About Disability/SSI:

You may be eligible to receive monthly benefits from the Social Security Administration if you are unable to work because of a significant physical and/or mental impairment that has lasted or is expected to last for at least 12 months or result in death.

This is different than a short-term, private disability policy you may have through your employer. The Social Security Administration has a strict standard for proving disability. You must be totally disabled to qualify for disability. No benefits are payable for partial disability or short-term disability.

There are two types of programs:

The Social Security disability insurance program pays monthly benefits to the claimant and certain family members if they have worked long enough and earned enough credits and paid Federal Social Security taxes.

The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program pays monthly benefits to disabled adults and children who have not earned enough credits to qualify for Social Security disability benefits and who have limited income and resources.

Both programs use the same rules to determine disability and mostly rely on medical evidence.

Statistics show that in Michigan, approximately 70 percent of people are denied benefits at the initial level. Don’t give up. Statistics also show that your best chance of winning benefits are at the next level, in the form of an informal hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. It is best to secure an Attorney as soon as possible after you have been denied.

Statistics also show that people represented by Attorneys have prevailed more often than people representing themselves.

How we can help:

We will first speak to you on the telephone, free of charge, and talk to you about your condition and how it prevents you from working.

If we decide to represent you, we will make an appointment to meet with you in person to further discuss your condition and to sign some papers in order for us to represent you. There is no charge for this appointment.

We will gather medical and other evidence and analyze your case under the Federal Social Security Regulations and decide how we can best win your case. We will contact your physicians to obtain information that is tailored to your specific condition. We will advise you on how to best prepare yourself to testify at your hearing.

These are just a few of the many things we will do to assist you in obtaining benefits.

What can I do to help?

• Keep all the information and paperwork you have received from the Social Security Administration.
• Make a list of all of your doctors and therapists, what they have treated you for and when. Find the spelling of their names, their addresses, and their phone numbers.
• Make a list of your medications and who prescribed them.
• Be ready to talk about what jobs you performed for the 15 years prior to the date you became disabled.
• Find your yearly Social Security statement and become familiar with the information.