SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY LAW BLOG

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Avoid these common pitfalls when you testify at your Social Security disability hearing

December 16th, 2011

In anticipation of your Social Security disability hearing, your Detroit disability lawyer will explain to you some common guidelines for giving strong testimony, including: tell the truth; try not to exaggerate or minimize your symptoms; give specific examples of the impact of your impairment on your daily activities. Here are a few additional guidelines that will help you avoid common pitfalls during your testimony:

1. Don’t argue your case or decide your case for the judge. Your role at the hearing is that of witness. Your job is to describe the facts of your situation – your physical and/or mental condition, and the effects of that condition on your day-to-day life. It is not your job to argue the case or draw legal conclusions from the evidence. Thus, you should try to avoid saying things like, “I worked all my life . . . .” or “There is no way I can do any kind of work with my condition.”

2. Don’t bring up other people or other cases. Though it may be tempting to compare your case to the disability case of a family member or a friend or some other third-party, don’t do it. Other cases are wholly irrelevant to your case. Talking about them simply wastes valuable hearing time. Thus, try to avoid saying things like, “I know this woman who has nothing wrong with her, but she gets disability benefits,” or “I know lots of people who are way less disabled than I am who get disability benefits.”

3. Don’t try to win the judge’s sympathy. Social Security disability judges have seen and heard it all. Manufactured tears and other histrionics won’t work. Moreover, the judge’s job is to apply the facts of your case to the law, and the law is only concerned with your ability to work. Everything else – your dire financial situation; the fact that your car was repossessed or that you were evicted – is irrelevant to the disability determination.

If you are not currently represented by a Detroit disability attorney, please contact me if you would like to talk about your upcoming hearing or another aspect of your disability case. 

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How does the Social Security decision-maker weigh your treating doctor’s opinion?

November 30th, 2011

In my October 15, 2011 post to this blog, I explained when the Social Security decision-maker must give your treating doctor’s opinion “controlling” weight. What happens, though, if your doctor’s opinion is not given controlling weight? In that situation, the decision-maker determines the significance of your doctor’s opinion by evaluating the following factors:  

  • The nature of the treatment relationship between you and your doctor.
  • The number of times you have treated with the doctor.
  • The nature of your treatment, including the types of tests performed and ordered by the doctor and the types of examinations he or she performed.
  • Whether the doctor is able to present a detailed, long-term picture of your impairment.
  • The doctor’s specialty.
  • The quality of the doctor’s opinion. In general, the more information your doctor provides in support of his opinion that you are disabled, the more weight his opinion will be given. By contrast, a plain, unsupported statement of disability (e.g., “It is my opinion that the patient is disabled.”) will be given little weight, if any. 
  • Whether and to what extent the doctor’s opinion is supported by medically acceptable clinical and laboratory diagnostic techniques.
  • Whether and to what extent the doctor’s opinion is consistent with the other evidence in your case.

Given the importance of medical opinion evidence to the success of your Social Security disability claim, you may want to speak with an experienced Detroit disability lawyer about this aspect of your case. If you are not currently represented by a Detroit disability lawyer, please use the Free Case Evaluation form on this page to tell me about your situation, or call or email me directly.

Posted in Blog, Disability determination, Medical evidence | No Comments �

Update: Diabetes and Social Security disability benefits

November 14th, 2011

If you are living with diabetes, you may be entitled to receive Social Security disability benefits if your condition is so severe that it meets or medically equals a Social Security Listing impairment or prevents you from working. This post will discuss a recent change to the Listings relative to diabetes.

Before June 2011, the Social Security Administration evaluated a claim for disability benefits based on diabetes according to three separate listings: neuropathy, ketoacidosis, and retinitis proliferans (Listings 9.08A, 9.08B, and  9.08C, respectively). Post-June 2011, there is no longer a separate Listing for diabetes. Rather, the Social Security Administration will evaluate a claim for disability benefits according to the listing for the body system impacted by the claimant’s diabetes. So, for example, a claim will be evaluated under the mental disorders listing (Listing 12.00) if the claimant’s diabetes has caused diminished cognitive functioning; similarly, a claim will be evaluated under the cardiovascular listing (Listing 4.00) if the claimant’s diabetes has caused heart-related medical issues.

If you have diabetes, and your claim for disability benefits was denied, I can help with your appeal. If you are not currently represented by a Detroit disability lawyer, contact me for a free consultation. I would be happy to talk with you about the Listings and other possible grounds on which you might qualify for benefits.

Posted in Blog, Impairments | No Comments �

Can I work part-time?

October 30th, 2011

“Can I work part-time without losing my disability benefits?” In my experience as a Detroit disability lawyer, I have been asked this question many times. The short answer is, “Yes.” A more complete answer is, “Yes, with certain limitations, depending on whether you are receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits.”

If you are receiving SSI, the first $65 you earn working part-time is all yours. After that first $65 (or $85 if you have no other income), your disability benefits will be reduced by $1 for every $2 you earn. Thus, it is possible to earn so much in part-time wages that your SSI benefits cease entirely. After a year of receiving no benefits, you will have to file a new application for benefits with the Social Security Administration. If, however, the disruption in your SSI benefits due to your earnings lasts for less than one year, then the Social Security Administration will simply restart your benefits if your earnings go down.

If you are receiving SSDI, then you may earn part-time wages up to the “substantial gainful activity” amount, without any disruption or reduction in your benefits. The Social Security Administration establishes the “substantial gainful activity amount.” In 2010, for example, it was $1,000 per month in gross income. This amount is an absolute cut-off. If you earn even $1 more than the limit, your benefits will cease after you have used up your 9-month trial work period. As a practical matter, I suggest you keep your earnings well below the substantial gainful activity amount, so that you can continue to receive your full Social Security disability benefits while you work part-time.

If you have questions about part-time work, and you would like to speak to an experienced Detroit disability lawyer, please contact me.

Posted in Blog, Eligibility | No Comments �

Detroit disability lawyer explains when your doctor’s opinion will be given “controlling weight” by Social Security

October 15th, 2011

As a Detroit disability lawyer, I help my clients present a complete medical record to the Social Security decision-maker. Medical opinion evidence often plays a crucial role in this effort. The Social Security rules and regulations provide that your treating doctor’s opinion is the most important medical opinion evidence in your case. Moreover, the Social Security decision-maker must give your doctor’s opinion “controlling weight” – that is, must adopt your doctor’s opinion as its own – if the following criteria are met:

  1. The opinion comes from an “aceptable medical source.” Social Security recognizes the following medical professionals as “acceptable medical sources”: physicians (medical or osteopathic doctors); psychologists; podiatrists; optometrists; and qualified speech-language pathologists. 
  2. The opinion comes from a treating source. The opinion of your treating doctor may be given controlling weight; the opinion of a doctor you saw just once or twice, for the purpose of obtaining a report to support your Social Security disability claim, will not.
  3. The opinion is well supported by medically acceptable diagnostic techniques.

If you present medical opinion evidence that meets these criteria, then that opinion evidence will be given controlling weight. If you present medical opinion evidence that does not meet these criteria, Social Security will take the doctor’s opinion into account, but will give it less weight

Posted in Blog, Medical evidence | No Comments �

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