How can I Speed up my Social Security Case?
How can I Speed up my Social Security Case? – Tallahassee Social Security Disability Lawyers
Tallahassee social security disability lawyers understand the process to obtain Social Security disability benefits can be a long road. To get your final decision can take up to three or more years and waiting is stressful when your medical and financial conditions are deteriorating. Usually you can cut wait time down by turning in paperwork on time and being proactively on top of Social Security. There are only limited cases in which a case can be expedited.
The first way you get your claim expedited is to send a dire needs request. In this letter, the claimant must express their financial hardships caused by the process of Social Security.
The claimant can talk about how they are losing access to their medications or to their treatments. Also in the letter, the claimant can discuss facing potential homelessness or losing their power because of the Social Security process. The letter must be very detailed and evidence should be attached to it (notices, bills, etc.). Evidence of suicidality or homicidally will also be considered. As Tallahassee social security disability lawyers, we send these letters to either the Tallahassee SSA Field Office or Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR).
Another method that can be used to expedite is Congressional Inquiry. This method includes you contacting your congressman or senator. They are sending a letter on the claimants’ behalf to Social Security explaining their dire needs. This strategy cannot negatively impact your case, it can only help it. This method is usually done during the hearing stage of the process. But experienced Tallahassee social security disability lawyers know this strategy is rarely effective.
An alternative option to expediting your case is requesting an “On-the- Record” Review (OTR). This process includes having the claimant’s legal representative request that the hearing office review claimant’s files sooner and approve the case without a formal hearing. Evidence must be convincing in order to be granted a OTR Review. If granted OTR, the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) will make a decision solely based on the evidence that is in your file at the time. The OTR request must be made after requesting a hearing. In recent years, our Tallahassee social security disability lawyers have seen cases approved on the record, but it is far from the norm.
The next three options to expediting your case do not require much from your part but only apply in rare circumstances. The first is a Compassion Allowance approval. Social Security publishes a list of 200 different types of conditions that qualify for Compassion Allowance. If your condition is on the list, then your case can get approve within days or weeks. Next, veterans who are rated 100% disabled by the VA qualify for a fast-track program that expedites cases to hearing. Last option is checking if your condition counts as a terminal illness (TERI). If your condition qualifies for TERI, then Social Security will expedite your case and often decide in a matter of days or weeks.