rely on legal advice from an experienced lawyer.
And don’t wait to apply. The more quickly you file for disability benefits, the better. You can hasten the process by filing online, and assembling as many of your medical records.
But remember that the Social Security Administration (SSA) has strict criteria in determining whether you are disabled.
The process can take a long time
Here’s where the process bogs down.
According to the SSA, it may take three to five months for the agency to make a decision. On top of that, the SSA typically denies two-thirds of all first-time disability applications.
If you still want monthly disability payments, you must file an appeal, and wait in line with the more than 1 million other Americans who are doing the same.
According to Allsup, a Social Security disability representative company, the average wait time in 2017 for an appeal hearing was 583 days in the United States.
In Illinois, the appeal hearing wait is 566 days, while the backlog of cases increased nearly 30 percent in 2017 to nearly 32,500.
And let’s just hope that while waiting for your hearing that you won’t be among the more than 18,700 Americans who died while doing so.
Tips from an advocate agency
In order to try to get through this bottleneck, Allsup had provided some important tips:
- File right away and don’t delay
- Get a doctor’s agreement by obtaining written medical confirmation from your physician
- Obtain help, especially from a trusted legal expert
- Assemble accurate medical records for the SSA
- Meet all SSA filing deadlines
- Never give up
This is your life and your family’s lives. Perseverance is important despite the hardships you may be facing.
