Why Was my Social Security Disability Denied?

Social security disability is a claim made to the Social Security Administration (SSA) for benefits as a result of being unable to work due to a disability. If your social security disability benefits claim was denied, you may find yourself unable to work and unable to support yourself. As such, you may wonder why was my social security disability denied, and you may need help appealing your claim so you can receive the benefits you deserve.

Reasons for Disability Denials

There are three major reasons why your claim may have been denied:

• The SSA may not have considered your disability severe enough
• You may not have had sufficient work experience
• You may have provided improper documentation or incomplete forms.

Medical Denials

Medical denials occur when the SSA believes that your disability is not severe enough to entitle you to benefits. In order to be entitled to SSA disability benefits, your disability must be expected to either last a year or more and/or lead to death.

The disability also must either be listed in their Blue Book of covered disabilities or must be at least as serious as those that are listed. It must severely impede your ability to live your life and must make it impossible for you to do either your job or any other job for which you are qualified.

If the SSA does not believe you are sufficiently impaired by your disability, then a medical denial may occur. In such cases, to successfully appeal your denial, you would need to prove that your disability in fact was more severe than the SSA believed it to be at first glance.

Work Experience

The SSA also requires you to have worked for a set period of time before they will offer you disability. If you are disabled in the quarter before your 24th birthday, for example, you must have worked for at least 1.5 years prior to applying for disability benefits. If you have not worked enough time, you do not qualify and your claim may be denied.

If you are between 24 and 31, you must have worked for ½ of the time from your 24t birthday and the age at which you become disabled. If you are over 31, you must have worked for at least five of the 10 years before applying for disability.

These rules are designed to ensure that only those who have paid into the SSA system and who have worked at a qualified job are able to recover. If you are denied on the basis of insufficient experience, there may be little recourse for you- you may, however, be eligible for other benefits such as SSI (supplemental security income) benefits depending on your situation.

Improper Documentation

The answer to why was my social security disability claim denied may be as simple as the fact that you didn’t include something you needed to. If you forget to completely fill out paperwork or if you do not include relevant information from your physician or to support your claim, your case may be denied.

Getting Help with a Claim Appeal

Regardless of the reason for your social security disability claim denial, you should consider getting legal help from a qualified disability attorney. An attorney can help you appeal the decision and can help you convince the SSA that their initial denial was improper and that you are entitled to benefits as a result of your disabled status.