Another Reason You May Be Denied Your Social Security Disability Benefits

Most people who are turned down for Social Security Disability Benefits cannot believe that they were turned down when they applied for benefits. They do not realize that in Indiana approximately 65% will be turned down when they first apply. They just cannot believe the SSA would get such an important decision wrong.

When you apply for disability, your claim is sent to a state agency that SSA hires to made the medical determination of  whether you are disabled. In many states this is called the Disability Determination Service,  DDS, while in Indiana the current name is the Disability Determination Bureau, DDB. It is these State workers that decide your claim.

The National Association of Disability Examiners, NADE, describes itself as:

a professional association whose purpose is to promote the art and science of disability evaluation. The majority of our members work in the state Disability Determination Service (DDS) agencies where 15,000+ employees adjudicate claims for Social Security and/or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability benefits. As such, our members constitute the “front lines” of disability evaluation.

A recent issue of The NADE Advocate, Volume 26, Number 1,  provides insight into why SSA may make the wrong decision in your case.

The growing complexity of the Social Security and SSI Disability Programs, coupled with the need to produce a huge volume of work, justifies even more the need for adequate resources in order to provide the service that the American public has come to expect and deserve from SSA. It takes an average of two years for a newly hired disability examiner to become fully trained and proficient to the point they can function independently and contribute to the process of making timely and accurate disability decisions. Thus, decisions not to replace productive personnel when they leave can take two or more years to correct even after new hires are made. NADE has long maintained that it is critical for SSA to be provided with the resources needed to hire and train new staff that can perform these duties. Low salaries, hiring restrictions and the stress of the job have contributed to high attrition (12.3%) in the DDSs. (Emphasis added)

Constantly having to replace 12.3% of the workforce and it taking two years before they can function independently, plus the stress of the job to get the work out fast, combined with low pay, may be a reason that DDB makes the wrong decision so many times.

The important point for you is that you should not be discouraged when your claim is turned down at the initial or reconsideration stages. With approximately 65% turned down on initial application and approximately  93%  turned down at Reconsideration,  you should take the steps necessary to increase your odds of winning. You will need an experienced attorney in Social Security claims to help you increase your odds in what NADE calls a “growing complexity of the Social Security and SSI Disability Programs.”

Unlike many attorneys, I will begin to help you with your case before your file your claim.  Read When Should I Hire An Attorney For My Disability Case? for my reasons why. What are you doing to increase your odds of winning?