There is no question that Social Security has made it much more difficult to qualify for disability benefits. Statistically, hearing approval rates have dropped from 62% in 2010 to 45% in 2015, which is a significant drop. There is one hopeful sign: approval rates by judges nationally in 2014 were also 45% which suggests that the trend is not getting worse.

No doubt our elected representatives in Washington, D.C. have been putting pressure on Social Security officials to keep approval rates down. The disability trust fund came close to running out of money in 2016, but at the last minute was shored up when Congress transferred funds into the disability funds from other accounts.  There is also a widespread perception that judges have been too lenient in approving claims, and there have been a few high profile cases of outright fraud (although these cases capture a lot of attention they represent only a tiny fraction of awards).

In my practice I definitely sense that administrative law judges give much more scrutiny to claims of younger individuals – Social Security defines “younger individual” as anyone under the age of 50. No doubt, SSA administrators regularly remind judges that a 30 year old approved claimant will be drawing on the trust fund for another 30 years, whereas a 55 year old claimant will likely draw on the fund for only 7 or 8 years.

So, if you are under the age of 50, you will have more of an uphill battle. However, disability judges regularly approve younger claimants if the medical and other evidence directs a finding of disability. Here the most important factors that I consider when evaluating a claim by a younger individual: Continue reading →