In late 2024, the Social Security Administration announced a cost of living adjustment (COLA) for the 2025 year of 2.5%. This means any benefits you are already receiving will be increased in your January payment. For those of you who have not had a hearing yet, it...
Helping People With Disabilities Nationwide

SSD – Uncategorized
Why Did Social Security Deny Me When I Can’t do my Old Job?
The majority of people who apply for disability have a history of working physically strenuous jobs, such as construction, warehouse work, or nursing. These are all occupations that put a lot of strain on a body over the years, so it’s very common for people from...
Should I Have a Witness at my Disability Hearing?
Many times when I call a client about an upcoming hearing, one of the first things they’ll say to me is that they have a friend or family member that they want to testify on their behalf at their hearing. And most of the time, I strongly recommend against having...
When Social Security Remands a Favorable Decision
In the vast majority of Social Security disability cases, when an administrative law judge awards a case, that’s the end of it. The claim goes through processing, and after a few weeks or months, the claimant is awarded, and they receive disability benefits...
Will I get Medicare?
It depends what type of disability you are awarded. If you are eligbale for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), then yes! You are eligible for medicare once you have been disabled for two years. This does not mean two years after you are awarded, it means two...
I Was Told I Am “Legally Blind”…. Do I Qualify for Social Security Disability?
The definition of “legally blind” is having a visual acuity of 20/200. This means that even with glasses or contacts, you can only read the first letter at the top of the Snellen Chart, if that. You can also be legally blind if you can see, but only in a very small...
Social Security Announces 2025 SGA Increase
Something that surprises many people is that you actually are allowed to work while waiting for disability benefits. However, the amounts vary from year to year and can have all sorts of different impacts on a disability claim. The Social Security Administration has...
Social Security Permanently Moves to Remote Hearings
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Social Security disability hearings were held either in-person, or from an approved Social Security remote hearing location with the judge appearing by video, and the claimant and their attorney in another location. If a claimant couldn’t...
Why Does it Take so Long to get a Disability Decision?
The best case scenario for a disability hearing is to have a fairly brief meeting with an administrative law judge before he or she says they’ve read the file, they’re convinced the claimant is disabled, and they’ll be paying out the case. It’s a successful end to...
Why do I need to complete the work history report?
One of the steps in establishing disability is proving that your medical condition prohibits you from doing the kind of jobs that you have worked in the last 5 years. Social Security will send you a Work History Report (Form SSA-3369) to collect information about the...
How does my attorney get paid?
We are paid out of the back pay that you are awarded. If you do not win your case, we do not get paid. The amount we charge can change, similar to the amount you get monthly changes annually. Currently, attorney fees are 25% of any back payments you are due up to a...
Why is Social Security Sending me to a Doctor?
At some point in the disability process, there is a good chance that you will receive a letter in the mail informing you that you need to attend a consultative examination. Though the exact type of exam can vary from case to case, what this basically means is that the...
Why Do I Have to Keep Filling Out This Same Form?!
Alright already! As if being sick and tired and feeling not yourself all the time, now you have to fill out pages and pages of information for Social Security…once, twice….maybe even three times?? What gives? Functional reports, work history reports, release of...
I Work for the State of Illinois: How Does this Impact my Social Security Benefits?
Disability benefits may be provided in many different ways…through a State employer, through the Federal Government, or through a private company, just to name a few. Oftentimes, a person with a State job, (let’s take Illinois, for example), may receive disability pay...
If I am found disabled, do my children also get paid?
The answer depends on what type of disability payment you are receiving. If you receive Supplemental Security Income (“SSI”), then your children cannot also receive a check solely because you receive disability. However, if you receive Social Security Disability...

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