Hearing Wait is Coming Down

Even since I began handling only social security disability disability cases 18 years ago, the wait in Dallas and Fort Worth Texas for an administrative hearing before an administrative law judge has been appropriately 12 months. But in the last 18 months I have seen the waiting time at the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR) come down. On average it is now taking less than 12 months from the hearing request to get a hearing before an administrative law judge.

Official reports from ODAR for October 2009, continue to show improvement in reducing hearing level processing times and the number of pending cases as follows:

• Pending cases dropped for the tenth straight month, down to 717,884, about 5,000 fewer than in September 2009. This is the lowest ODAR pending number since February 2008.

• The average processing time is 441 days, the lowest monthly processing time since April 2005.

The table above shows that the Dallas Region has the lowest waiting time for any of the 10 regions in the US. So, 2010 shows real progress for social security disability applicants in Dallas Fort Worth!

Top Five Bad Answers to Question: WHY CAN'T YOU WORK?

In no particular order of "badness", here are the top five"case killing" responses to the Administrative Law Judge Question: "Why can't you work?"

1. "I can't find a job. No one will hire me with my

medical background"

The ALJ wants to know why you think you can't work. Implicit in this answer is a belief by the claimant that she can work, and that the problem is not being able to get a job. Social Security Disability benefits are intended to protect workers who cannot work due to a mental or physical condition. There are not intended to address the difficulites of finding a job.

2. "My long-term disability insurance company told me to file for social security disability"

This can be an easy mistake to make. Again, the ALJ wantsto know why you think you cannot work. Most long-term disability carriers require those that are on claim for long-term disability benefits to file for social security disability, because the insurance company can reduce the monthly benefit they pay in the amount of the social security disability benefit. So it is true that most LTD recepients may file at the suggestion of their insurance company. But this answer makes you look like the insurance company is leading you around by the nose, motivated not by a belief that you are in fact disabled but rather simply going along with the insurance company.

3. "My unemployment insurance ran out"

This is a real case killer, because it makes you look like you are just working the system.

4. "I don't have a car/way to get to work"

Social security disability benefit eligibility has nothing to do with whether you have reliable transportation, or even if your impairment keeps you from driving. Now, if you have an impairment that means you can't drive you have to talk about how that impairment would keep you from working once you are at the job. How you get there is irrelevant.

5. "They eliminated my job/they outsourced it to Mexico," etc.
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Unfortunately, the issue is not whether you job is available. The issue is whether you could perform the job, whether it is in fact in existence. A little strange, I know, but....