Our Skilled Louisiana Social Security Disability Lawyer Helps Clients With Disabling Medical Conditions Apply for SSDI and Get the Benefits They Deserve
Living with a disability can be challenging, especially when it impacts your ability to provide for yourself and your family. If your disabling medical condition causes symptoms that prevent you from working and engaging in substantial gainful employment, you might qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). Phillip M. Hendry law helps Louisiana clients explore their SSDI eligibility, complete their applications, and navigate the lengthy and often confusing application process. Find out how Phillip Hendry can assist you!
Managed by the Social Security Administration (SSA), SSDI is a federal insurance program that provides monthly benefits to eligible individuals with qualifying disabilities. Unfortunately, getting approved for benefits can be extremely difficult, even when you have a severe medical condition. The SSA denies roughly 70 percent of applications in the initial stage of its five-stage evaluation process. Don’t risk a denial that could delay much-needed benefits. Take these steps to improve your chances of approval for SSDI.
1. Make Sure You Meet Basic Eligibility Requirements
You might qualify for SSDI if you:
- Have sufficient work credits. You typically need 40 credits earned from working in jobs covered by Social Security, including 20 amassed during the 10 years before disability onset.
- Can’t perform substantial gainful activity (SGA). Your disability must prevent you from working or earning an average of more than $1,550 per month (as of 2024)
- Have a long-term disability. Your disabling condition must have lasted—or be expected to last—for at least a year or result in death.
2. Maintain Consistent Medical Care and Complete Your Treatment as Prescribed
Consistent medical care can play a pivotal role in whether you’re approved for SSDI. See your health care providers as often as they recommend and follow your treatment plans as closely as possible. Additionally, the SSA generally gives more weight to the medical opinions of specialists, rather than primary care providers (PCPs). If you’ve yet to see a specialist for your disabling medical condition, ask your PCP for a referral.
3. Include Thorough Medical Evidence for Your Disability
Insufficient medical evidence is one of the most common reasons the SSA denies SSDI claims. Establishing the existence and severity of a medically determinable impairment (MDI) requires extensive documentation and evidence from acceptable medical sources (AMS). This can include medical history, treatment records, doctor's notes and/or progress reports, laboratory reports, diagnostic imaging, and other evidence from licensed or certified providers.
4. Keep a Record of Your Symptoms and How They Impact Your Ability to Perform SGA
Keeping track of your symptoms, including their frequency, severity, and effect on your ability to perform various functions, such as engaging in substantial gainful activity, provides the SSA with important insight into the nature of your condition. It’s particularly critical to make note of activities and movements that you can’t do as a result of your disability, like sitting or standing for long periods, lifting objects over a certain weight, or bending.
5. Check Your Application for Errors or Omissions
The presence of mistakes or omissions in the application paperwork is another common reason the SSA denies claims. Carefully reviewing your application before submitting it could help you catch—and correct—errors that could cause the SSA to deny your application for SSDI benefits.
6. Get Help From an Experienced Social Security Disability Lawyer
Applying for SSDI can be a complex, confusing, lengthy, and frustrating experience. Sadly, this stressful process ends in denial and disappointment for most applicants. Fortunately, you don’t have to face the grueling disability application process alone. Our dedicated Louisiana Social Security disability lawyer can help you explore your SSDI eligibility, apply for benefits, and avoid common mistakes that could hurt your chances of approval.
Get adept legal guidance and compassionate support for your Social Security disability journey. We proudly help clients with disabling medical conditions fight for the SSDI benefits they deserve.