The social security system is in place to assist people who truly need it, but that line of “who truly needs it” and “who could potentially go without it” is riddled with complications, gray areas, and hard lines in the sand for many Americans. Roughly two-thirds of people will be denied disability benefits through Social Security, and many of these cases should not just be left hanging. A disability attorney in Yelm, WA can likely help navigate the landmine of social security and help resurrect a case that was considered closed.
Why is social security disability so often denied for people? The first reason has to do with the quantity of backlogs. Social Security is underfunded; FICA taxes are removed from American paychecks at a rate of about 7.65% but those funds do not wind up directly in SS. Sometimes, Medicare receives a portion and there are a series of allocations that further complicate matters. Though SS may be getting enough money, there may not be enough people processing claims; there is a constant backlog and claims are often denied simply because of a flag or two. Out of sheer convenience and needing to get reviews done in a timely fashion, claims may not get the attention they need.
The initial claim can take about five months and that is long enough as it is. Also, appeals can take upwards of a year. Why is it so long? There is a stigma that once a claim is denied it was for a good reason, and this is why appeals are dragged out: there is very little desire for SS workers to go back through appeals when they have an influx of new cases pouring in every day. There are roughly 300,000 new cases in SS-related cases related to disability.
A disability attorney in Yelm, WA speeds this process along because the agents are far more willing to proactively review an appeal if there is a threat of a potential disability case looming over them. Contact Putnam Lieb Potvin Attorneys to see if a loved one was unfairly taken advantage of by a system that is backlogged and complicated.
