Just wanted to let this board know that you can file a second claim after you have been denied by an ALJ. Here is an article that has detailed instructions on how to do it. I wrote this article for my website.

Beating the Appeals Cycle - Earn Benefits While You Wait
Each year approximately 1.3 million people received letters from Social Security denying their claim for disability benefits that included the following or similar statement; “We realize that this condition keeps you from doing any of your past work, but it does not prevent you from doing other jobs which are less demanding. Your overall condition does not meet the basic definition of disability as defined by Social Security.”

If your claim has been denied and you’re stuck in the appeals cycle, there’s hope. You can file a winning second claim and receive benefits as early as three to four months.

The steps to filing a second claim are:

1. Have a denial date from the second appeals level on the first claim signed by an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ)

2. Contact he Appeals Council, the third level of appeals, to confirm your waiting period is longer than six months

3. Confirm you are still eligible for benefits

4. Make changes, improvements to your first claim

5. Consider the pros and cons of submitting a second claim



Step 1: Have a denial date from the second appeals level on the first claim
signed by an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ)

After you’ve been denied at the second level of appeals by an administrative law judge, a new claim can be filed. The second claim is processed and may be approved while your first claim waits to be heard at the Appeals Council (AC). The waiting period at the AC level is between two months and two years. While the first claim is waiting to be heard at the AC, you could be receiving monthly disability checks.

Step 2: Contact he Appeals Council, the third level of appeals, to confirm your
waiting period is longer than six months

You need to know if you have the time to file a new application. If your case will be heard in six months or less then it isn’t worth filing second claim. To find out when your case is scheduled just call the local Social Security office and ask for the Appeals Council phone number. Call the AC office and ask when your case will be heard. If your court date before the AC is between six months and two years or more then filing a second claim is a viable option.

Step 3: Confirm you are still eligible for benefits

When you file a second claim, by law the second claim must have a new starting date (onset date, Section 2, question E of the application). The new date is the day after the ALJ’s decision. In order for your second claim to be valid with a new starting date, it’s essential that you’re still eligible and that your “disability insurance” is still in effect.

To find if you’re still eligible, contact your local Social Security Office and ask them for the “last date insured”. If the last date insured is after the new starting date, the day after the ALJ’s decision, you can file a second claim.

Step 4: Make changes, improvements to your first claim

In order for the second claim to succeed, there must be changes or improvements to the first application or there is no reason to file a second claim. Improvements such as additional medical or non-medical evidence, thorough and detailed responses to questions, supplemental forms or questionnaires can make the difference between success and failure. The second application must unequivocally establish your disability. If you didn’t include medical evidence with your first claim, now is the time to do it. More than likely your doctors have ordered additional tests or studies since you filed your first claim. This is considered new medical evidence that could be added to a second claim.

Many claimants answer the application’s questions with short and simple responses that are unfortunately insufficient to prove the limitations of a disability. The majority of denials are because the claimant did not establish that they are incapable of working at the most basic of jobs. It’s mandatory to convince Social Security that your disability is severe enough to significantly limit basic physical or mental work activities.

Step 5: Consider the pros and cons of submitting a second claim

Finally, there are risks in filing a second claim that need to be considered and weighed against the benefits of doing so. If the second claim is approved, you’ll receive monthly cash benefits while the first claim waits to be heard at the Appeals Council. The AC can make a number of decisions: they can approve both claims, deny both claims or send the claims back to the ALJ. If the Appeals Council sends the first claim back to the ALJ for consideration, the instructions include a statement that vacates the second claim. Both the first and second claim are sent to the ALJ for a determination. If the ALJ ultimately denies both claims then the claimant runs the risk of having to pay back the benefits that were paid when the second claim was approved.

On the positive side, the Appeals Council is influenced by the new evidence in the second claim and frequently upholds the approved determination of the second claim. If the Appeals Council approves the first claim, you’ll receive back benefits from the onset date of the first claim. In addition, with an earlier effective date, based on the first claim’s approval, you’ll receive Medicare sooner if not immediately.

It’s a balanced choice that only you can make. If you are confident that the second claim proves your disability and inability to do the simplest jobs, then the risk is minimized and you have everything to gain by filing a second claim.

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.

You folks should know that if you're turned down once at the ALJ level, your chances of prevailing at a second hearing three years later are remote at best!
Your attorney will likely not inform you of this, it's unfortunate, but the truth is that these ALJ's aren't about to start in and overturn each others decisions!
Sorry for the bad news, but you folks need to know the truth, and the truth is if you're denied once, you're almost certain of being denied twice, unless perhaps you've some new and compelling evidence to support your claim, count on a federal court date before recieving an honest shot at an award.

Do you have degenerative disk disorder?

Severe between c4-5 c5-6 and c6-7, moderate to severe at c7-t1 with all the objective medical records and doctors to substantiate the claim, resulting in 6 consecutive denials.
Just finished attending the 2nd ALJ hearing and expect exactly the same result as at the first, which adds up to 6-years of wasting my time!
The ALJ I just had the pleasure of being interrogated by is denying 7 out of every 10 claims so far in fiscal 2010, his best year was 2006 when he softened up and only denied 50% while approving a whopping 43%!
Not as bad as some other regions though, where you'll not find much better then 1 or 2 out of ten being met with success

After being called a liar by the first ALJ, my attorney appealed to the AC in Falls Church, "We disagree with the ALJ's ruling" was exactly what she wrote as my appeal(literally), the guy I replaced her with just explained the odds of winning(losing)at the 2nd hearing after we left it!
I researched my current ALJ's record over the past four years and found an interesting and scathing remand by the federal court in which a "real judge" scolds him by declaring that "substantial evidence is far more than a mere scintilla!"
The harsh rebuke was pertaining to the ALJ's enthusiastic denial of claim to a man who was dying(and did die long before the federal court reversed the ALJ)of heart failure!
The whole thing is just a giant ponzi scheme.

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.

Yes the grid rules, well again I say to the unfortunates pursuing a claim, LOOK AT THE SSA ALJ DISPOSITIONS lists for the nation, research your ALJ's district court record and you'll discover plenty of 50-55 year olds being denied, many DYING during the appeals process.
In my case the ALJ just simply consulted the other ALJ's scathing denunciation of me from three years previous, which was the result of extremely poor legal representation by my then attorney.
The natiional average for approval at the hearing level is just 60.8%, keep in mind that there are a dozen regions where the ALJ's approve virtually everyone who comes before them(think Flint MI), we're talking approval rates in the 90's, this skews the data significantly.
Yes, that means the actual average approval rate is well under 60%, a much more sobering prognosis for most claims working their way through the process.
The other thing is the value of an RFC from your treating physician, it's supposed to carry substantial weight at the ALJ hearing, yet they are routinely discarded by the ALJ's in favor of the one issued by the SSA doctor who has never even lain eyes upon the clamant.
Don't believe me? Fine, but you can easily research your ALJ's district court cases from your computer, it's shocking how often they are scolded by real judges for disregarding the treating physician opinions and evaluations entirely.
In my "now tainted" opinion, your odds for a fair hearing in front of an SSA ALJ are low, they are looking for any inconsistentcies in the medical records, no matter how trivial, then deciding on whether or not they will be overturned on appeal if they use them to deny your claim, which they will do if they feel that they can get away with it.
The single, most valuable advice I can offer any other claimant, above all other things in importance, know your medical records from beginning to end, I'm dead serious. You'll have three years to MEMORIZE them and you should do just that, MEMORIZE them!
All to frequently the vast majority of us only get to them the week of the hearing, or often moments before the hearing, just as your ATTORNEY does!
At my first hearing before an ALJ my parasite first looked at my file 20-minutes before it began, three years later, I'm still paying the price for her indifference.

Christian do you have anything from a doctor saying you suffer from depression, such as bi-polar? Sometimes you need your physical and metal health to be stopping you from getting substantial gainful activity or SGA. It sounds like you are really upset, but I think you are close to winning. Just hang in there.

Hi, Just wanted to say that in my award letter for SSDI, the judge wrote
"the treating medical doctor's records must be given great weight", in regards to why he was granting me disability as I did not fit any one of the book of codes for disabilities.

My doctor wrote a 5 page report on why I ill and how the illness effects me. (Plus filled out all the forms SSDI requests.)

I swear that if not for my treating doctor's report I would not have received benefits.

I was turned down the first time and appealed it.

Even my Psych., doctor filled out the form for clinical depression. My lawyer said that it was my best chance for winning due to my young age, and lack of having any other approved illness for disability. He checked everything on the list, except suicidal tendencies. And he said "trust me. I know what I'm doing.", when I asked about why he filled it out the way he did.

The judge said I did *not* meet the criteria for depression, and I did not get SSDI for depression.

My age at the time was 42 or 43. So age did not help. I guess I'm just trying to say that you really never know. My case was not an easy one to prove. My lawyer was decent, not great.

FWIW,
Sunrise
PS: At the time I did not have a DX of FMS or CFS or PN! Heck, I didn't even know what was wrong with me. I just knew that I couldn't physically function.

Years later I looked up the codes they are using for me, when I was sent a letter about a possible review, and they were so vague I really couldn't figure out what they were, even after writing down the names and researching the dx's. And I'm a smart cookie!