Good grief, no.

Many people have become frustrated and discouraged by the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) application process. Too many applicants give up and walk away too soon—and they never get the benefits they need so desperately.

The Social Security application process makes it easy to give up. Sometimes the maddening difficulties seem to be deliberately planned to urge people to give up:

• You are required to meet specific time deadlines or risk being permanently disqualified from SSDI—but there is no promise that your case will be reviewed in a reasonable amount of time. The Social Security Administration tries to get each review accomplished within two months, but it faces no penalties if it misses that guideline. We know people who have waited over a year for a reply to their requests.
• Case examiners rarely contact you for verification if something seems unclear. Instead, you receive a rejection notice.
• You are forced to supply the same information over and over at each stage of the review and appeal process. Each form uses a different format, so you can’t just submit a copy of your earlier work.
• The very fact that you’re disabled makes it enormously difficult to handle the paperwork and record-keeping tasks. It starts to look more attractive to give up and focus on healing rather than to fight another round in order to claim the benefits you’re due.

Success Comes with Time

There are reasons for all these delays and all this irritation. Government benefits have become such hot-button issue in Washington politics. No government official wants to be accused of allowing fraud and abuse to flourish. In this political environment, it’s easier to mark an applicant’s SSDI claim “DENIED” than to risk giving money to the undeserving.

As Social Security lawyers in Harrisburg, here’s one of the most important things we know about the SSDI application process: most people who hire legal help and persevere in their claims eventually receive benefits, including payment for benefits that they missed while the application was pending. Through each level of hearings, and appeals, and reconsideration of appeals, more applicants who were rejected earlier are told their applications will be approved.

Hiring experienced legal help can make an enormous difference if you’re dealing with a denied SSDI claim in Pennsylvania. Your attorney understands the complexity of the claims process and knows all the relevant case law precedents to maximize the likelihood of a favorable result. He can help you compile medical records, witness statements, and work history forms. He can represent you at a hearing before an administrative law judge and prepare you to testify, if necessary.

At the Schmidt Kramer law offices in Harrisburg, we’ve done all those things and more on behalf of our clients. We’re not surprised to learn that statistics show disability claimants who hire attorneys are more often successful than claimants who decide to represent themselves.

If you have more questions that need to be answered—or if you want to start working today toward getting approval for your denied SSDI claim—then call Schmidt Kramer at (717) 888-8888 toll-free to schedule a free, confidential case review. We can work with clients anywhere in Pennsylvania, but most of our clients come from Harrisburg, Carlisle, York, Lancaster, Lebanon, or any of the surrounding communities. Just for calling us, we’d like to send you a FREE copy of our latest client newsletter.