Filing for Social Security Benefits: Read This Before and After You Apply

Those of you filing for benefits through the Social Security Administration should be aware that the filing process is a long process and in most cases, it can take up to 6 months in order for you to be approved for benefits or even longer. This can take this long, due to the fact that, in order to determine if you are disabled or not the medical information in your file needs to be transferred to another branch of the Social Security Administration. And just transferring your case file can take up to 6 months or more (as was the case with my claim). The Social Security Administration and your caseworker does not determine if you are eligible for benefits through Social Security. The Disability Determination Office is where this is decided. If you choose not to submit your medical information on your own to the Disability Determination Office, you can call them yourself and request that they fax your doctor(s) a request for information pertaining to your case with the Social Security Administration. Make sure that you have your doctor(s) information with you, such as; his/her name, address, phone #, and fax #. This will earn your doctor(s) $15.00 once a return fax is sent from him/her/them, with the medical information requested. By using this method, your doctor(s) get a bonus and you speed up the process of determination on your case. To get the phone number to the Disability Determination Office in your area, call your local Social Security Office and ask for their number. Once you have filed and have submitted your medical information, call be every so often to see how your case is going. Do not wait for them to call you or send you a letter. If they require more information on your case you can find it out when you call instead of waiting months down the road, when they decide to deny you benefits and then you’ll have to file an appeal. And, by the way, an appeal process can take at least 60 days and sometimes up to a year (as I am find out right now).