My colleague (and fellow Tulane Law School alumni!) Gordon Gates, a Social Security disability lawyer who practices in Maine and New Hampshire, recently wrote me to let me know about a free e-book that he has generously made available to you on his website. Entitled “Ten Steps to Prepare for Your Social Security Disability Hearing,” [...]
Filed under Disability hearings, Internet disability resources by 
On October 13, 2010, SSA announced new rules effective on November 12, 2010 that will allow SSA personnel to fast track disability claims. Now there are two programs that will allow SSA personnel to quickly approve cases there the medical evidence for disability is overwhelming. The first program is called the “compassionate allowance” program, and [...]
As I have discussed extensively on this blog and on my web sites, the ultimate question in any Social Security disability case boils down to this – would you be able to perform reliably a simple, entry-level job 8 hours a day, 5 days a week? This question concerns itself with your capacity to perform [...]
Filed under Administrative Law Judges, Disability hearings, Internet disability resources by
As a large federal bureaucracy, the Social Security Administration has a dizzying array of procedures and forms that it uses to process disability cases. Social Security procedure manuals require disability adjudicators and judges to use something called a “sequential evaluation process” to evaluate every disability case. In case you are interested, the five steps of [...]
Filed under Disability hearings, Internet disability resources, Strategies for winning by
Back in January, I answered a question from a blog reader about Social Security disability credits. That reader wondered why Social Security had advised her that she had “run out of credits.” You earn credits based on earnings during the approximately 10 year period prior to filing for disability. If you wait too file or [...]
Filed under Earnings requirements, Eligibility Issues, Internet disability resources by
I read an interesting article on the BBC News feed that spoke about a link between diabetes complications and a Vitamin B-1 (thiamine) deficiency. According to the article, diabetics expel Vitamin B-1 from their bodies at a rate 15 times that of non-diabetics. Thiamine apparently helps ward off common diabetic complications such as heart disease [...]
Filed under Internet disability resources by
I recently ran across a very useful disability blog called "Disability Doc," published by a medical doctor named Keith Holden. Dr. Holden has extensive experience in the Social Security world, having been involved in training State Agency adjudicators and consultants. I find this site especially helpful in its discussions of the medical listings published by [...]
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