The onset of a disabling injury or illness can turn your life upside down. While you’ll have to deal with the physical and emotional realities of your newfound situation, you’ll also have to figure out how you’re going to make ends meet. This can be difficult to do, especially if your medical condition is so severe that you’re unlikely to secure work in the future.
While the Social Security disability system might provide you with relief, you’re only going to recover those benefits if you can demonstrate that you meet federal requirements. Each qualifying condition has its own elements that must be met before disability benefits will be paid out, so you’ll want to be thorough as you prepare your claim. After all, many initial disability claims end up denied.
What can you do to increase your chances of successfully recovering disability benefits?
As you prepare to enter the disability claims arena, there are steps that you can take to better prepare and position yourself for success. This includes doing each of the following:
- Following your doctor’s recommendations: You’re going to need medical evidence to support your disability claim. But if you forego recommendations made by your medical provider, it’s going to be harder to argue that you need ongoing treatment and that the treatment that you’ve received has been ineffective in remedying your condition to the point that you can work. Therefore, make sure you have a complete understanding of your doctor’s recommendations and that you follow them as closely as possible.
- Gather medical evidence: As you prepare your claim, you’ll want to carefully analyze the elements of a successful disability claim pertaining to your specific condition. With those requirements in mind, you can start assessing your medical records to determine if they provide sufficient medical evidence. If they don’t, you might want to think about what you can do to secure the evidence that you need. This may require more extensive follow up with your medical professional.
- Ensure that your claim is complete and thorough: Far too often, disability claims are denied because they’re incomplete or they simply don’t provide enough information to demonstrate that an applicant qualifies for disability benefits. So, take your time as you work on your claim so that you can ensure that it’s as complete and as convincing as the facts allow.
- Be timely: Disability claims take a while to progress through the process. Therefore, if you want benefits sooner rather than later, you need to get your claim submitted as soon as possible. With that said, don’t sacrifice the quality of your claim for expediency’s sake.
- Keep tabs on your case: Your disability claim is just one among millions being considered by the Social Security Administration. As a result, it can easily get lost in the mix. By keeping tabs on your claim, you can follow up with the Social Security Administration to see if they can move your case along more quickly.
Develop the disability claims strategy that works best for you
If you want to position yourself for success on your disability claim, you need to know how to navigate the intricacies of the disability claims system. You also need to know how to gather and present evidence supporting your claim in a persuasive fashion.
With that in mind, you should be sure to put in the preparation necessary to build a strong disability claim. To increase your ability to do so, you can continue to research this area of the law and how to avoid some of the biggest challenges that claimants face throughout the process.
