Quote:
Originally Posted by Christian
I joined this forum simply to respond to the above thread. I just went through my 2nd hearing in front of an ALJ, I have well documented disc disease in my neck and haven't worked a jot since 2004.
I just turned fifty, but my benefit ran out in 09, so I am essentially still 45-49 in the eyes of SSA, further I have(as I did for the first hearing too)an awesome RFC from my longtime treating internist and the neurologist stating and identifying my disability(s).
Here's the thing, and pay attention if you're an unfortunate such as myself because your attorneys will simply not inform you of the truth about how poor your chances actually really are!
When you've been turned down once in front of an ALJ, the odds of you winning in front of another ALJ three years later are "remote at best!" Thats because they aren't fond of overturning their fellow ALJ's decisions, for OBVIOUS reasons!
Your odds of prevailing are actually under 20% the 2nd time through unless you have some powerful, and compelling new evidence, further, you can access the SSA ALJ dispositions list and study your regions ALJ performance data(rate of approval v denial)and decide if you should even pursue the thing at all, trust me on this, in many regions you have virtually zero chance of prevailing regardless of your evidence!
Just remember, if you've been denied at the hearing level once, it'll be an accident if you prevail at the 2nd hearing.
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This may have been your situation, Christian, but no one should consider it an expected outcome since everyone's situation is different. If a person has a degenerative condition, they get worse every day and those changes could lead to an allowance. Also, age is a factor in the 5 step sequential evaluation and as a person gets older, there is a slightly different set of criteria used. So, the passage of time also means someone is getting older and may meet the requirements for an older person.
The one thing that is a certainty is that by not filing a subsequent claim, you have a 100% guarantee of not being approved. But you are also right that a person who has not worked for over 5 years will probably run out of insured status, even if they are found disabled 5 years later.