Disability benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA) can be a financial lifeline for you and your family when you’re unable to work. Getting a decision on your claim can sometimes take months though.
Although there really isn’t any way to speed up the process, some disability cases are reviewed more quickly than others. Additionally some things you can do to prevent avoidable delays.
Compassionate Allowances and Expedited Eligibility Reviews
The SSA maintains a Compassionate Allowances (CAL) list, which is made up of medical conditions that are so severe that they inevitably result in disability. If your impairment appears on the CAL list, your application for benefits will be pushed through the review process sooner in an effort to ensure you receive benefits as quickly as possible. Disability examiners automatically flag CAL applications for expedited review.
You’ll find the full CAL list on the SSA's website, but be sure to review the individual link for your specific impairment as well. The link will tell you and your doctor the exact medical evidence the SSA requires to approve you medically for disability benefits. Work with your doctor to get the necessary evidence submitted along with your application or soon after. This will hasten the review of your claim even further, since the SSA won’t even need to request medical records from your doctor’s office.
Avoid Procedural Social Security Delays
Any blanks will lead the SSA to have further questions and may slow down the processing of your application. Likewise, failing to provide sufficient detail or giving the SSA incomplete contact information for your doctors, for example, can also lead to delays. So track down the right names, addresses, phone numbers and other details before submitting your application, and don’t leave anything blank, even if a question doesn’t apply to your claim. Be sure to indicate the question is “not applicable” in your case by writing “N/A” or “does not apply.”
Respond to Requests from the SSA Quickly
The disability examiner that reviews your claim may request other things from you. You may be required to attend a consultative exam with a contracted physician, or you may have to fill out additional questionnaires, like functional report forms. Keep a close eye on the mail and respond to any requests you receive from the SSA as quickly as possible.
Submit Your Medical Records to Qualify for Social Security
Although you will sign forms during the application process that give the SSA permission to request your medical records directly from your various healthcare providers, not all doctors, hospitals, clinics, and others respond in a timely manner. Some may fail to provide your records at all or may take weeks or months to do so. Unresponsiveness of medical practitioners can cause significant delays with processing your claim for benefits.
Avoid delays and potentially increase your chances of approval by submitting copies of as many of your medical records as possible along with or shortly after you submit your application for benefits. If you apply at the local SSA office, you can turn in your records at that time. If you apply online, you can mail your records to the local office or drop them off there.
Get Help with Your Social Security Disability Application
If your application for benefits is moving at a slow crawl, a call from a Social Security disability attorney or disability advocate can potentially speed things up. An advocate or attorney may also be able to help you avoid common pitfalls, thereby increasing your chances of a quicker and more favorable decision on your claim.
