Applying for disability in Alabama? Put these on your Things to Do list:
1. Fill out the Function Report form carefully with emphasis on the everyday activities you now have trouble with.
2. Fill out the Work History Report completely, not just the first page which lists your job titles and dates of employment. The following pages which estimate your various job related activities are very important, especially if you are age 50 or over.
3. Talk to your doctor. Ask if he/she will provide a Residual Functional Capacity estimate for you. If so, get it done and send it to Social Security very early in the process. Keep a copy for your records. This increases your odds of early approval more than anything else you can do.
4. Attend any examinations Social Security schedules for you. Arrive on early and be cooperative without trying to "sell" the doctor on the fact that you are disabled. The doctor isn't the one making the decision. Take your medications or at least a list of them.
5. Call your disability specialist at the Disability Determination Service about 3 weeks into the process to be sure they are getting your medical records. If some doctors or providers are being slow about providing records, call the doctor's office and ask them to send in your records.
Remember that up to 80 percent of disability applications are denied, routinely. This doesn't mean that you are not entitled to benefits; it means the system is very flawed and gets it wrong more often than not. An appeal is the way the system corrects its mistakes, so appeal, appeal, appeal.
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The Forsythe Firm
Social Security Disability Counselors and Advocates
7027 Old Madison Pike, Suite 108
Huntsville, AL 3586
CALL US (256) 799-0297
Email Us: forsythefirm@gmail.com
https://forsythefirm.wixsite.com/website
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