What Is A Social Security Disability Hearing?

Nobody applies for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits with the expectation that they will receive a denial from the Social Security Administration (SSA). However, SSDI applicants are often denied benefits after an initial application, and many of the reasons for the denial can be corrected with help from a national disability benefits attorney. If you recently applied for SSDI benefits and your application was denied, you may have started looking into your options for appealing the SSA’s decision. In researching the appeals process, you likely came across informing about a hearing. What is a hearing for appealing an SSDI benefits denial, and what should you expect to happen there? Our national disability benefits lawyers can give you more information.

You May Not Need to Attend a Hearing If You Are Approved for Benefits After Requesting a Reconsideration

It is critical to know, first, that you will only need to attend a hearing if your appeal is denied a second time. To be clear, once your benefits application is initially denied, you can seek a reconsideration that will not require you to attend a hearing. Instead, you will make a request for reconsideration (which you can do online), and you will make the request depending upon whether your application is denied for medical or non-medical reasons.

Even when you submit a request for reconsideration, it is important to have help from an experienced lawyer since a lawyer can help to correct any errors that were in your initial application. When you request a reconsideration, you can submit additional evidence to support your application, and you can fix mistakes that were in your initial application. A disability benefits lawyer can help you with this, and you will not be required to attend a hearing. There is no hearing involved in the reconsideration process.

Request a Hearing Within 60 Days from the Denial on Reconsideration 

If you are denied SSDI benefits after a request for reconsideration, then you will need to request a hearing before an administrative law judge, or ALJ. You will have 60 days to request the hearing once your application is denied again following your request for reconsideration. While it is important to have assistance from an attorney at all stages of the SSDI application process, it is particularly critical when you will be appealing at a hearing before an ALJ.

Once you work with your lawyer to request a hearing, then your hearing before an ALJ will be scheduled. Hearings can be conducted in different ways. Some hearings occur in person while others are done remotely. If your hearing is in person, the SSA usually does not require you to travel more than 75 miles from your residence. You should expect for the hearing to resemble a trial or another type of adversarial proceeding in which a judge hears evidence presented. You can present different forms of evidence, including testimony from expert witnesses. You will also be required to testify, responding to questions from the judge. Then the judge (the ALJ) will decide whether to approve your application for SSDI benefits.

Contact a National Disability Benefits Lawyer Today 

If you need assistance applying for SSDI benefits or appealing a denial, one of the experienced national SSDI benefits lawyers at the Law Offices of Stephen Barszcz can begin working with you today.

Sources:

ssa.gov/forms/ssa-561.html#:~:text=If%20you%20applied%20for%20Social,may%20request%20an%20appeal%20online.&text=If%20you%20do%20not%20wish,%2D561%2C%20Request%20for%20Reconsideration

sa.gov/appeals/hearing_process.html