If you are thinking about filing a Social Security Disability Insurance (SSD or SSDI) claim, you probably have questions about where to begin and how to proceed. At Liner Legal Disability Lawyers, we want everyone in Cleveland and throughout Ohio to get all the information they need to win the maximum SSD benefits they deserve. This blog post explains what you need to begin the process, but we urge you to contact our office to help you get started.
Contact Liner Legal Disability Law to Begin Your SSD Claim Application
The easiest and quickest way to begin applying for Social Security Disability benefits is to contact an experienced SSD benefits lawyer whose legal practice focuses exclusively on getting disabled clients the highest disability benefits possible. In Ohio, Liner Legal handles only disability law cases and offers the best-experienced SSD representation you will find anywhere.
Should I Get a Lawyer to File My SSD Application?
We think no one should file such an important government application without the expert guidance of an experienced SSD lawyer, but the law does allow you to file your own SSD application, without any professional help. Does that sound like a good idea? Hopefully, if you are in the Cleveland area, or near one of our seven other locations in Ohio, you will let Liner Legal Disability Lawyers help you file the best possible SSD application package. If you think you are well enough informed about how to maximize your chances of being awarded benefits without help, you can use the government’s do-it-yourself website at ssa. We hope you rely on our expertise.
What Do I Need to File for SSD Benefits?
Preparation: Filing a solid, complete, accurate claim for Social Security Disability benefits requires a significant amount of preparation and organization. The first phase of the SSD filing process is collecting and reviewing all the documents you may need to confirm the information you are submitting with your claim.
The SSD application asks for lots of data about your work history, a detailed recitation of the course of your medical treatment, your own statement of how your disability affects your life, a list of any other claims you made for other benefits, the amount and sources of your income, military service details, a full history of your education and any training program, and more.
Depending on the nature and severity of your disability, attempting to complete this first phase without help is often more challenging than many SSD applicants can manage. Your disability lawyer will do almost all of this for you. Again, working with a skilled SSD lawyer relieves you of the work and ensures a knowledgeable SSD expert is assembling your case.
Medical Records Evidence: Perhaps the most important stage in the Social Security Disability benefits application process is analyzing, and even supplementing the medical records documenting your disabling impairments.
Every record generated by doctor’s office visits, examinations, surgeries and procedures, lab tests, x-rays, MRIs, CT scans, stress tests, rehab sessions, and therapy sessions, should be collected from all your healthcare providers. These documents constitute the core of the evidence the Social Security Administration will use as a basis for its decision to grant or deny benefits.
Analysis of Medical Evidence: Once all your medical records are collected, they need to be analyzed to determine exactly what injury, illness, disease, or combination of those impairments qualifies as a disability as defined by Social Security Administration (SSA). Many cases involve clear and obvious impairments well supported by medical records. But often, SSD applicants suffer from less obvious but no less serious impairments requiring the applicant to point out each of the relevant entries in the records.
At Liner Legal, our team of SSD lawyers and specialized legal assistants study your medical records in detail, identifying every symptom you reported to your doctors, every finding they noted, and every diagnosis your treatment team made about your condition.
In some cases, when a doctor has made a diagnosis but has written vague or indefinite notes, an experienced SSD lawyer will contact the doctor to request a supplemental report more clearly stating what the doctor found and diagnosed.
An ideal SSD application package is complete, organized, and clear in its statement of the disability and the medical evidence, so the SSA claim assessor finds the information they need easily. When an SSD claim package is disorganized or incomplete, a busy government claims reviewer is more likely to overlook important evidence or delay consideration of the application until missing records are provided.
Submit Your Best Social Security Disability Application
Liner Legal Disability Lawyers is devoted to preparing and filing our clients’ best possible SSD application packages. We proudly represented thousands of SSD disability claims and VA claims for our fellow Ohioans. We serve disabled communities in Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Columbus, Sandusky, Youngstown, Wooster, Medina, and other areas throughout the state.
When you are ready to apply for disability benefits in Ohio, you can choose who you trust to do it right. We know you will be glad you allowed us to serve as your Social Security Disability Lawyers.
