How Long Does It Take To Get a Disability Approval Letter?

Disability conditions can take a toll on an individual. Undergoing medical treatment can be financially difficult, physically painful, and mentally stressful. Apart from this, it may become difficult for an individual to secure a livelihood due to the pending bills and medical or other expenses. However, qualifying for Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits may ease some of your financial and mental stress.

It is advised that when you apply for SSD benefits, you have a rough idea of the process involved and the time it takes to get a disability approval letter. The Social Security Administration (SSA) takes three to five months to determine an application for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. Once your application gets approved, the SSA will issue a Disability Approval Letter. This letter certifies the fact that you have won disability benefits.

While the SSA does not specify with certainty the time taken at each stage of the disability application process, we can give a fair idea about the entire Social Security Disability process with our extensive experience and knowledge.

How is an SSD Application Decided?

The Social Security Administration has two federal programs called the Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income programs.

While the SSDI benefits concern people who have paid social security taxes out of the income earned at a job or through self-employment for a long enough duration to qualify for benefits, the SSI is a need-based program extending to people having no to little income, and are disabled, blind or above 65 years of age.

Both programs require a Social Security field officer to check your eligibility for medical and non-medical requirements. The medical requirement for SSDI requires you to prove that you cannot engage in substantial gainful activity (SGA) due to your medical condition. For proving your non-medical requirements, you are required to show that you fall within the income limits in the case of SSI and sufficient work history/ earnings in the case of SSDI.

When you meet the non-medical requirements for SSI or SSDI, the application for benefits proceeds further for examination of medical requirements which is conducted by the Disability Determination Service (DDS) office, a federal government-funded agency in each state.

The DDS staff is tasked to go through your medical records and decide whether you qualify for SSI/ SSDI benefits. If the medical records are inconclusive, you can hold a consultative examination with your treating physician or with an independent healthcare professional. Based on this assessment, the DDS will approve or reject your application. The entire process is called initial disability determination.

Initial disability determination should take three to five months, but there may be a delay due to the following reasons-

• Delay by healthcare professionals in providing medical records.
• Skipping consultative appointments organized by the DDS.
• Not responding to DDS requests for additional information about your application or consultative examinations.

How Much Time Does It Take At The Appeals Stage?

You can pursue an appeal if your application gets denied during the initial disability determination. Time taken at the appellate stage depends on the stage of application. There are three levels of appeal for disability benefits–

For reconsideration, your claim will be assigned to a DDS examiner who was not originally involved in the initial disability determination. The examiner will once again go through the case file and seek additional information if needed. According to the SSA, it takes an average of 147 days to decide a reconsideration request.

If the claim is not decided at the reconsideration stage, you can pursue a further appeal before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). In this case, your request for SSD benefits will be assigned to a hearing center. Your hearing date is scheduled within 5 to 15 months, but it depends mostly on the workload of the hearing center.

If your claim is not approved by the ALJ either, you can make a final appeal for review by the Appeals Council where it will take about one year for a decision letter. If your claim is not approved even at the final level of appeal, you can institute a lawsuit in federal court, but it could be a time-consuming process.

Contact The Keener Law Firm To Avoid Unnecessary Delays

At The Keener Law Firm, our team of SSD attorneys is committed to helping you in every possible way. If you are ready to fight for the benefits you deserve, contact us today for a free case review and consultation. Our team of experienced disability lawyers and attorneys have an in-depth understanding of the complicated SSD processes to help you avoid unnecessary delays in getting a Disability Approval Letter.