3 POSSIBLE DECISIONS ON YOUR DISABILITY CASE

After a disability appeal hearing, you will wait 1 to 3 months to get a written decision.  This is usually when you will know whether your claim has been approved.

There are 3 possible decisions.  I will outline them here:

FULLY FAVORABLE - 

This means that your application has been approved without modification or substantial change.  You are getting everything you asked for, or everything the law allows you to get.  You were found disabled on the date you alleged.  This decision allows for the most back pay.

PARTIALLY FAVORABLE -

This favorable decision provides you with a benefit, but not all the benefits you requested.  Some change was made to your application which adversely affects you.  Usually, this means that the judge found you to have become disabled at a date later than the date stated on your application.  This may reduce or eliminate back pay but will have no effect on the amount of monthly payments.  Incidentally, Social Security does not recognize any type of "partial disability."  If you get any benefit at all, you have been found disabled, not "partially disabled."  It is the decision that is partially favorable, not the disability itself. A partially favorable decision can be appealed within 60 days (however, the ENTIRE decision goes under appeal, not just the part you disagree with).

UNFAVORABLE -

An unfavorable decision is totally unfavorable to you.  You were not found to be disabled and are not qualified for any disability benefit.  This decision may be appealed within 60 days.

There is another type of decision that I will mention here.

FAVORABLE - CLOSED PERIOD

A closed period means your disability began on a certain date and has ended on a certain date.  Therefore, the claim will pay past due benefits during the period of disability but there is no ongoing benefit.  For example, a person might be found to have been disabled from March 1, 2017 through November 30, 2019.  The judge found that the disability ended on November 30, 2019 and no benefit is payable after that date.  This would be subject to an appeal within 60 days, but here again, the entire decision goes under appeal, not just the part you disagree with.