A Social Security Disability hearing is an option that a potential Social Security Disability recipient may experience in the event that his or her Social Security Disability claim has been denied during the initial stage of the disability claim process. Individuals who have been denied disability have the opportunity to have their case heard by an administrative law judge, known as an ALJ.
Individuals of all ages can be approved for Social Security Disability benefits, as long as they meet certain stipulations. The chances of getting disability benefits depend on different factors.
Over two million disability applications make it to the Social Security Administration on a yearly basis, and less than half of those are approved during the initial application process. The remainder are left to fight for their benefits through a disability appeal process.
Dealing with the Social Security Administration can be extremely time-consuming and frustrating. Herbert Russell found this out for himself after his daughter, Heather, was diagnosed with metastatic Stage IV cancer which eventually spread throughout her body in May of 2009. Heather wasn't ready to give up on life and continued to work at her local home improvement store until the following October, when her doctors told her it would be better for her to quit.
The news is rife with the problems facing the Social Security Administration today. According to the federal government's long-term fiscal outlook report, the Social Security Disability program is in real trouble. Payments for SSDI amount to over $124 billion, with an average disability payment to individuals ranging around $1,000 per month.
Social Security Disability recipients should be pleased to know that a new Social Security office has opened on Claussen Road, serving the greater Augusta area. The office hopes to reduce the backlog of other offices in the region. Processing times for Social Security claims in Georgia, as well as the rest of the United States, is extremely slow, sometimes averaging well over 400 days. The new office hopes to help more people through faster processing of claims and hearing appeals.
