REPRESENTING YOURSELF

Statistics show that over 75 percent of initial claims for social security disability benefits are denied. Those same statistics also bear out that persnos who are represented by an attorney have over a 70 percent success rate in obtaining benefits.

If you are reluctant to retain an attorney, remember that by law the attorney must take your case on a contingency. That means that he only gets paid if he wins. Accordingly, you have everything to gain and nothing to lose by hiring an attorney.

ATTORNEY FEES

A congressional committee that oversees the SSA has recommended that attorney fees be increased from the current maximum of $5300 to $6,000. If approved, the increase is not due to go into effect until after June, 2009. It still has not been determined how this will effect cases that are already in progress. Note, this is the first fee increase in more than eight years.

COMPASSIONATE ALLOWANCES

The SSA recently announced that certain medical conditions will now qualify as a compassionate allowance. As a result, by providing medical proof, the SSA will automatically find that the claimant meets the medical rules of disability. As a disability attorney, I view this as a very positive step that the SSA is trying to readdress their evaluation criteria and hopefully speed up the application process. For more information about "compassionate allowances," visit the SSA web site at ssa.org. if you are representing yourself in your claim for benefits, you may want to purchase my book, "Winning Your Social Security Disablity Case," which is available in all major bookstores as well as on line. My web site also has a direct link to Amazon.com.

Change is coming

With the inaugaration of President Obama, the new president has pledged that he will review every governmental agency. This would include the Social Security Administration. And through the lobbying efforts of myself and my colllegues, we are hopeuful that the current disability evaluation process will be evaulated and that the hearing process can be accelerated.

WAIT TIME FOR HEARINGS INCREASES

I just returned from a conference of Social Security Disablity attorneys that was held in Baltimore. Twice a year, representatives from the SSA are invited to provide an update as to how the system is improving. This year, as has been in the past, the news has not been positive. In fact, we learned that each day more than 2600 new claims are filed and the average wait time to get a hearing can be as long as two years!

So what to do? It is very important that you develop your medical evidence as soon as possible. It is not enough to simply submit medical records, notes, and test results. The SSA needs reports from your treating doctors which document what you can and cannot do. These are known as Residual Functional Questionnaires.

if you would like to discuss your case, visit my web site at www.berkleylaw.net or e-mail me at ben.berkley@berkleylaw.net