The Social Security Administration (SSA) has a reputation for denying most disability claims. People coping with serious medical issues may not receive the response they hope for when they initially apply for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits. Instead, the SSA may deny their benefits application.
Issues including insufficient medical evidence or errors in paperwork can result in a denied claim. The applicant then has the option of appealing that decision. In scenarios where people believe that paperwork corrections or additional medical evidence could change the determination, appeals can be worth pursuing.
There are multiple stages of appeals available. Reconsideration is an internal process within the SSA. It is the first stage of an SSDI benefits appeal. What can applicants expect during a reconsideration?
An opportunity to correct issues
The rejection letter provided by the SSA typically explains in brief the reasoning behind the denial of the application. Applicants may want to review their rejection letters with the help of a legal professional.
From there, they can correct their application or secure additional medical documentation to help prove that they have a debilitating medical condition that meets the necessary standard. Applicants often need help managing this process and must act quickly, as the window for appealing is only 60 days from receipt of the denial notice.
An in-depth internal review
If reconsideration involved the same professionals reviewing an application with corrected documents and supplementary medical information, the same determination might be likely. Thankfully, reconsideration typically involved having a fresh review performed by SSA workers not involved in the initial application processing.
Multiple SSA professionals, including a disability examiner, medical/psychological consultant and a disability hearing officer, review the application. Those professionals may determine that the corrected documents and supplementary materials clearly show that a worker qualifies. In such cases, the applicant may begin receiving benefits relatively quickly.
According to the SSA’s own statistics, only approximately 2% of SSDI applicants get benefits through reconsideration. Many others must continue the appeals process by requesting a hearing in front of an administrative law judge.
The reconsideration process, and SSDI appeals in general, require careful attention to detail and the support of someone familiar with this complex process. Getting help when initially applying or quickly after receiving a notice of an SSDI benefits denial can help those who can no longer work more effectively pursue benefits that can help cover their basic cost-of-living expenses.