Why not ask your attorney?

I will be talking to her tomorrow. When I called her on Friday, she gave me a lot of information and I didn't think to ask her what it means.

it sounds to me like they just didnt update your page yet....it was under review is now denied and the page hasnt been updated to reflect that.

This is a copy of the update :

Current Status
Step 2 of 3

Processing
01/12/2018
Appeal Under Review

A medical decision has been made and we are working to process your decision. A Social Security Representative may contact you directly if we need any additional documents or information.

07/24/2017
The Disability Determination Service for your state started processing the medical portion of your appeal.

07/21/2017
We started reviewing your request for an appeal.

07/21/2017
Your request for an appeal was submitted.

07/21/2017
Your online appeal was started.

As I said in my OP I called the 800 # and was told that a decision was made, I would be getting a letter soon and that my case was sent back to the local office.

I called the local office and asked to talk to my case worker, the woman who answered the phone told me that my case isn't assigned to anyone and that I don't have a case worker ??? She then told me that my case was denied .

So, the update happened on the 12th and I was told that I was denied on the 12th.

The language online is standard, if confusing. The denial letter will be mailed and posted online as well.

It is correct that you are not assigned a case worker at the local office. You will submit your appeal and essentially be in limbo waiting for an ALJ to be assigned. SS was having Senior Attorneys review files for OTR decisions a few years back, but I'm unsure if that's continuing. You should ask your attorney when she will file an OTR request, because most seem to wait until right before a hearing will be scheduled.

Thank you for clearing that up for me. I was quite shocked when I was told that I did't have a case worker at the FO. lol

Do you know if a person has to have new medical evidence to go OTR ? And if so does it have to pertain to the original claim ? I was just DX with degenerative disc disease so I wonder if I could use that to go OTR .

New evidence is fine but if there was no mention of the impairment previously, then would you be amending your Alleged Onset Date? With an OTR it must be a Fully Favorable Decision, so they can't set a different Established Onset Date.

Similarly for the hearing you can add a new impairment but if there is no medical evidence previously, it might effect the EOD. The ALJ will first determine if the original impairments will allow an approval or not.

DDD would be unlikely to meet a Listing prior to a hearing, but there is a chance you could be approved via the Grid. Or, it could be determined both impairments equal a Listing.

Even approaching advanced age, education and skills are still a factor. Registered nurses or many with sedentary desk jobs, for example, struggle to be approved via the GRID even after age 55. Link: Sedentary Work Grid Rules | Maximum Capacity Sit Down Work

I know you thought early on the Grid was a factor on your first denial, but you were denied because they claimed you could still perform the same type of work, which means they didn't proceed to factor the Grid. You may have understood this later, but I just wanted to clarify.

There are fine points to each strategy for approval, which there is plenty of time for you to learn, but I would not give up on trying to prove you meet the COPD listing which should maximize your benefits.