DISABILITY TIMELINE FOR HUNTSVILLE: WHAT TO EXPECT

How long will it take to get a decision on Social Security disability?  Here's a timeline from one of Alabama's most trusted Social Security disability advocates:

STEP 1:  THE APPLICATION.  It takes 3 to 5 months to get a decision after you apply on the phone, online or at the Social Security office.  Only 20 to 30 percent are approved at this stage.

STEP 2:  RECONSIDERATION.  If you are denied, you have 60 days to ask for Reconsideration by filing an appeal.  This process moves pretty quickly in Alabama, which is new to the Reconsideration process.  It currently takes about 4 to 8 weeks to get a new decision; however, I fear this process will bog down as more people enter the Reconsideration system.  Only about 2 percent are approved at this stage, so it's more or less a formality you have to do.

STEP 3:  THE HEARING. If denied at Reconsideration, you again have 60 days to appeal.  This takes you to a hearing before and administrative law judge (ALJ).  You will wait between 8 and 12 months for a hearing.  This is your best chance in the entire process, statistically.  In Alabama, around 45 percent of persons who attend a hearing will be approved--especially if they are represented by a professional who knows how to prepare and present the appeal.

STEP 4:  AC APPEAL.  If you are denied at the hearing, you again have 60 days to file an appeal.  This time the appeal goes to the Appeals Council, usually in Falls Church, Virginia.  You will not appear before the AC for this appeal.  A judge or group of judges will review your file and decide whether to grant you a new hearing.  Currently, the wait time for this appeal is about 10 months.  Statistically, here is a rough idea of what the Appeals Council does:

• 85 percent:  refuses to review and lets the denial stand.
• 13 percent:  remands (sends the denial back to the administrative law judge for a new hearing;
• 02 percent:  overturns the denial and awards benefits (very, very rarely, as you can see).

STEP 5:  FEDERAL LAWSUIT.  After losing at the Appeals Council, you have 60 days to file a lawsuit against the Commissioner of Social Security in Federal District Court.    Only about 1 in 100 Social Security cases ever get to this level.

The above steps must be taken in order; you cannot skip a step.  For instance, you cannot skip the hearing and appeal directly to the Appeals Council.  You cannot skip the Appeals Council and appeal directly to a Federal District Court.

CAN YOU GET BACK PAY OR PAST DUE BENEFITS?  

In many cases, if you are awarded benefits on appeal, you are entitled to receive benefits (pay) back to the date of your original disability. This can result of months or years of back payments that are paid in a lump sum. There are some restrictions on this, however. Back pay is one reason it is usually better to keep appealing unfavorable decisions, as opposed to filing new claims.