How Do Social Security’s New Evidence Regulations Affect Me?

How Do Social Security’s New Evidence Regulations Affect Me?

The Social Security Administration (SSA) published new medical evidence rules on January 18, 2017. (82 FR 5844). They became effective on March 27, 2017. If your claim was filed before March 27, 2017, your claim will not be affected even if it was remanded from a federal court or SSA’s Appeals Council. These regulations provide some help to claimants, but they can also undermine one of the strongest allies that many of our clients have – their treating providers.

On ...

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Disability

Disability Benefits Based On Fibromyalgia

Disability Benefits Based On Fibromyalgia

The Social Security Administration recognizes Fibromyalgia as a medically determinable impairment that may entitle those who suffer from it to disability benefits. Fibromyalgia, like some other pain disorders, is characterized by diffuse and widespread pain of the joints, muscles, tendons or soft tissue and is commonly associated with fatigue.  The unique feature of Fibromyalgia is that it is a diagnosis of exclusion, i.e., other potential causes of the symptoms must be eliminated.

In order to establish that Fibromyalgia is a severe ...

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NOV
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Disability

Can I Collect Disability If I Worked After I Became Disabled?

As outlined in our prior blog on the Sequential Evaluation Process here, a claimant will generally be denied benefits if it is determined that he or she is engaging in substantial gainful activity. We also discussed an exception to this general rule in The Unsuccessful Work Attempt Blog. here 

There are other circumstances that permit the Social Security Administration (SSA) to award disability benefits to an individual exceeding the limits set for substantial gainful activity ($1,170 for 2017).For example, ...

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Disability

The Listing Of Impairments

The Listing Of Impairments

The Social Security Administration (SSA) follows a five step process in determining whether or not you are disabled. We have discussed step one and step two previously.  In this blog, we will discuss step three – Listed Impairments.

SSA maintains a list of certain conditions that it considers per se disabling. These are commonly referred to as the “Listing of Impairments” – or simply the “Listings.” There are separate Listings for children and for adults. The Listings generally relate ...

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SEP
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Disability

Unsuccessful Work Attempts

Unsuccessful Work Attempts

In some circumstances, a claimant may seek disability benefits for a period of time during which he or she was working. While, generally, a person will be entitled to benefits if they are not engaging in substantial gainful activity, there are special rules that allow a person with disabilities to test his or her ability to work and still qualify for benefits.

One of these exceptions is the “Unsuccessful Work Attempt” rule. The Social Security Administration understands that sometimes you think ...

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AUG
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Disability

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